The Raising of the Son (2018)

The Raising of the Son is a documentary that takes us on a journey through the landscape of paternal impact - specifically, the presence or absence of fathers - on a society in the throes of a single mother epidemic. Narrator Mervin A. Bourne, Jr. and Director Ricardo Jackson venture through cities including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, and Bourne's hometown, Plainfield, NJ, on a mission to explore what the rivetting effects of the "new normal" of single mother households are on our most important social institutions, and the odds of raising boys into socially adjusted, successful men. Simultaneously, the film takes us along Bourne's personal journey towards reconciling the impacts of fatherlessness on his "successful" life as an attorney, author, teacher and mentor.