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| Ludacris cuts his daughter’s food at the Father-Daughter Dance inside the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. |
Bronze McGhee broke out in chills the first time she attended the Ryan Cameron Foundation’s Father-Daughter Dance. There was something powerful and poignant about seeing hundreds of African American males hugging, holding and hamming it up with their daughters that penetrated her soul in a deep and unforgettable way.
No wonder she keeps coming back. And so do Ludacris, Hawks’ forward Josh Smith, and ex-professional athletes like Allen Rossum, Tyrone Hill and Theo Radcliffe, just to name a few.
Bronze McGhee was interlocked in a loving embrace with her own father, Chuck, and her sister Ebony, during the spectacular upscale soiree inside the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta on Father’s Day. All three were glowing like dinner candles as the eighth annual father-daughter celebration whirled around them.
“We at Allstate are extremely proud to be affiliated with the Ryan Cameron Father-Daughter Dance. It’s extremely important,“ Chuck McGhee said, adding that it‘s somewhat difficult to find things for fathers and daughters to do together once girls mature into young women. “The father is the head of the household, and the father represents a kind of leadership that, believe it or not, the ladies will look for when they begin looking for [their] own men. So this event is extremely important, not only to socialize with their daughters, but to show what kind of role models that they can be.”
And to steer them on a path to greatness. One of McGhee’s daughters is a mechanical engineer. The other is a clinical psychologist. “And because I taught them to kiss and make up when they argued,” he said, “They run a chain of dance schools in Birmingham [Ala.].”
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| The McGhees: Ebony, aka, Ebony Steele of the “Rickey Smiley Morning Show”; father Chuck McGhee; and daughter Bronze. |
The event takes place every Father’s Day. This one included delicious cuisine, prizes and the highly-anticipated Soul Train dance in which fathers and daughters attempt to perform some dance moves that people actually recognize. It is the highlight of the evening.
For Ebony McGhee, aka, Ebony Steele of the “Rickey Smiley Morning Show,“ these events provide prime opportunities to reminisce and reflect on how her father helped sculpt her life.
“It was definitely a difference having a father in my life. I firmly believe that women learn their nurturing and caring from their mother. But I also believe that women get their confidence and self esteem from their father,” Ebony explains. “And I know that because he was in my life, he gave me the confidence and self-esteem to succeed that a lot of women out there long for.” –terry shropshire
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| Pittsburgh Steelers star Allen Rossum and his four daughters |
