You NEED to see this POWERFUL video of Reggie Bush on violence in the black community
I was blown away by the profound and powerful words of Reggie Bush, a former NFL running back, about how to stop the scourge of violence in the African-American community.
Here’s the video, it’s really worth watching:
⁉️Darnell's Question of The Day: In the wake of Nipsey Hussle, what can we do to reduce violence in the black community?
"My real dad wasn't in my life so the foundation of why I wanted to be so great on the field was because I wanted to make my dad jealous." —@ReggieBush pic.twitter.com/F31m3qeneE
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) April 2, 2019
Here’s part of what he said transcribed, [emphasis added]:
“This is such a deep question,” Bush started. “I’m so thankful that Fox would take this leap of faith that would allow us to talk about this because the only way I feel like things can change is if we have conversations like this — with a platform like this.”
“I will speak to my personal upbringing,” he said. “My real dad was not in my life growing up and so the foundation of why I wanted to be so great on the football field was because I wanted to make my dad jealous. I had this resentment and aggression that I grew up with towards my real dad, and as I got older I realized my dad never had his dad in his life.”
Bush’s father, now 53, didn’t meet his father until 5 years ago. The former NFL running back said most of his friends and athletes he’s met through his life didn’t have a father present in the home. He went on to say something that unfortunately has been seen as “controversial,” but is very true.
“To me, we gotta get back to the foundation at home with the parenting,” he stated. “I learned from a lot of the men through football. Football ultimately became that father for me. Now the issue with that is I’m learning from other men who are just as broken as me.”
Wow. It’s clear that he’s thought about this question a lot because he has such a personal answer for it.
“A good start is getting back to the foundation of where kids are young and making them understand, that listen, just because you have a tough upbringing doesn’t mean you can’t go on and be successful.”
“Not having a man in your life to show you how to be a man, that has significant effects. And a lot of those effects have stuck with me up into my relationship with my kids and my wife.”
This is SORELY needed to be heard in the African-American community, in the Latino community, and in the poor white community. They are all seeing skyrocketing rates of the disintegration of the family, and this has such deleterious effects that it is hard to even measure. This is how we can really begin to take back disadvantaged communities in America.
Melissa McKenzie had a good tweet about it:
That's a great catch. I'm in tears watching the clip. Heartbreaking. That cycle of shame –> anger –> poverty/hunger/need –> envy –> violence can only be changed by 1) God and 2) Love 3) Forgiveness 4) Reconciliation.
There are no easy ways to get on that path.
— Melissa Mackenzie 🌐 (@MelissaTweets) April 10, 2019