Devine Carama's New Song Tells Story of Disenfranchised Fathers

 

Sometimes as a father, you feel invisible. Sometimes it's mistakes you've made in the past, sometimes it's guilt. Other times it's a system that doesn't always understand or support fathers, or a society that makes many fathers accept a false reality of not being able to FEEL. I myself traveled down the wrong path in life due to being system-involved as a father and ONE Lexington works with many young men who are also struggling to navigate the different layers of fatherhood, and sometimes that leads them into the cycle of violence. 

A couple of months ago, hip hop producer JK-47 and I were approached by a research collective, composed of Rutgers University, University of Kentucky, and the Commonwealth Center for Fathers & Families. This team led a fathers focus group, centered around a host of objections, one being the perception the justice system has on fathers. I was tasked to create a song that illustrates the story of a father who feels systematically disenfranchised, misunderstood by the mother of his child, and invisible to those around him. Then we were asked to create a visual for the song. The song had to be based on the research from the focus group. At the time, our brother JK was battling the loss of his mother, I was in the middle of seasonal depression, and Brandon & Bryce were overwhelmed with incredible workloads, but somehow, we banded together to get this done!