023: Why Divorce Wasn’t Common in Our African Parent’s Generation W/ Dr. Grace & Rudolf Fombad

At the end of every episode, I always call on all the listeners to not let the conversation end with the episode; to take the conversation to various circles and have more meaningful conversations about the topics we discussed.   Today, I brought some of those conversations to light with my little circle – my dad – Dr. Rudolf Fombad, and mom – Dr. Grace Fombad. We got to discuss the general consensus about marriage in our African community, which is not based on facts by the way, that compared to our parent’s generation (baby boomers and above), we (millennials and below) don’t value marriage as much because we get divorced easily.    Mom and dad also shared their own perspectives on marital values through the generations based on experience, and we collectively shared some very insightful ideas and observations on various factors that may have influenced the outlook on marriage in our community.    I would love to hear from you, about what you think of any of the episodes that have impacted you in one way or the other. Again, let’s keep the conversation going and spark more uncomfortable but necessary conversations.   Source article mentioned in episode: https://www.goldbergjones-wa.com/divorce/divorce-by-generation/   [00:01 – 04:16] Opening Segment

• I Introduce our guests, Dad & Mom

[04:16 – 34:46] The Generations & How They View Marriage

• The generations that came before us (GI Generation, Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen X).
• The early marriage problem 

• The persistency of marriage in the times of our Parents
• How Laws made it difficult to divorce

[34:46 – 59:35] More Discussions on Why Divorce was Uncommon

• Why younger generations are quick to call it quits on marriage
• The positive effects of women empowerment
• Learning to deal with each other weaknesses
• Tips on sustaining marriage

[59:35 – 01:21:39] Final Words and Discussion

• Deeper tips on sustaining a marriage among Millennials and Gen Zs.
• The Impact of the extended family on African marriages
• Getting support from the family
• Final Words

Tweetable Quotes:

“Young people must learn how to react to the emotions of their partners in order to find solutions in their marriage.” – Dr. Grace Fombad

“In the older generation, divorce was a taboo and so most people rather stayed in marriage or faced discrimination after divorcing” – Dr. Radolf Fombad

“We have to quickly learn how to help one another to manage the home and keep our marriage.” – Anyoh Fombad

“Some women feel they’re failures for not having a successful marriage and that’s wrong. You’re valuable with or without marriage.” – Anyoh Fombad

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