Kobie Brown, the creator of From Fatherless to Fatherhood, talked to UrbanFaith about what inspired him to create the documentary, his faith, and the Fatherless to Fatherhood movement.
In 2011 the documentary “From Fatherless to Fatherhood” was released. Created by entertainment industry veteran Kobie Brown and featuring familiar faces such as gospel artist Kirk Franklin, Dr. Steve Perry, and Rev. DeForest B. Soaries, the film focuses on the cause and effect of fatherlessness in the black community and figuring out a remedy. Three years later, the film has gone above its documentary status and become a viral movement that has found success beyond the Father’s Day holiday. Kobie Brown took some time out to speak with UrbanFaith about the success of the documentary and movement.
A conversation with a Morehouse classmate lead you to create this documentary, what was the crux of that conversation?
“That was the last I saw of my father and the last I saw of those pants,” when my classmate pronounced that he received a pair of pants that his father promised to alter on his 6th birthday, and never seeing either again, a mission was established. That mission was to use film to raise the level of awareness and discussion around how we are creating families and developing as people.
How did you select the featured artists for this project?
While there were people who I picked up the phone and called based on personal relationships, Rev. Buster Soaries, Kirk Franklin, Dr. Steve Perry; I’d like to think all of the participants chose the film, and its numerous spin offs. They see it as an important topic. Additionally, as an independent filmmaker, it was God who used those relationships and others to connect the project with its necessary outlets. In many ways I was merely his co-pilot. I know what it means to be “used” for his purpose.
How did your relationship with your father influence you in the work you’ve done with the documentary and beyond?
I feel fortunate that my father and mother instilled in me a great sense of compassion and a connection to my community. An understanding that I belong to and have benefited from a legacy that existed before me, and will continue long after I am gone. Both have allowed me to find examples of Black men in particular; whether Nat Turner, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X or Dr. King, who have contributed to humanity as well as the race and community into which they were born. I try to apply this ideology to all that I do.
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SOURCE: UrbanFaith
Nicole Symmonds
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