BLACK

“I think because of the way we were raised, we know how to communicate. We know how to talk properly. We also know how to use some slang. For the most part, we could handle a conversation with an adult at 12 years-old. Where most kids were just trying to run around and try to play basketball. That made the perception of ‘Ohh, you white. You talkin’ like you white.’ Not even knowing the history of Black people telling other Black people that they talk like they’re white, what that does to another Black person. Instead of saying, ‘Oh man, you’re intelligent.’ It makes you feel like ‘well, I don’t want to be white!’. So then you start dumbing yourself down. You start making mistakes. You start doing things that you have no business doing because that’s what the ‘picture’ of being Black is, right? Selling drugs. The neighborhood that we lived in was like a drug alley. So we saw everything from the drug addict to the super drug dealer coming through the block everyday with a different car. And I knew everybody. I knew them all. So it was like trying to get back to my identity and where do I fit in with being cool with the drug dealer and also know how to have a full conversation with an adult on a level where most people can’t. Where do I fit in in that? And that was the struggle of trying to find out how to be ‘Black’.”
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~Kyle Brown
Father. Husband. Christ Intern.
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Kendall: “Our mom was always on us the whole time. I mean, if we didn’t have her… probably would have been way worse. She’s always been there. She’s our ride or die. She taught us to know who we are. She was really big on that. Holding true to our identity. What we are doing now, we finally understand what she meant. Because then she would always just say ‘stick to your identity- you’re a Christ follower. You’re a king. My sons are men of valor and righteousness.’ We would always be like ‘what are you talking about?’. Now we understand and we appreciate it. I just remember going to bible school and she would be teaching. She would always say ‘make sure you have an opinion’. I wish I would have known how to use my opinion for the better. She has definitely been an influence on us holding true to our identity.”
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Kyle: “My mom had a voicemail and I hated it so much. You would call her phone and she would never answer. She still doesn’t answer. It would say: ‘Hello, who are you and what do you want?’ And it was like a two-fold question. It was like ‘who are you and what do you want from me?’ but also ‘who are you and what do you want?’. She would drill that into us. I remember her asking us that question like ‘Wake up! Who are you and what do you want?’. Like mom… I want to go to sleep! But she just drilled that and drilled that and drilled that. To the point where it’s like, now I am asking myself ‘Who am I and what do I want?’. Identity in the whole just makes a better person. When you know who you are and you know your values, you eliminate a lot of crap. And when storms come, you know how to anchor down.”
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~Kyle & Kendall
Brothers. Christ Interns.
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