Every Kid Deserves A Dope Father
William Braylock is a local entrepreneur whose close nit relationship with his daughter led the two of them to creat a business and brand of their own out of the complex subject of fatherhood. Being a father is more than providing a seed to bring forth life into this world as most of us know. What is unique about William and his daughter is that they were not only concerned about fathers being at their best, but also wanted to encourage fathers who may want to step there game up in their own children's lives. The following is a Grand Rapids Times with William Braylock.
GRT: How did the ideas of Every Kid Desereves A Dope Father come about?
Braylock: The idea for my organization came about when my daughter was turning eight and we were sitting around talking about financial planning and generational wealth. My daughter came up with the brilliant idea of starting a business and I agreed with her. We kicked around a couple of ideas about what we wanted to do that would be positive and something that we both would enjoy doing. I asked her what she liked doing and she said hanging out with me and so we were challenged to find a way to incorporate that into a business. So we came up with a couple of names but I suggested the name Every Kid Deserves A Dope Father. My daughter then asked me what dope meant as a slang were and I explained to her that growing up in the eighties, when we said that something was dope it meant that it was the highest compliment that we could give it. For example, that's a dope car or a dope house, he is dope at basketball and so on. So the word dope has a positive connotation for the people in the eighties who grew up along with me. We ended up settling on the name Every Kid Deserves a Dope Father. We thought about what our logo would look like and all that we could do with it. My daughter and I both like fashion so we decided to do a clothing line. When we settle on a clothing line, we didn't want a logo that took away from the meaning to be our base and our original logo so we just stuck with the words. The words were powerful enough that a logo at that time was not needed. So just the words and the acronym of what those words stood for.
GRT: When did you start up the business?
Braylock: We started up in 2018 and now it is to the point that it started as a clothing line and I always knew that it would develop into something more than a clothing line but I know that finances was going to have to be behind it. So the bigger picture was to be a beacon and a light for other fathers and kids to experience what dopeness means as a parent and what dopeness means from the eyes of a kid. So I decided to go on the journey of helping other fathers unearth their dopeness and display it to their children and to the world. If more of us as Black fathers could display our dopeness to our kids then some of the fathers who may not be as dope or struggling or just don't have that past or mentoring or what that looks like. Hopefully they will look at us dope fathers can grasp on to what we were doing publicly and make it their own and become dope fathers themselves.
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As we approach Father's Day, take a moment to think about all the fathers and father figures that have positively shaped the young men and families we see today. For too long, the light is glared at those that fall short or refuse to try at all. Wonderful active fathers don't do it for the accolades and praises, but like all humans we are genetically made up to gain confidence and self worth. Fatherhood comes with no manual, nor are any of us born with the know how. Father hood is an on the job learning skill that we strive each day to increase.
We have seen an increase in fathers taking a more active role in the upbringing of their children. The pride and joy that some thought not to exist is on full display. This not only allows the world to see individuals being amazing, but also allows fathers to be an example to other fathers who may be struggling on their journey of fatherhood. As an African American father, it gives me great joy to not only show my love and affection to my child, but to know that what I am seen doing in public displays of affection may inspire another African American father the strength and courage to do better in his life.
Every Kid Deserbes A Dope Father. This statement means that not all fathers will be rich, highly educated, a business owner or have a blanket definition of what parenting as a father means. The sttement means that each father will unearth from within themselves what makes them dope to their children and magnify that in their own parenting. So today we salute and applaud all fathers who have chosen to be present and active in their obligation to fatherhood.
William Braylock:
EKDADF CEOand Founder
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