‘Color Him Father’ cites good Black men

By J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer

In the coming months you might be seeing some new “wanted” billboards in the New Orleans area. But if local photographer Peter Nakhid has his way, they won’t be hyping images of Black criminals and ne’er-do-wells. These billboards will show some of the many positive, responsible, loving Black fathers that are generally ignored in the mainstream media.

The project is called “Color Him Father” and it is designed to smash the negative stereotypes of Black males that are generally promoted in TV, radio, movies and elsewhere.

Nakhid is a native of Trinidad who moved to New Orleans in 1975 to attend the seminary. This did not work out. He was one of a group of students who actively opposed the celibacy requirement. He began doing photography in 1980 with a Polaroid camera.

Nakhid told the Weekly how the idea for “Color Him Father” came about, “Five years ago I was at a traffic light at the corner of Carrollton and Washington. There was a young brother walking in front of me, pushing a stroller. He had a baby in the stroller and a baby on his back and he had a diaper bag on his back. This was a young brother, tattoos, pants hanging down. When he passed by me he smiled and he had a mouth full of gold. I said, ‘This is beautiful. This is the kind of story they never tell.’ That image was locked in my mind.”

Nakhid’s work in the community involves helping young fathers prepare to handle their responsibilities, regardless of their relationship with the mothers of their children. He has created a 12-part curriculum called “Father’s Time” which deals with health, relationships and other aspects of responsible fatherhood.

Nakhid says “Color Him Father” started out as a photo exhibition at the Ashé Cultural Center. “I shot 30 or 40 fathers and I picked out 24 pictures which were framed and had an exhibition. I talked about the process, what is current and what we plan to do from this project. I plan to put a dent in some of the negative stereotypes. We will adopt a billboard somewhere in the city. We see these billboards with mostly Black men with a nice beautiful baby girl or boy and a big sign saying ‘wanted.’ We plan to change the stereotypes that a lot of people have had of Black men who are fathers. We will show Black fathers in positive ways, doing things they normally do with their children.”

Nakhid’s vision is not limited to New Orleans or Louisiana. “What’s happening in New Orleans is indicative of what’s going on around this country. Black men are in jeopardy. What I see is a move to incarcerate the majority of young people that are coming up today. They are doing it so skillfully that most people are not even aware of what’s going on. In the 90’s there was a proliferation of prisons. Next, they started privatizing the prisons. Then they started mandatory sentencing, zero tolerance, and three strikes. These things were to make sure that the prisons stayed filled. It was a business deal. The prisons now use that cheap labor to manufacture numerous products that are sold for a profit. They need to keep bodies enslaved to keep those products coming out.”

People in other parts of Louisiana have already expressed an interest in the project and the potential for national expansion is very real. In Shreveport, Destiny One Ministries will partner with Nakhid to get “Color Him Father” going in conjunction with their Nubian Brotherhood manhood development activities. Nakhid is seeking sponsors. Persons interested in sponsoring billboards in their own city can reach Nakhid by phone at (504) 258-2139 or by e-mail at nak­hid@bell­south.net.

“We must start changing some of these images,” says Nakhid. “The pipeline from school to prison is so wide open now that they don’t see any obstruction in the pipeline. My job is to plug it up as much as I can.”

This article was originally published in the November 21, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper