1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: The sound was filled with all the hustle and bustle 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: that comes with being in a major city, not just 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: not just not just any major city. I'm in New York, 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: and I want to share with you on this special 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: day and week where we honor our fathers. What this 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: father learned as I got my tickets and went into 7 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: lay miserab and began to witness Broadway actors at their best, 8 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: conveying a message that though it was a period piece, 9 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: it is a dateless truth. As a father, a bereaved 10 00:00:53,800 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: father holds his son in his arms and praised through 11 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: the lyrics of a song, let him live. Until you 12 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: had a child that you really loved and their life 13 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: was threatening, You don't know what laymans are of is 14 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: all about. But if you have ever held up an infant, 15 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: or a toddler, or a teenager stricken with some dread 16 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: disease and said, just let him live. He doesn't have 17 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: to be rich or famous, or mighty or powerful, just 18 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: let him live. 19 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 2: To play. 20 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: Toured all over the world, because every true father wants 21 00:01:50,840 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: his children to live, to thrive, to flourish, to end. 22 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,639 Speaker 1: It was a lot of crowding. A big crowd gathered around, 23 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: people getting out of all types of limousines and cars 24 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: and calves and uber and everything else, rushing to get inside. 25 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: No line's no waiting over here. Come this way, Come 26 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: this way, Come this way. I've got bills for you, 27 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: I've got kits for you. I've got seating for you. 28 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: If you're seated in the lobby, go this way. All 29 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: this noise is going on, people rushing to get refreshments 30 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: before it all starts. And once it started, it nailed 31 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: me to my seat. You see, most men know that 32 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: atmospheres often developed outcomes. I will never forget the sound 33 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: of the shriek of Daddy King's, the father of MLK Jr. 34 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: Shrill scream could be heard audibly wailing at his forty 35 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: year old son's funeral because they did not let him live. 36 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: Or President Biden and doctor Jill Biden eyes filled with 37 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,839 Speaker 1: tears as they mentioned the loss of their son as 38 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: if it only happened yesterday. I remember distinctly avoiding my 39 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: trip after I had arrived in South Africa, only to 40 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: find my own son, my young son, who is my 41 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: oldest son, had had a heart attack. How could that 42 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: be possible? How could that even be possible. That's unthinkable 43 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: that a child, a young person still in high school, 44 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: could have a heart attack. It was unheard of. I 45 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: didn't sleep or eat till the plane landed back at DFW, 46 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: and all I wanted them to do was to let 47 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: me get off this plane to see about my son. 48 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: He heard me coming down the hall. He said, that 49 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: sounds like my daddy coming. I had told him before 50 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: I left. I said, whatever you do, don't you fool 51 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: around and slip away till I get there. I'm coming, 52 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: and I'm coming now. And he was waiting on me. 53 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,799 Speaker 1: I climbed over in the bed and shaved the hairs 54 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: off his chest, and they as they prepared to give 55 00:04:54,880 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: him another EKG, I prayed that we did not lose him, 56 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: as his mother was right by my side. I realize 57 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: that parenting never ever really stops or goes away today 58 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: in our country, in America, it has been said that 59 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: America is undergoing a massive structural shift. According to the 60 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: US Census Bureau, approximately eighteen point two million children, nearly 61 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: one in four, live without a biological, step or adoptive father. 62 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 2: In the home. 63 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: Despite the persistent cultural stereotype of the absent black father, 64 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: federal data from the CDC reveals that black fathers more 65 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: times than not, are often at home who live with 66 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: a children are actually more likely to eat meals, to bathe, dress, 67 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: and read to their children daily than fathers of other 68 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: racial demographics. I don't know how they stuck us with that, 69 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: but they did, and we don't seem to be able 70 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:25,600 Speaker 1: to get it off of us. I'm reminded of the 71 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: scripture I read one day in the fourth chapter of 72 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:33,239 Speaker 1: the Gospel of the Book of Malachi, the sixth verse, 73 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: he will return the hearts of the parents to their children, 74 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: and the hearts of the children to their parents. I 75 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: am not a man who does not respect women and 76 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: the tremendous role they play in the house with the kids, 77 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: with the man, with the dog, with the cat, with 78 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: the kid, and with the goldfish. They were awesome, They're incredible. 79 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: They're the premier breadwinners. Often in our homes, they are 80 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: more likely to have multiple degrees or master's degrees. 81 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 2: Than the men. 82 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: And now we're living in now it is narrow minded 83 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: to think that she cannot do it alone in providing 84 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: the masculine atmosphere, the biological needs, and the spiritual guidance 85 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: that Paul says, when I became a man, I put 86 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: away childish things. But there are some things that are 87 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: not about degrees, nor dollars, nor cents nor change. It 88 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: is the special elixir that a boy gets from his 89 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: father that helps him to know who he is and 90 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: what he can do, and what he can be, and 91 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: what he can have and how he can grow. He 92 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: gets that from his father. He gets that from having 93 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: the praise of his father saying, you did, good son. 94 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: The father carries the child after the mother is finished 95 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: carrying the child. Indirectly or directly, he ends up in 96 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: the father's arms. And if you are a good father, 97 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: and there are still some, there are still some that 98 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: are out there that are good fathers. A real father 99 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: carries his children, whether boy or girl, in his walk, 100 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: in his heart, and in his spirit, so long as 101 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: he lives, supplementing what the mother has given out of 102 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: her mind and even her body. And so this is 103 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: not just a check or an occasional visit to the 104 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:52,839 Speaker 1: bowling alley or something or someplace. He gives wisdom, guidance, 105 00:08:52,880 --> 00:09:04,559 Speaker 1: and male perspective and provides some capital, coverage, courage, or 106 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: dreams of safety. To his son. These are those fathers, 107 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: imperfect though they were. There are no perfect children either, 108 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: and yet together. 109 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 2: We rise. 110 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: Often you go into a role that you have not seen, 111 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: but the children don't often understand that that you don't. 112 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: Babies don't come with manuals or textbooks on how to 113 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: raise them, how to respond to every situation, and that 114 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: you're trying to manage raising a son while you're trying 115 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: to hold a marriage together. As she asks you for 116 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: things that are not always in your purview, nor demonstrated 117 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: in your home, nor exhibited in your life, and yet 118 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: they are expected of you. Often the woman grows up 119 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: playing house and playing dress up and playing with Barbie 120 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: and Ken and all of that, and you were playing 121 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: with technology or games of war when you said I 122 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: do You did it, but you didn't know what it 123 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: was until you were in it. Creating an open door 124 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: of communication is critical. 125 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 2: Oh but my. 126 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: God, let me tell you right now, it is difficult. 127 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: It is not just about what you say, it is 128 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: about what you meant about what you said. 129 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 2: So a full fledged salute. 130 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: To all the fathers who stuck it out and hung 131 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: on in there, to all the fathers who showed up 132 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: To all the fathers who protected and fought with all 133 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,880 Speaker 1: their heart and all their strength to make the life 134 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: better for the boy and girl they raised than it 135 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: was for them. To all the fathers who picked up 136 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: extra jobs to help with tuition. To the fathers who 137 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: showed up at football games half asleep, yet cheering in 138 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: the stands for a son tired from work, weary from labor, 139 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: warned from debate, tired of arguing, but he was still there. 140 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: To all the fathers who ignored the voice that said, 141 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: just walk away from all of it and don't be 142 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 1: bothered anymore. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers who 143 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: fathered from a sale block and send letters and cards 144 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: and notes, just wanting their children to know that I 145 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: might be confined, but I'm still caring, and that it 146 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: is not weak, and it is not wrong, and it 147 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: is not feminine to love your child. To all the 148 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:24,719 Speaker 1: fathers who showed their sons how to navigate a weight room, 149 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: but we're not afraid to grab a kleenex and shed 150 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: a tear. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers who 151 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: endured hardness as good soldiers write in the eye view 152 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: and the purview of their own sons and daughters, telling 153 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: their daughters what to look for in a man, and 154 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: telling their sons what to be in the man that 155 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: a woman is looking for. I told my daughters, try 156 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: not to pick any man that doesn't love you as 157 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: much as I do, because I become the benchmark and 158 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: the standard of what male love looks like. And I 159 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 1: want you to understand it. And if it doesn't look 160 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: like this, rejected, it can be more, but it cannot 161 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: be less, because this is a real thing who will 162 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: do anything and everything to make sure that they have 163 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: something to eat and clothes to wear, and that they 164 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: are not laughed off the school bus. That's what it's 165 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 1: all about. And I know, I know sometimes we are 166 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: not acknowledged, and sometimes we don't get credit, and sometimes 167 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: the mothers don't either, and sometimes we have flaws and 168 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 1: we have faults, and we're not the heroes that you 169 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: read about in books that saw in movies. But we 170 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: were there and a crazy way of expressing it, and 171 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: sometimes got angry and sometimes got frustrated, but we were there. 172 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: We salute you. We salute you for fixing cars in 173 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: the backyard to get a few bucks to help us 174 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: get ready to get a bow tie for graduation. We 175 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: salute you for walking us down to the corner where 176 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: the bullies were and fighting for us and standing for us, 177 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: and letting them know that we were not alone in 178 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: this world. We may end up alone, but today I 179 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: am not alone in this world. 180 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 2: We salute you. 181 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: We salute the little boy in you that didn't even 182 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: want to walk down the street, but he pushed through it, 183 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: and the man showed up holding his child by the hand, 184 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: ready to ward off the bully because he was a father. 185 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 2: We salute you for the pta meetings you went to. 186 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: After you got off work, smelling like motorole, but you 187 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: were there. We salute you for the letters you wrote, 188 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: and the times you fought for us, and even for 189 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: the times you came to see us when we were 190 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: in detention, when we were in prison, when we were 191 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: in drug addiction centers, when we were in trouble. We 192 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: come to say, I know it doesn't pay, but we 193 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: come to say Happy Father's Day to you. It did 194 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: not go unnoticed, It was not unseen. It was valuable. 195 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: It is important. We saw you fall asleep in the 196 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: chair in the hospital when we were sick, and because 197 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: you were there, we were rich. We were absolutely and 198 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: completely rich. We had all that the greatest of men 199 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: have ever had when we had you. And to those 200 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: of you who failed at that and didn't do that, 201 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: and hearing this strikes grief in your heart, it is 202 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: never too late to write or wrong. Come clean, throw 203 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: your hands up, come out with your hands up, and say, 204 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: I surrender to the task I used to run from, 205 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: because now the little boy and me has got old 206 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: enough to take care of the little boy in you. 207 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: Happy Happy Father's Day to every man who raised a 208 00:16:55,120 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: child that was not biologically his own. Happy Father's Day 209 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,959 Speaker 1: to every man who blended a family that wasn't born together, 210 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: but somehow they made it work and they stuck together. 211 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: Happy Father's Day to every man who showed his daughter 212 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: how to treat a woman by how he treated her mother. 213 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: Happy father Stay to you, to every man who made 214 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: less money but had no less love than the mother did. 215 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,919 Speaker 1: To the ones who climbed up under the sinks with 216 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,199 Speaker 1: wrenches and water pouring down into their face, trying to 217 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,360 Speaker 1: fix a drain that was stuck even though they were 218 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: too tired. 219 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 2: To do it. 220 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,679 Speaker 1: We want to say Happy Father's Day and thank you, 221 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: thank you, for staying against all odds, against everything that 222 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: everybody would say thank you for. I know something about 223 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: being a father, not because I'm a perfect father, not 224 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: because I always got it right, but I always showed 225 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: up for the fight, and I always held my ground, 226 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:21,959 Speaker 1: and I never sent my woman in to do a 227 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:28,120 Speaker 1: man's job. I know something about it. And now as 228 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: I get it into the autumn of my life, not 229 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: as I didn't say winter, I said outam of my life, 230 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: and I transitioned to the leadership of the Potter's House 231 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: to my daughter and son in law, Torrey and Sarah. 232 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: It represents the ultimate paternal handoff, moving from parenting children 233 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 1: to empowering successors. What would it gain me to gain 234 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: the whole world and have nobody to hand it to? 235 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: What would it do for me if I succeed in 236 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: life and I'm a failure in depth? What is success 237 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: without a successor? What would it mean if all I 238 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: did was put bread in on your table and no 239 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:21,639 Speaker 1: thought in your head? 240 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 2: What would it mean. 241 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: If I got you the car, but I didn't get 242 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: you the class that it takes to be a cut 243 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: above a thug? What would it mean? It would mean 244 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: you had a father and somebody else didn't. So today, 245 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: on this momentous occasion, on this brief celebration, as you 246 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 1: open up the gifts, that's probably a tie or some 247 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: cuff links, or sometimes it's something you don't even know 248 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: what to do with it. Sometimes you knew they drew 249 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: a picture, and you can't even tell what the picture is. 250 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: It's just the language of a child trying to utter 251 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: the linguistics of love. If you decode the picture before 252 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: you stick it on the refrigerator, it says, I love you, daddy, 253 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:37,479 Speaker 1: I really really love you. My question becomes as a 254 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: black man who often feels castigated in the media, as 255 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: a black man who often feels invisible in the movies, 256 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: as a black man who often feels misaligned with his 257 00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: truth by their teachers. How do we dismantle the media's 258 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: myth of the absent father, the absent black father, so 259 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: that matter, that absent white father, while still addressing the 260 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: very real crisis of fatherlessness in our neighborhoods. How do 261 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: we dismantle it, break by brick, block by block, until 262 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: it is no longer strange to see a daddy with 263 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: his child on his shoulder, raising all them up high. 264 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: Enough to see what's going on on the field, or 265 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: in the game, or in the play. What is the 266 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: difference between being a biological father and being a paternal 267 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: anchor for a generation that is searching for direction, for guidance. 268 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: I dare say even for correction, because if I get correction, 269 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 1: correction can often be an indication of caring. What will 270 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: it do for me? What will it do for my 271 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: daughters to see a man grow old, to learn how 272 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,360 Speaker 1: to get older, how to dress, how to walk, how 273 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: to talk, how to speak, how to stand, how to 274 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: fight with a cane in your hand? What will it 275 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: mean to have old age modeled to us as we age, 276 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,919 Speaker 1: so that we won't think that our only value is 277 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 1: in the things that we give, and the things that 278 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: we do, and the places that we go and the 279 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: things that we say, that our only value is performance. 280 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:49,439 Speaker 1: To translate from performance to presence to being there to understand, Lord, 281 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: I'm not asking for much. I'm just holding my children 282 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: up to you, saying, let him live, Let her live 283 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: and live more abundantly and live better without competing with me. 284 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: Let me see that my sacrifices, that the times I 285 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 1: drove home when I didn't want to come added up 286 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: to something worth the compromise. The steps of a good 287 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: man have been ordered by the Lord, so says the scriptures. 288 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: But there are sometimes we don't get in those ordered steps, 289 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:45,119 Speaker 1: we get in those imperfect steps. The pressure to have 290 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: it all figured out is immense. It's incredible to be 291 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: Captain America and Superman and King King Kong all rolled 292 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: up in one How can we be Mandela and still 293 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:14,399 Speaker 1: be Joseph enough to find a major The pressure to 294 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: have it all figured out is immense in our world, 295 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 1: particularly for men, and the criticisms have become louder and 296 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: more robust because we have more ways to communicate, and 297 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: we speak out of pain and rejection and hurt and disappointment. 298 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: And many of it is legitimate and it did happen, 299 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: But why cover us all with one blanket? Americans are 300 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: exposed to idealized versions of success, leading to high rates 301 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: of imposter syndrome, and you wonder, in the middle of 302 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,160 Speaker 1: the night, can I. 303 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 2: Do it anymore? 304 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: Labor statistics show that the average American will hold roughly 305 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: twelve different jobs in his lifetime twelve twelve different jobs 306 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: by the age of fifty five, indicating that career and 307 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: life paths are all most entirely experimental and rather than 308 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: pre planned, their spontaneous by faith. Abraham, when called to 309 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,360 Speaker 1: go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, 310 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: obeyed and went. He went into the unknowns. Even though 311 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: he did not know where he was going, he still went. 312 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: I raised my children in a noisy house, with the 313 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: sound of glee and footsteps and bicycles out in the 314 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,120 Speaker 1: front yard, and kids fussing and fighting and going at 315 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: each other and sometimes arguing over who was going to 316 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: get the last drumstick. I raised my house. The sound 317 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: of their father became music for my fears, calling me, 318 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: sedating me. It became a place that I call home. 319 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: It became real to me, It became personal to me. 320 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,199 Speaker 1: It became legitimate to me. And I didn't have to 321 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:48,440 Speaker 1: pretend to be anybody special. I could just be myself. 322 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: The migration that I took to move my family from 323 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: West Virginia to Dallas was staggering. I'm sure they would 324 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 1: think I was crazy. I didn't have a massive corporation 325 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: or strategy. I had a mandate and a willingness, a 326 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: willingness to step away from the familiar to the unfamiliar. 327 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: To adapt to a rapidly growing, multi ethnic, megative church 328 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: model was terrifying. I mean terrifying. I had passed the 329 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: churches that had forty people in them, eighty people and 330 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: maybe one hundred and twenty people if you kind of 331 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,920 Speaker 1: dead people and pregnant folks. I passed all of that, 332 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: and now I'm in a church where fifteen one hundred 333 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 1: people joined the first Sunday. But am I not the 334 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,959 Speaker 1: same person? Regardless of the size of the car, or 335 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: the house or the person, am I not the same person? 336 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: Your values remained the same. Your anointing remains the same. 337 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: If you did it for the right reason, your anointing 338 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: remains the same. Happy Father, stay to every spiritual father 339 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: who stood in the gap, for natural fathers who walked away, 340 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 1: who went out of their way to give comfort and 341 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: to give ideas and thoughts and creativity to young men 342 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: and older men and middle aged men who had no 343 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 1: older man to go to media and film ventures. I 344 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:37,399 Speaker 1: did a plenty stepping into Hollywood as a producer without 345 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: formal cinematic training. Learning the business through trial and error 346 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: and strategic relationships was my task, was my joy, was 347 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: my fear, and was my indigestion, was my nerves? Oh 348 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: my God. To work with people that I had only 349 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: seen on TV and now they were on a set 350 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: that I was in charge of, was just staggering. What 351 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: I'm trying to tell you is that fatherhood has many 352 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: branches and many leaves, and points in many directions, and 353 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: don't die until you've explored every one of them. There 354 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: may be more in you than what they see. There 355 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: may be more in you than what they expect. There 356 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,720 Speaker 1: may be more in you than what you realize or 357 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: what the bully said about you. There may be much more. 358 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: How do you find the courage to take a step 359 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: when you can only see two feet in front of you, 360 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: and then the rest of the path is shrouded in 361 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: fog and uncertainty, and you can hear your heart beat 362 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: in your chest like a set of drums. That's what 363 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: life is like for leaders, for fathers, and even for 364 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: some others. It's like that. Why the fear of looking 365 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: foolish the greatest enemy of our manhood? How did you 366 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 1: overcome the fear of making mistakes in front of a 367 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: global audience. There's always fear. Guess what faith is for 368 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: faith is painted best on the canvas of fear. It 369 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: needs something to overcome and something to slay, and something 370 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: to fight. And to all of you who fought and won, 371 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: though bloody, scarred, tattered, and torn, we wish you a 372 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: happy Father's Day. For all of you who tackled when 373 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: you wanted to run away from the gold post, Happy 374 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: Father's Day, for all of you who stood when you 375 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: wanted to shrink away. Happy Father's Day. And maybe that 376 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: son that's watching you will take notes and even meet 377 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: or beat the model you said of being a father. 378 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: And maybe he doesn't know that you were making steps 379 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: without a stage, without a pattern, without a blueprint. Maybe 380 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: he won't recognize that you were fighting in the dark, 381 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 1: but you were fighting just the same. How do we 382 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: balance strategic planning with spiritual necessity or spontaneity? I'll answer 383 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: that for you. You just don't quit. You plan, You 384 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: make plans, but you have the dexterity and the flexibility 385 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: to be able to move when you need to move, 386 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: and go when you need to go, and do what 387 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: you need to do. Because that's what fathers do. Fathers 388 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: hear the cry of their children on a cross, and 389 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: Fathers Week out of the heavens when their children are 390 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: in the Jordan River, and fathers protect their sons to 391 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: the grave and pray for them, And fathers take their 392 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: sons when they've collapsed in the garden and revived them 393 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:24,959 Speaker 1: to stand back up again. To all of you real 394 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: fathers who were not afraid to try, and were even 395 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: willing to die to make it happen, we salute you today. 396 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: There may not be anything in that box but a 397 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 1: tie or a shoe or a cufflink. But don't be 398 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: fooled by the size of the gift. The size of 399 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: the gratitude is much greater, much stronger, much more massive, 400 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: much more humongous, much more intoxicating, much more inspirational, much 401 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: more dedicating, to the souls of a man who would 402 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:12,840 Speaker 1: just just don't worry about. 403 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 2: Winning, just try, just fight back, Just get up again. 404 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: Scarred and bloody and tattered and torn and mud all 405 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: over you, and scarred knees and bruised arms, get back 406 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:38,719 Speaker 1: up again for a last My dear father, you are 407 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: the only hero I have ever gotten to see close 408 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: enough to understand the cost of what it takes to 409 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 1: be you. And so on this Father's Day, I send 410 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: you my heart, my love, my greetings, my well wishes, 411 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 1: my thoughts, my hopes and prayers, and maybe somehow, by 412 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,439 Speaker 1: the grace of God, you'll get something that I could 413 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: not buy in the store. You'll get the courage to 414 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 1: carry on because somebody is watching you. Somebody is watching you, 415 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:28,440 Speaker 1: and it may be more than the people in your house. 416 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:31,880 Speaker 1: It may be the little boy down the street that 417 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: has no father, that's inspired every time your car pulls 418 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: out the driveway early in the morning to go to 419 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: work again, every night shift you work, every time you 420 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:48,359 Speaker 1: work over, every time you decorate the front yard even 421 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: though you don't want to. It means a lot. It 422 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: means our community, It means our county, It means our city, 423 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: It means our state, it means our country, It means 424 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:08,000 Speaker 1: our future. It means everything worth fighting for is wrapped 425 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: up in you. Thank your Dad, Love you man. You're 426 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:22,919 Speaker 1: too cool for school, and I just wanted to tell 427 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: you how Big Father's Day