Honoring the Fathers We Carry With Us
Mood Magazine Father’s Day Series
Father’s Day can be filled with celebration.
But for many people, it is also filled with memory.
A chair at the table that sits empty.
A voice no longer heard in the next room.
A phone number still saved in a contact list.
A recipe written in familiar handwriting.
A favorite snack that instantly brings them back.
For those who have lost their fathers, Father’s Day is often less about gifts and more about remembrance.
It becomes a day of gratitude for lessons learned, sacrifices made, and moments that seemed ordinary until they became memories.
Sometimes we honor our fathers by telling their stories.
Sometimes we honor them by continuing their traditions.
And sometimes we honor them simply by gathering the people they loved most.
This Father’s Day, Mood Magazine highlights Black-owned businesses whose products often find their way into family gatherings, celebrations, cookouts, quiet reflections, and moments of remembrance.
Because food has a way of connecting generations.
And love has a way of surviving long after someone is gone.
The Remembrance Collection
TeaSquared
Founded by husband-and-wife team Brandon and Ashlee Burroughs, TeaSquared offers handcrafted loose-leaf teas designed to bring people together.
Perfect for the quiet moments when memories deserve space.
Website: TeaSquared
Detroit Hives
Built on community, sustainability, and healing, Detroit Hives produces honey while transforming vacant lots into places of beauty and purpose.
A reminder that growth can emerge from loss.
Website: Detroit Hives
Aunt Ethel’s Pot Pies
Inspired by family recipes and Southern tradition, these comforting dishes evoke the feeling of home.
Because some meals feel like conversations with the people who taught us how to cook them.
Website: Aunt Ethel’s Pot Pies
Cupcake Collection
Founded by Mignon Francois, this beloved bakery has built its reputation on family, faith, and perseverance.
A sweet reminder that joy remains part of every family’s story.
Website: The Cupcake Collection
Kahawa 1893
Founded by Margaret Nyamumbo, Kahawa 1893 honors generations of African coffee farmers through every roast.
For fathers whose wisdom still fuels us long after they’re gone.
Website: Kahawa 1893
Me and the Bees Lemonade
Created by entrepreneur Mikaila Ulmer, this nationally recognized lemonade company combines purpose with flavor.
A celebration of legacy, entrepreneurship, and passing something meaningful to the next generation.
Website: Me & the Bees Lemonade
What Fathers Leave Behind
Many fathers never realize the impact they have.
They think their contribution was paying bills.
Driving to practice.
Working long hours.
Showing up when needed.
But years later, their children remember different things.
The jokes.
The advice.
The songs they played.
The meals they cooked.
The traditions they started without knowing they were creating traditions at all.
The greatest inheritance many fathers leave behind is not financial.
It is emotional.
It is spiritual.
It is cultural.
It lives in family gatherings.
It lives in recipes.
It lives in stories.
It lives in us.
This Father’s Day, whether your father is sitting beside you, across town, or living only in memory, take time to honor the legacy he helped build.
Tell a story.
Share a meal.
Pass down a tradition.
Keep a memory alive.
Because love does not disappear when someone leaves the table.
It simply takes its seat in our hearts.
Featured Brands
TeaSquared • Detroit Hives • Aunt Ethel’s Pot Pies • The Cupcake Collection • Kahawa 1893 • Me & the Bees Lemonade
Join the Conversation
What is one tradition, meal, or memory that reminds you of your father?
Tag @MoodMagazineNYC and use #MoodFathersDay to share the stories, traditions, and legacies that continue to shape your family.
Mood Magazine. Mind. Body. Spirit. Culture. Harlem to the world.\
by Jarvus Ricardo Hester
