My father was a sprinter. He was able to leave the Caribbean on an scholarship, which is how he got to the USA. He also was a wide receiver in college.
My father was, in many ways, the prototypical "good black man" that a lot of black women are complaining about not being able to find. He was athletic (again, sports scholarship), highly educated (PhD at Northwestern), and somewhat well-off (had reasonably high administrative positions at major universities in the USA). He indulged in a myriad of hobbies that typically mark the adventurous, interesting male (was a licensed pilot, had a boat and frequently sailed, rode motorcycles, fixed up old European cars, always drove a Benz, etc).
My mother was absolutely head-over-heels in love with him...and so were all of the other attractive black women. The gender gap in the black community
is massive, much bigger than it is with any other ethnic group. Educated black women
outnumber their male counterparts by a factor of well over 2-1. Because of this
huge imbalance, the highly educated, heterosexual (gay black men get much more common the higher up the academic ladder you go, and they outnumber the black lesbians) black male with a good income is a very rare commodity. There aren't enough to go around for the black women who prefer them, and when you factor in other girls (white, hispanic and asian girls like these men too), things get very competitive.
All of this gave my father a lot of options, and he used them. His status combined with his easygoing, very confident persona ensured that he always had a lot of options. During their short marriage, my mother was consistently fielding calls from women to the house and fighting them off. Eventually, she lost the battle-my father began openly cohabiting with another woman while my mother was pregnant with me, and my mom moved for separation. She left their home and never looked back.
My father had 4 children by three different women. I've never met him or any of my half-siblings. I assume his notch count is well over 20.