Howard Thurman once said, “Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Since I was born everyone that I came encounter with always told me that I was chosen for something great. Growing up I battled with what that “something” was. As a child I spent most of my time organizing rallies in my community and regularly participating in a local radio show that focused on youth empowerment.
As my community involvement continued, I dedicated my life to serving others. In retrospect, what I actually was doing was running from a dark past I had never confronted. At an early age an older cousin had exposed me to sex. Not only did he allow me to watch him have sex with females, he had begun making me have sex with him. As eager as I was to have his validation, I consented. As this dark story begun to unfold before me, I had begun desiring him far more than I should.
This infatuation turned into immense hatred after one day he defamed me in the presence of some my cousins and friends. I felt betrayed by the only male that had ever seemed to care for me. I grew up avoiding this situation because I had no one to turn to or talk about. Community activism is what I turned to as a way to escape this horrible situation. I feared that if anyone had ever found out about what he did to me they would never believe me, and to be honest with myself, I did not want anything to happen to him.
My silence had begun to eat up my insides like a flesh-eating bacterium. As I grew older I had to finally deal with this horrible past, and by doing so I found out what made me come alive. I found out that there are many other African-American young men who have suffered from molestation. Many of them keeping silent about it for the same reasons I did.
I came alive when I decided not to hide this story and to commit myself to helping others escape from same or similar situations. For a long time I feared to talk about this, but by doing so I have spoken to hundreds of people and have mentored young men making important decisions in their life. My question to you, the reader, is “What will make you come alive?” If you have not answered that question yet, I challenge you to find out. I challenge you to be fearless and zealous. By answering this question you will one day help save someone’s life or the systems of this world. Just as I have come alive, so can you.
