podcast uncomfortable conversations with a black man

PODCAST UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN SKIN
PODCAST UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN SERIES

YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH YOU THAT DISCOMFORT TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL. WHY IS THE NOTION OF UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS SO IMPORTANT?īECAUSE I THINK THAT ANYTHING WORTH DOING IT IS BIRTHED THROUGH DISCOMFORT.ĪNYTHING GREAT, JACK - IN PLAYING FOOTBALL, IN ORDER TO START THE SEASON, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH TRAINING CAMP AND TRAINING CAMP FOR THOSE THAT WILL WATCH AND DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, TRAINING CAMP IS GRUELING PRACTICES IN THE TEXAS HEAT FOR MANY WITH ABOUT 12 POUNDS OF PADDING ON. LET ME GO TO THE TITLE OF THE BOOK, ALL RIGHT?īECAUSE I THINK TITLES ARE SO INTERESTING AND SO IMPORTANT, AND THEY ARE SO DIFFICULT TO COME UP OFTENTIMES, AND I KNOW YOU HAD A WORKING TITLE THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THIS. I SHOULD KNOW, BY THE WAY, I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE GOTTEN YOU TO COME UP TO NEW HAVEN AND BLADE FOR THE YALE BULLDOGS, BUT IT WAS OUR LOSS AND THE LONG HORNS' GAIN. SO I HAD TO LEARN WHITE CULTURE AND LEARN BLACK CULTURE AND I HAD TO NAVIGATE WHITE SPACES AND BLACK SPACES AND WHILE WE ALL SPEAK ENGLISH, JACK, THERE IS A CLEAR, LARGE COMMUNICATION BARRIER BETWEEN WHITE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY COMMUNICATE TO BLACK PEOPLE AND HOW THEY COMMUNICATE.

PODCAST UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN SKIN

SO WHILE MY SKIN IS BLACK I GREW UP IN NIGERIAN CULTURE. I WAS IMMERSED IN WHITE CULTURE, JACK AND I GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AND THEN GO TO THE NFL AND I WAS IMMERSED IN BLACK CULTURE, BUT I AM FIRST-GENERATION AMERICAN AND MY PARENTS WERE BORN IN NIGERIA. MARK'S SCHOOL IN TEXAS AND THE NUMBER ONE PRIVATE SCHOOL IN DALLAS. I WAS AT A SCHOOL WITH THE CREAM OF THE CROP. SCORES FROM STUDENTS IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS, THERE WERE 16-YEAR-OLDS WHO WERE ALREADY COMPOSING MUSIC FOR VIOLINS AND CELLO. LET ME PUT THIS IN CONTEXT, THERE WERE PERFECT A.C.T. JACK, I WENT TO AN AFFLUENT WHITE, PRIVATE SCHOOL FROM GRADE 5 THROUGH 12 AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A MERIT SCHOLAR AND GO TO HARVARD AND YALE AND I HAPPENED TO BE 246 POUNDS AND I SAID LET ME PLAY FOOTBALL. I REALIZE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COLOR AND CULTURE. JACK, IF WE CAN START THIS OFF BY BEING UNCOMFORTABLE. YOU SAY YOUR WORD, I'VE BEEN NAVIGATING THE LANES BETWEEN WHITENESS AND BLACKNESS ALL OF MY LIFE.

I THINK THEY NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU, AND I WAS STRUCK BY THE FACT, AND I MENTIONED YOUR EXTRAORDINARY FOOTBALL SUCCESS, BUT I WAS STRUCK BY THE FACT IN YOUR BOOK YOU SAY THIS EARLY ON. I WANT TO GET TO THE BOOK IN A SECOND, BUT I WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THIS BOOK IS COMING FROM. IT WAS FABULOUS AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT I MENTIONED, BUT I THOUGHT AS IMPORTANT, IT WAS AS IF, AS I WAS READING THE BOOK, I WAS ACTUALLY HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH YOU.ĭIFFERENT BOOKS ARE WRITTEN IN DIFFERENT FASHIONS, AND I SUSPECT THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT. I WANT TO PREFACE THIS BY SAYING I READ THE BOOK YESTERDAY.

THE PLEASURE IS MINE AND THANK YOU FOR THE KIND INTRODUCTION, MY FRIEND.

PODCAST UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN SERIES

MANUEL ACHA HAS USED HIS STATUS AS A FORM ARE FOOTBALL START IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, IN THE NFL TO CREATE A PLATFORM FOR CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE MEANINGFUL, THAT ARE REAL AND THAT ARE RELEVANT AND THOUGHTFUL AND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT, THAT ARE DIFFICULT.ĪND HE JOINS US NOW TO TALK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK, HIS BOOK HAS BORROWED, IF I CAN, THE TITLE FROM HIS ENORMOUSLY SUCCESSFUL VIDEO SERIES AND THE BOOK IS ENTITLED UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN AND EMANUEL JOINS US AS PART OF OUR CHASING THE DREAM INITIATIVE ON POVERTY JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA. GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO 'METROFOCUS.ĭURING THIS EXTRAORDINARY PERIOD OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL TURMOIL, WE'VE COME TO REALIZE THAT ONE OF THE THINGS WE DESPERATELY NEED IS MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION.Ī COMMODITY THAT HAS BEEN SCARCE UP UNTIL NOW, BUT WE ARE FORTUNATE THAT ONE MAN HAS STEPPED FORWARD.

Podcast uncomfortable conversations with a black man