From Nashville to Chicago's South Side, fatherlessness haunts America

On my long walk across America, I took a weekend detour and found myself in Music City, Nashville. Tennessee is my home state, and I’ve always loved coming to Nashville. The neon lights of Broadway, the music pouring out from bars, voices rising spontaneously in song and, of course, those stumbling with too much whiskey in them. 

Yet, for some reason, as I talked to folks I met — from musicians and churchgoers to families and the young — I could sense a certain tension and uncertainty in their voices about the present and the future.