Happy Father’s Day!
This Father’s Day, we salute Black Father’s making an impact on the culture with our Second Annual Top 25 Black Dad Influencers List Presented by Scotch Porter! We used metrics/data to compile a list of amazing dads that included number of followers, engagement, consistency, longevity, type of content, and more to identify the most prolific dads doing their thing on social media. Keep in mind, there are WAY more than 25 black fathers making an impact, but look at this list as a yearly celebration because black fathers are not who the media says we are.
For years, there has been a negative stigma surrounding Black Fatherhood. It’s often portrayed that black men are dead beat dads or they don’t play an active role in their children’s lives. From that has grown a community of Black Dad Influencers. Black Men who are trying to break those generational curses, who are trying to change the narrative, and who are showing the world that we are just as involved, loving, and present as any other race. Becoming a parent is a joyous occasion. It is life changing! But it can be scary as hell! So, there is nothing wrong with looking to other parents for advice, fellowship, or relief. It’s nice to know there are people out there just trying to figure it out too.
The word Influencer has become synonymous with Social Media. It actually has its own definition in terms of Marketing-Influencer Marketing. An influencer is defined as someone who has: the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience; a following in a distinct niche, with whom he or she actively engages. And while most people get hung up on the “power to affect purchasing decisions” piece, at Dear Father’s the term is much deeper than that. These guys are changing the narrative on black fatherhood one social media post at a time, SALUTE!
CHECK OUT OUR 2022 LIST
25. Michael Gardner (@daddydressedmebymg)
Michael Gardner was looking for a creative way to bond with his daughter, Ava. Two hundred outfits later, his project has become a campaign encouraging dads to bond with their kids through fashion. Ava is the inspiration for Michaels fashion blog and social media campaign, which is called Daddy Dressed Me by MG. MG, of course, are his initials.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
24. Arnold Henry (@arnoldhenry)
Arnold is a husband and father of three boys, but also is very open about the loss of twins in which he considers his angle babies. On his page, you’ll find content that will make laugh, feel inspired, and think about topics you may not have thought about prior. Arnold is also a children’s book author, SALUTE!
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
23.The Peete Family (@thepeetes_)
Darrell Peete is a husband and father based in St. Louis known for his beautiful family content centered around his wife and their baby girl. Follow him for funny marriage content and a look into who he is as a dad.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
22. Hashim Lafond (@hashimlafond)
Hashim is a father of 6 with his beautiful wife and he posts great content centered around family and fatherhood. Hashim is also an artist and filmmaker that has worked with the likes of Kevin Hart, the NAACP Awards, Apryl Jones, and more.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
21. Chris Childress (@cjchildress)
Chris is a dedicated father of 4 and loves creating family centered content that includes his wife and four kids. Chris calls himself a Dad-Fluencer, so it’s only right that he made the list, SALUTE! Fun fact: Chris is also the brother of former NBA player, Josh Childress.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
20. Cornell C. Conaway (@chicodsolo)
Chico is a husband and father to his daughter Brooke who he also calls his partner in crime. In his feed you’ll find hilarious videos of their adventures along with some nice family photos. There is also inspiration for Entrepreneurs as Chico is owner of the HBCU Athlete Collection and Gainz Sportsgear.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 9
19.TJ Davidson (@tjdavidsonfilms)
TJ is a husband and father to four kids. He is also a talented videographer and photographer. His page shows how he manages being a husband and father to four as well as camera tips and tricks. He also highlights different short films and projects he’s worked on.
18. De’Brence (@youngblackdad)
De’Brence is the father based in Chicago known for his consistent content with him and his young son both wearing masks while they get ready for the day. We’ve watched his audience and engagement grow over the last year or so, so it was only right that he made the list, SALUTE!
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
17. Trevor St. Agathe (@trev_saint)
Trevor is a dedicated husband and father of two who focuses on fatherhood, family, fitness, and fashion through his content. Trevor is also a part of Netflix’s “The Circle” which is now in Season 4.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
16. The Martin Family (@officialmartinfam)
The Martin Family focuses on family fun based content featuring their kids that’ll make you laugh. The father is always at the center of the content, adding his personality and love for his kids that makes for shareable/relatable moments.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
15. Randy Pyron (@officialrandypyron)
Not like any other influencer on the list, because Randy doesn’t create content about him as a father, although he is a dad to a beautiful young daughter. Randy’s relatable black parenting content is bond to make you laugh as shares many videos on how black fathers/parents raise their children. Randy’s content has been featured on the likes of Blavity, The Shade Room, and more.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
14. Kyle Winston (@_kylewinston_)
Kyle Winston is a dope husband and father of one. Him and his wife post relatable and funny content centered around their marriage and daughter. Definitely follow Kyle for some good laughs.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
13. Chronicles of Daddy (@chroniclesofdaddy)
Muhammed is a husband and father to six! He describes himself as a Dad-Vocate, Writer, and Creator. His feed is mainly dedicated to his adventures as a father.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 7
12. J.R Rivera (@_jrrivera)
J.R. is a single father of two young children. He is also a Keynote Speaker, Educator, and Author. His feed is full of inspiration. Follow him for videos or pictures with him pouring love into his children or him giving you motivation to be a better version of yourself!
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 10
11. LaTroy Tillery (@lovethetillerys)
LaTroy is a husband and a twin dad. While his page is a joint page with his wife Nicole, it still offers much value in terms of growing as a father and family. Their page offers a lot of advice about changing your mindset to become a better version of yourself. And not to mention beautiful photos of their family and their twin Dalmatians.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 21
10. Tay Kabs/Kabs Family (@tay_kabs)
Tay is a devoted husband and father of 3. He is a content creator who vlogs his families adventures. You may recognize him from his hilarious exchanges he has with his daughter Maliya in the car.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 11
9. Kenny Allen Thomas (@kennyclutch_)
Kennith is a husband and father of four. He is best known as the Dancing Dad after a video of him dancing for his youngest son went viral. He was trying to keep his son encouraged and fighting as he battled Leukemia. His son has since survived the cancer. Kennith believed a positive mindset is what helped his son and his feed is full of positive messages and teaching others about the power of positivity.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 6
8. D’Anthony Ward (@dad_vlog)
D’Anthony is a husband and father based in Atlanta GA. D’Anthony’s page is a highlight of #dadlife. It features a lot of clips from their YouTube channel, The Dad Vlog, which is his show about a millennial family that is trying to normalize the image of a black family and share stories from the lens of a dad.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 14
7. James Meeks (@iamjamesmeeks)
James is a husband and father to three children who shares amazing family based content that gives insight to the many layers of fatherhood. If you didn’t know, James is also the host of the Dear Fathers Podcast as well as the Life Partner Gang Podcast with his wife, Tina. Check out Season 4 of the Dear Fathers Podcast on YouTube or anywhere you get your podcasts.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 16
6. Kier Gaines (@kiergaines)
Kier is a husband and father to a little girl. He’s also a licensed therapist, so it’s really fitting he went viral in video encouraging men to deal with their past trauma before becoming fathers or entering into serious relationships. And in his feed, you find a mix of him being a great family man and girl dad, along with addressing mental health issues and encouraging people to take care of their own mental health.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 4
5. La Guardia Cross (@laguardiacross)
La Guardia is a husband and father to two little girls. La Guardia is a video creator and his page is full of clips from his YouTube channel as he has funny exchanges with his daughters, who already have big personalities. It’s bound to give you a daily laugh. LaGuardia was also featured on Season 2 of the Dear Fathers Podcast, you should check it out!
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 5
4. Roland Pollard (@rolandpx90)
Roland Pollard is a dedicated husband and father based in Dallas TX that spent much of his teen and college years cheering before going on to coach competitive cheerleading for 13 years and start a company that creates custom routine music for teams. During quarantine with his family, he started posting cheerleading stunts with his now 6-year-old daughter, Jayden, and posting on social media. Those videos went viral and Roland is now making an impact by showcasing his fatherhood presence.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: NOT RANKED
3. Beleaf in Fatherhood (@beleafmel)
Glen aka Beleaf in Fatherhood, is a husband and father to four young children. He’s also an emcee and video creator. He describes his page as sharing his story to equip fathers, bring hope to mothers, and inspire children. He has a way of breaking down fatherhood in funny, relatable instances as well as create music to be the backdrop to his content and it all ties in so perfectly.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 3
2. Sean Williams/Dad Gang (@sean4real/@thedadgang)
Sean is a father of 3 and founder of The Dad Gang, which was designed to celebrate, redefine, and defend black fatherhood. Follow him and The Dad Gang for videos/photos of black fathers around the world being active, present fathers.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 4
1. Devale Ellis (@iamdevale)
Devale is a husband and father to four WHOLE boys (as he and his wife like to say). Devale is now probably most recognized as an actor, but for a lot of us (black fathers) he was one of the first people we saw on Instagram highlighting being an active, involved father. He actually used the skits he filmed with his family and their YouTube page and transcended that into an acting career. Devale was also on the Dear Fathers Podcast, watch his episode here.
PREVIOUS YEAR RANK: 1
SALUTE FOR CHECKING OUT OUR 2022 DAD INFLUENCER LIST PRESENTED BY SCOTCH PORTER!
We, at Dear Fathers, want to congratulate all the brothas on this list! Thank you for your part in changing the narrative. I hope we were able to put you on to some people who are really making an impact online. This list could’ve easily been a Top 50 and beyond because there are so many more black fathers that are using their platform to change the narrative. For the influencers that did not make the list, keep grinding and remaining consistent.