Dear dads

One of four men will be Father of the Year, but all are 'Dear Dads.'

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published June 16, 2007

Sam Jones, a founding member of 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay, carries son Christian, 5, after a haircut in Tampa.
	[Times photo: Kathleen Flynn]

ADVERTISEMENT Herman Floyd sits with son Xavier, 3, and daughter Kaia, 7, at the University of Tampa. [Times photo: Kathleen Flynn] Les Miller, center, enjoys a moment with his daughter LeJean Harper and son Les Miller III in Tampa on Friday. Miller, the dad, is a former elected official. [Times photo: Kathleen Flynn] The Rev. Abe Brown, 80, stands with his daughters Kimberly Brown-Blount, left, and Vanessa Brown Bennett in front of a portrait of him in Tampa on Tuesday. [Times photo: Kathleen Flynn]

Sam Jones

Sam Jones nearly cries each time his 5-year-old son says "Daddy." "I can't get enough of it, " says Jones, 39. "The word 'Daddy' is the best word I've ever heard." As a child, Jones never got to say it himself. As a man, he's determined to break the stereotype of an absent father in the black family. "I know how important it is for a father figure to show up, " he says. Jones is one of four finalists for this year's Father of the Year award being presented Sunday by the 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit organization that tries to make a difference in the lives of young African-Americans. The other finalists are Herman Floyd, 42, Lesley "Les" Miller Jr., 56, and the Rev. Abe Brown, 80. All are from Tampa.

Christian Jones, 5, can't imagine sharing his father with anyone.

"My dad doesn't want another son because he only wants me, " Christian says with the kind of smile only a kindergartner can achieve. "I jump on his back, and we always play in our house when my mom is gone. I miss him when he's not around."

Instead of golf on the weekends, Sam Jones plays video games with his son. They go to the mall and dance in the aisles - even when someone is looking.

"The coolest thing is when you do have a kid, " Jones says. "Nobody in the world is perfect. But that's the closest you become. Because in his eyes, you are perfect."

Herman Floyd 

Herman Floyd has old-school ways. Even his 7-year-old daughter, Kaia, recognizes them.

"Sometimes, my dad is very strict, " Kaia says. "My dad can be very fun and angry at the same time. But I will always love him."

Floyd speaks bluntly to Omari, his 15-year-old son, about sex, drugs and respect. He believes a dad's role is to be a parent, not a friend.

"I'm hoping they will come to realize, in spite of my strictness or my tone, that he did it because he loved us, " says Floyd, a reading teacher at the Richard Milburn Academy in Bradenton.

He learned a lot from his own father, a blue-collar worker from South Carolina.

"First and foremost, know the Lord for yourself, " Floyd says, "because children will push you."

Les Miller

LeJean Harper can't remember the song that played during the father-daughter dance at her wedding reception. She does remember crying in her dad's arms.

"You look just like your mother, " Les Miller told her.

A breast cancer survivor herself, Harper, 36, had lost her mother, Cheryl, to the illness.

"That was really special to me, " Harper says. "He was being the mother and father that day."

Miller spent more than 15 years as an elected official, having served most recently in the state Senate. As busy as he was, Miller's children say he always made time for them.

"I can count on one hand the amount of football games he missed, " says Leslie "Trey" Miller III, 32.

From his father, Trey Miller has learned a strong work ethic and the importance of family.

"He's a very honorable man, " Trey Miller says. "A lot of what I try to instill in my two sons, I got from him."

Rev. Abe Brown

The Brown sisters knew early in life they couldn't hide from their name.

"There's Abe Brown's daughter, " people still say when they see them coming.

"You can't escape it, " says Vanessa Brown Bennett, 50.

Neither she nor her two sisters want to.

"It's truly an honor to be able to say he's our dad, " Bennett says.

The Rev. Abe Brown has spent most of his life being a man that people look up to, either as a coach, a pastor or a dad.

"As a father, I looked at him as an umbrella, " says Kimberly Brown-Blount, 36. "He was an example of a heavenly protector, and, of course, we wanted to go out and get wet. He's always been a praying father, and that has taught me to be a praying mother."

The sisters almost finish each other's sentences when they tell stories about their dad. They say he's a natural-born provider, always putting others needs before his own.

There's the time his car died because he was too busy helping someone else get a new one instead of repairing his own. The many umbrellas he gave to someone walking in the rain. And the innumerable chats he's had with mothers who didn't know what to do when their children gave them problems.

"His charitable spirit has taught me to have a charitable spirit, " says Ouida L. Brown, 57. "He's not caught up on how much he can have. He'd rather give."

100 Black Men of Tampa Bay

The 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay decided to focus on family and fatherhood during a dinner Sunday that commemorates June 19, 1865. Known as "Juneteenth, " it's the date that black slaves in Texas learned they were free. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, but many slaves in the South didn't find out until two years later. Tickets to the dinner cost $30. For more information, go to www.100bmtb.org. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Westin Harbour Island Hotel, 725 S Harbour Island Blvd., Tampa.

[Last modified June 16, 2007, 08:59:55]