ATLANTA — November twentieth wasn’t simply one other networking occasion at The Gathering Spot. It was three hours the place males might breathe, replicate, and listen to what they hardly ever hear: your presence issues. What you do issues. You matter.
Father Figures: A Celebration of Males Who Matter introduced collectively fathers, sons, brothers, mentors, and girls advocates for a night that felt much less like an awards ceremony and extra like collective exhale—an area the place males’s humanity bought honored alongside their achievements.
Hosted by FatherWorks in partnership with The Gathering Spot and Ain’t No Handbook Podcast, the 6-9 PM celebration marked Worldwide Males’s Day with artistry, reflection, and the sort of pleasure that solely occurs when group acknowledges what’s been quietly holding it collectively all alongside.
When Gratitude Turns into Expertise
V-103’s DJ Sturgess hosted a night that moved seamlessly between celebration and contemplation. Stirring spoken phrase performances from Hank Stewart and Fisiwe “AfroQween” Zwanna reminded the room that Black males’s tales deserve poetic reverence. A heartfelt fireplace chat with Damien Wilkins—NBA veteran and former GM of Extra time Elite (OTE)—alongside Thomas “Trey” Dortch III, Ron Hill, and Chris Robinson of Ain’t No Handbook Podcast created house for vulnerability hardly ever afforded to Black males in public settings.
However the evening’s signature second—the “Give Him His Flowers” Tribute—delivered what too many males go their complete lives with out receiving: recognition whereas they’ll nonetheless scent the roses.
The honorees represented the complete spectrum of quiet management: Damien Wilkins, Hank Stewart, Rolling Out Music CEO Richard Dunn, DJ Sturgess, Mike B. Jackson, Dr. Brandon Body and The Black Man Can, Mario Reyes, and Kelsey Manyor.
Rolling Out Music’s Chief Will get His Flowers
Richard Dunn‘s inclusion among the many honorees carried specific significance. Because the newly appointed Chief Government Officer of Rolling Out Music, Dunn brings greater than 30 years of expertise in dwell music, touring, and leisure administration to the division. However Father Figures didn’t honor him for his résumé—it honored him for the person behind the music veteran title.
Below Dunn’s management, Rolling Out Music is constructing infrastructure that empowers artists, fosters inventive management, and celebrates Black excellence. He leads technique, operations, and artist growth initiatives whereas shaping the label’s inventive path and world partnerships. That’s the skilled legacy.
Father Figures honored the non-public one: the person who exhibits up with love, leads with integrity, and reminds these round him that presence is energy.
“So many males carry the load of duty quietly,” stated Thomas “Trey” Dortch III, Founding father of FatherWorks. “They provide endlessly, love deeply, and lead with energy and humility. This night was for them—for each man who has ever questioned if what he does issues. We would like them to know that it does.”
Why Father Figures Issues Now
The occasion arrives at a second when the world wants extra compassion, connection, and group—notably for Black males navigating techniques that demand energy whereas denying vulnerability, count on management whereas questioning legitimacy, and require sacrifice whereas withholding recognition.
Father Figures created counter-space. Not only a celebration, however what Dortch calls “a second of reflection, restoration, and recognition.” The sort of gathering the place males can acknowledge the load they carry, the love they offer, and the humanity they hardly ever get permission to specific.
By means of intentional recognition and shared storytelling, the night uplifted the spirit of brotherhood and collective energy. It affirmed that males’s tales need to be instructed and their hearts need to be honored—not only for what they do, however for who they’re.
Extra Than an Occasion
Father Figures wasn’t performative variety theater or compulsory recognition. It was therapeutic work disguised as celebration. The sort of house the place fathers might be current with out perfection, the place mentors might obtain what they usually give, and the place quiet energy lastly bought amplified.
The collaboration between FatherWorks, The Gathering Spot, and Ain’t No Handbook Podcast demonstrates what’s attainable when organizations prioritize males’s holistic well-being over surface-level engagement. They’re redefining what it means to rejoice males by honoring their humanity, amplifying their voices, and affirming that their presence is energy.
For the eight honorees—together with Rolling Out Music’s Richard Dunn—the “Give Him His Flowers” Tribute represented public validation of personal sacrifice. For the fathers, sons, brothers, and mentors in attendance, it modeled what recognition ought to appear like: particular, honest, and spiritually nourishing.
The Work Continues
FatherWorks, based by Thomas “Trey” Dortch III, operates as a group initiative that empowers fathers and male mentors to steer with authenticity, love, and function. By means of mentorship applications, workshops, and cultural gatherings like Father Figures, the group gives males with instruments and areas to develop, heal, and join—strengthening households and communities from the within out.
The Gathering Spot‘s partnership introduced infrastructure and viewers to the imaginative and prescient—the non-public membership membership for professionals and creatives that emphasizes group, tradition, and networking for minority people supplied the right venue for this sort of intentional gathering.
And Ain’t No Handbook Podcast continues its mission of making house for conversations about Black manhood that honor complexity, rejoice development, and normalize vulnerability.
Collectively, they’re constructing one thing sustainable: a tradition the place Black males’s humanity doesn’t need to be justified, the place quiet energy will get celebrated as loudly as loud success, and the place each man who exhibits up with love is aware of his presence issues.
Father Figures proved that once you create house for males to be seen, heard, and honored—they present up. Not simply bodily, however emotionally, spiritually, and authentically.
That’s what therapeutic seems to be like. That’s what group requires. And that’s why Father Figures issues.
Be taught extra about Ain’t No Handbook Podcast at aintnomanual.com. Observe @aintnomanualpodcast and @father_works on social media.
Pictures courtesy of PDM Company
