Nonprofit celebrates influence of Black men in community

LOYD VISUALS

Ricky Singh, the 2024 Black Fathers Rock! Activist Father of the Year, leads a youth conference. Singh is executive director of My Brother's Keeper and an artist.

The impact Black men make in their community will be recognized at the annual Black Fathers Rock! Awards.

The ceremony is June 14 at Event Masterz, 316 Remount Road. The program starts at 3 p.m. and tickets are available at blackfathersrock8.eventbrite.com.

Black Fathers Rock! began in 2018 as an award show that highlights roles like activism, entrepreneurship, and Father of the Year. After three months however, it turned into a non-profit. 

Founder and creator Ryan Jor El said the idea for Black Fathers Rock was based around his personal experience of growing up without a father. 

“I typically say the thing you lack in your childhood you tend to overcompensate for in your adulthood,” he said. “And so now, I went from having an absentee father to being an active, present father and honoring active and present fathers.”

Jor El said the awards aren’t just for biological fathers though, as they can apply to anyone who helps children inside or outside of the education system. Examples of past winners of Surrogate Father of the Year award, include West Charlotte High School athletics director Steve Joyner Jr and Inspire the Fire founder Dennis Reed Jr.

“Hearing stories of people over the eight years or seeing somebody with a T-shirt on in another country, you’re like ‘Wow, that is super cool,’” Jor El said. “People get really excited about this movement because we really don’t have many things like this, so I’ve heard a lot of great stories.”

Desmond Wiggan, the 2025 Father of the Year, has a unique story himself, being a first generation American, CEO of mobile energy company BatteryXChange and father of two. 

His eldest son, Jonah, was born during the height of COVID-19, which resulted in limited in-person interactivity that left children being trapped with digital devices. 

“My son didn’t see or touch his grandparents for six weeks,” Wiggan said. “They weren’t there in the trenches or in the spaces, building relationships and learning how to communicate with people.”

Through developing his children’s social skills, Wiggan learned to value of caring for his two children and wife. Wiggan said he does affirmations with his children before they go to school to instill self-confidence for their days, giving them hope and belief that someone believes in them. 

“If you think about clay, pottery and stuff, we can just mold and develop the minds and emotions of our kids, it’s just that we want to be constructive and steer in the right direction,” he said.

Wiggan said there is an importance that being constructive should also come with openness, as parents learn from children, and vice versa. 

“Having grace on [children] is also important, and when they fail, instead of just feeling like you got to yell and just punish them, allow it to be a conversation, so that they can really learn,” Wiggan said. 

Ricky Singh, an artist, executive director of My Brother’s Keeper Charlotte and 2024 Activist Father of the Year, leaned into the importance of communication with children, as an educational leader around Charlotte for nearly two decades.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Singh said he pours into the Charlotte community and its children because it feels like home for him.

He does so through My Brother’s Keeper, which emphasizes giving opportunities and internships to the youth by providing mentorship and real-world engagement. 

As a Black father, Singh said it’s especially important to communicate but also be able to rejoice in your time with children, as he often learns from them. 

“We have to find moments where we can laugh and find joy, even in the smallest things. There’s a beauty and a struggle there,” Singh said. “Fatherhood is beyond just providing for kids and families. It’s the experiences, so I encourage those to find moments and pause during the experiences and soak it up, because when your kids get grown, fatherhood doesn’t end, it evolves. But it’s different.” 


     

  

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