Kordale and Kaleb video 1a
If you are not familiar with Kordale and Kaleb Lewis, here's a little background on their heartwarming story. Just a year ago, the dads rose to near-instant internet fame after posting the aforementioned photo of the pair doing their daughters' hair before school.
Viral dad pic
It's hard to say exactly what it was about this picture that almost broke the internet. The men are gorgeous. They are showing their sensitive sides by doing their daughters' hair before school. Oh yeah, and they just happen to be black and gay.
Haters and internet trolls aside, the viral photo was celebrated by most for breaking several antiquated stereotypes, related to gender, race, sexuality and what a typical nuclear family looks like. The good comments in support of the photo were good, and the bad comments were despicable — tainted with ignorant homophobia and racism we would all like to forget.
Thanks to Nikon's new campaign, Kordale and Kaleb are getting another chance to show what an all-American family looks like. The Nikon "I Am Generation Image" video captures the Atlanta dads with their three kids, Desmiray, Malia and Kordale Jr., along with the family dog, Pebbles. In the video, the Lewis family can be seen doing all the day-to-day stuff that your average American family does — waking up at 5:30 a.m., eating breakfast, doing their daughters' hair and sending the kids off to school.
I am generation image
What sticks out about this beautiful family is not how normal they are — since that is easy to overlook. It is how willing they are to share themselves with the rest of the world. Kordale and Kaleb are two busy parents trying to raise their kids the best they can. They aren't obligated to put themselves in the public eye and face what is sure to be an onslaught of criticism, but they do it anyway.
As Kaleb explains, image is a powerful thing, proven by the couple's first viral Instagram pic. He says, "I think this camera, as we grow and as the family grows, will better be able to explain to everybody what type of family we are. We as parents bring kids into the world, and we have to guide them to be better people than we are, and we want them to be better people than we are. We want them to succeed and do things that we weren't able to do. Those kids have our heart."
Long gone are the days when the typical family consists of a dad, mom and two kids who live behind a white picket fence. This is the type of ad that all parents need to see because these kids could be in your child's classroom. Acceptance of all kinds of families starts at home. Kudos to Kordale, Kaleb and Nikon for showing us what the new normal looks like.
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