On February 6, “SPIT’IN ANGER: Venom of a Fatherless Son” will premiere at the Spectrum Theater in Albany, New York…The film addresses the underlying issue of anger that dwells in young black males as a result of not having a nurturing relationship with their fathers.
The American “family” has changed. Non-marital births, divorce, single parents, and blended living situations have resulted in too many families without fathers. Today, as many as two in three children are growing up in homes without their fathers. The absence of fathers from the lives of their children and the weakened ties of commitment between father and son is a central cause of many of our worst individual and societal problems, such as, juvenile delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, and violence. All of these social ills are related to father absence and the anger it produces in our boys.
But, we all know the statistics and poor outcomes related to father absence. We see “the numbers” repeatedly, and perhaps this has fed the apathy around a trend that, literally, qualifies as a national crisis. To be sure, while research, books, videos, and blogs about the effects of father absence abound, none are as authentic, inspirational, or heartfelt as the documentary, “Spit’in Anger: Venom of a Fatherless Son.” Unconventional, yet truly transformational, the movie’s raw narrative told by Kenneth Braswell, one of the nation’s premier promoters of responsible fatherhood and expert interviews with Dr. Jeffery Gardere, Iyanla Vanzant, Judge Mablean Ephriam, Gary Sheffield and Dr. Jeffrey Shears… reveals how anger is a consequence of growing up without a father and raises the awareness and urgency of healing the all too common trend of father absence.
Through the authentic telling of his story, we are able to journey with Braswell as he discovers and becomes aware of his rage, wrestles with his resistance to forgive his father, and awakens to how his deep-rooted father pain continues to navigate his life. You will feel the emotion — the rejection, the raw anger, and the haunting hunger for his father–the feelings so deeply familiar and intricately woven into the psyche of the fatherless.
Braswell has spent his entire career fighting for children to have something he never did—connected, loving, involved fathers. In his emotional and at times shocking admissions, Braswell ultimately tells a story of forgiveness and hope, but as he says in the film, it is not his story; it is our story. If you had a physically or emotionally absent father, an abusive father, a deceased father; if you have or know one of the 20 million children with a detached father; if you want to help fathers be responsible and stay connected to the children they gave life to—your stories of pain, transformation, and inspiration are in this movie.
Braswell’s goal in producing Spit’in Anger is to initiate critical conversations about the importance of fathers and to create spaces for men and boys to talk about their anger and pain, but ultimately to heal. Further demonstration of Braswell’s commitment to healing father absence can be found in the Spit’in Anger Guided Workbook he developed. Braswell does not want the discussion to stop with the film. He hopes the documentary and workbook will spark the formation of men’s groups, ministries, and other safe places and opportunities for men to heal.
The film is also scheduled to be shown in New York City, Washington DC, Greensboro and Raleigh NC, Jackson MS,Philadelphia PA, Memphis TN, and Charleston SC. Additional information about Kenneth Braswell and Spit’in Anger can be found at: www.spitinanger.com or www.fathersincorporated.com.