#5 Shawn Francis: You Can’t Do Everything Those White Guys Do
When was the last time you asked a good friend about where he came from, or the influences that shaped his life? Paternal host Nick Firchau and noted New Jersey-based DJ Shawn Francis have been friends for years, but they have never discussed some of the men who shaped their lives, or the challenges they face as fathers.
For Francis, the road to fatherhood wasn't always easy. His parents divorced when he was young and his father battled addictions to alcohol and drugs, and has been largely absent for much of his son's life. Although he ultimately found male role models in the form of a family friend and a supportive stepfather, he cut ties with his biological father years ago, without looking back.
On this episode of Paternal, Francis discusses his father’s alcohol and drug abuse, which man gave him The Talk and what it meant to him, and what it’s like to raise two African-American kids in Donald Trump’s America. "If my kids knew everything that was going through my head every day," Francis says, "there's no way they'd make it out of elementary school."
Follow Shawn Francis on Twitter here.
