Last updated on March 10th, 2021 at 09:48 am
So a lot happened at the Dad 2.0 Summit. I made new friends. Finally met up with old ones. And on top of that, I got to meet men I idolised without even realising I was doing it, like Beleaf Melanin and his beautiful family, half of which were there with him at the summit itself!
We exchanged info and became Facebook friends… and if it wasn’t for that, I’m not sure I would’ve been there for what came next.
See, Beleaf Melanin, the rapper-turned-father-turned-prolific creator behind Beleaf in Fatherhood’s video content… he published a book. And I don’t mean an ebook or some YouTuber tell-all at a publisher’s request… he self-published an honest-to-goodness hardcover children’s book: The Chocolate Babies in: It’s Bedtime Now, featuring himself and his family as the characters within.
If you don’t get how significant this is, I captured my thoughts in an audio clip below, but to summarise… it’s a much-needed display of positive Black family experiences—the kind that can inspire other Black people to hope for more from their lives. I encourage you to listen to both his thoughts and mine—so many people could benefit from this book… hopefully you see just as much value in it as I do!
Why It’s Important You Support Beleaf Melanin.
It’s like something I recently realised while interviewing a Black filmmaker—we don’t need to be first at anything when creating for our community; we just need to be willing to do it. The more we create altogether is the more Black content we have out there. The more Black content we have, the higher the chance it’ll reach the hands of those who need it, and that’s why I’m supporting Beleaf’s book today.
Thanks for listening, guys—may you be just as inspired by this as I am!
Until the next, I remain,
