Barack Obama's speech on father's day of this year created a stir. He
said, "We know the statistics - that children who grow up without a
father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime;
nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more
likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral
problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves.
And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it."

The debate continues to rage, was Senator Obama disrespecting the
African American community or addressing a real problem? Can
challenges facing black families be resolved by individual men taking
greater personal responsibility or is there something more that we need to do as a society? And what has been the impact of 400 years of slavery? Laura speaks to award winning poet and educator, Mo Beasley, who says that "dehumanizing people as commodity for 400 years has scarred our soul."

Also joining the panel are Byron Hurt, an award winning documentary filmmaker, author and activist. His documentary, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes was broadcast on PBS and played in film festivals around the world, Brian Jones, an activist and a New York City public school teacher. He recently wrote an article about personal responsibility entitled, "Whose Responsibility?" And finally, Michael Jones II, a youth activist with the YaYa Network, a youth empowerment organization. He's a senior in high school.