MY DAD: THE MAN: BLACK DAUGHTERS IN PRAISE OF THEIR FATHERS

Linda Johnson Rice, Melody Spann Cooper and Maggie Brown are among contributors.
Photo courtesy of wyn-win communications
Photo courtesy of wyn-win communications

Twenty-five Black Daughters Honor 26 Fathers in the Groundbreaking New Anthology,

MY DAD: THE MAN: BLACK DAUGHTERS IN PRAISE OF THEIR FATHERS

Edited by Dr. Carol L. Adams

 

Linda Johnson Rice, Melody Spann Cooper and Maggie Brown are among contributors.

 

CHICAGO, IL — At a time when the narrative around Black fatherhood too often centers on

absence, My Dad: The Man: Black Daughters in Praise of Their Fathers tells a different and long overdue story. Arriving just in time for Father's Day 2026, this powerful anthology brings together 25 Black daughters to honor the 26 fathers who made them who they are — and in doing so, offers the world a portrait of Black fatherhood it has rarely seen. Visit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3P3736V


Edited by Dr. Carol L. Adams — applied sociologist, cultural architect, civic activist, and

one of Chicago's most distinguished leaders — the collection gathers some of the most

remarkable women in American public life and asks them to open the most private room of their hearts: the one that holds their fathers.


Among the 26 fathers celebrated in My Dad: The Man – the founder of Johnson Publishing Company — home of Ebony and Jet magazines; a Trinidadian immigrant who crossed continents for love and family; a sharecropper's son who became a broadcasting pioneer; a civil rights warrior and political prisoner; a Renaissance man and decorated military officer; a Chicago physician who made house calls and never turned away a patient; and a jazz legend whose genius became his daughter's inheritance. Each father a world unto himself. Each one irreplaceable.


The daughters they raised are equally extraordinary. Contributors include Tracie D. Hall —

named to TIME magazine's TIME 100 list and the first Black woman to lead the American

Library Association in its nearly 150-year history; Linda Johnson Rice — Chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Company and the first African American woman among the top five of Black Enterprise's 100 largest Black-owned companies; Melody Spann Cooper — Chairman and CEO of Midway Broadcasting Corporation and the first Black woman to own and operate a radio station in the nation's third-largest market; Natalie Moore — award-winning journalist and author; D. Soyini Madison — Professor Emerita of Northwestern University and Senior Fulbright Scholar; Maggie Brown — vocalist and daughter of the legendary Oscar Brown Jr.; and 20 others whose voices together constitute one of the most powerful collections of Black women's writing in recent memory.


The anthology spans six sections — Southern Gentlemen, Movin’ On Up!, Activists and

Game Changers, Generation North, Diaspora Stories, and Gen X Dads — each representing a different chapter in the story of Black fatherhood in America. Together they form a complete portrait: raw, joyful, heartbreaking, triumphant, and above all, true.


"These fathers were not exceptions," writes Dr. Adams. "They were the rule. And it is long

past time we said so."


Inspired by Leon Thomas's lyricization of Horace Silver's iconic “Song for My Father” —

“to be devoted to, and always stand by me, so I’d be unafraid and free” — this anthology stands as a testament to what Black fathers have always given their daughters: certainty, courage, and the freedom to become exactly who they were meant to be.


The book's cover features a work from the celebrated “Black Men, White Shirts” series by

acclaimed Chicago artist Candace Hunter — a painting that captures the dignity, strength, and quiet power at the heart of this collection.


My Dad: The Man is available exclusively on Amazon just in time for Father's Day at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3P3736V


CONTRIBUTORS

Carol L. Adams — “The Chief / My Rock” — In Tribute to William Clarence Adams

Natalie Barkley Brown Jones — “Don’t Just Look, SEE!” — In Tribute to Nat Brown

Shelley A. Davis — “Sufficient Funds” — In Tribute to Milton Davis

Tracie D. Hall — “Joy and Pain” — In Tribute to George Bernard Hall

Gloria C. Jenkins & Lola J. Jenkins — “Ask for What You Want First” — In Tribute to Ernest

Jenkins

Terri A. Johnson — “Love Lifted Me” — In Tribute to Randall Johnson

Linda Johnson Rice — “Chosen” — In Tribute to John Harold Johnson

Natalie Moore — “Eyes on the Prize” — In Tribute to Joseph Moore

Rhonada Maséqua Myers — “Perfect Enough” — In Tribute to Willie Myers

Charmaine Rickette — “The Secret Is in the Sauce” — In Tribute to Gus Rickette

Melody Spann Cooper — “From Sharecropper to Shareholder” — In Tribute to Purvis Spann

Deana Dean — “Love STILL Conquers All” — In Tribute to Lorenza Clark

D. Soyini Madison — “Never Cross a Picket Line” — In Tribute to James Samuel Madison

Yvonne Malaika Orr — “See You Later, Instigator!” — In Tribute to Delbert Orr Africa

Afrika Porter — “Thank You Daddy” — In Tribute to Rev. Dr. Kwame John R. Porter

Maggie Brown — “Me and My Daddy Inspired Each Other” — In Tribute to Oscar Brown Jr.

Honey Crawford — “Love From the Other Side” — In Tribute to Bobby Crawford

Amina Dickerson — “The Renaissance Man of Brookland” — In Tribute to Lt. Colonel Julius J. Dickerson

Shari Runner — “Dr. Runner’s Daughter” — In Tribute to Dr. Charles Jefferson Runner

Toi L. Salter — “A Tale of Two Dads” — In Tribute to George & Norwood

Pilar Audain — “Building the Plane As We Fly” — In Tribute to Carroll Audain

Deborah Brown Farmer — “Bajan Bond: A Love Letter to My Island King” — In Tribute to

Conrad Lionel Brown

Ugochi Nwaogwugwu — “A Woman’s First” — In Tribute to Josiah Nwaogwugwu

Jade Foreman — “Be the Wind” — In Tribute to Ghian Foreman

Kyra D. Woods — “Rememory” — In Tribute to Michael Woods


ABOUT THE EDITOR

Dr. Dr. Carol L. Adams is an applied sociologist, cultural architect, civic activist, poet, and

author whose career spans five decades of transformative work in Chicago and beyond. Among her many leadership roles: President and CEO of the DuSable Museum of African American History, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, Executive Director of the House of Blues Foundation, and Director of African American Studies at Loyola University. Known for her development acumen, she has raised over $400 million for public and private institutions. She is the author of That’s All She Wrote: Reflections and Remembrances, a collection of poetry, and is recognized as “The Original Cultural Architect” of Chicago. My Dad: The Man is her most personal project — a tribute to the father who gave her everything, and to the 25 daughters who trusted her with their most precious memories.


BOOK DETAILS

Title: My Dad: The Man: Black Daughters in Praise of Their Fathers

Editor: Dr. Carol L. Adams

ISBN: 979-8-197147-70-7

Price: $30.00 USD

Available: Amazon.com — June 2026

Format: Paperback, 194 pages

Cover Art: “Black Men/White Shirts #4” © Candace Hunter


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