Jun 2, 2021
Asante opens up about a childhood that is filled with instability, lack of response, lack of support, and coping in survival mode. He shares his learnings about how life is not linear, it is unpredictable, filled with disappointment and triumphs. He talks about his story through the lens of race, equity, understanding problems and looking for solutions. Asante describes the hope he represented to his family as he had many gifts and talents, how it fell apart when there was no one there to pay attention to his needs and parent him, and how he used his determination to persevere through tremendously difficult odds, including working through serious mental health challenges, caretaking for his mother who had mental health challenges and even other difficulties that she tried to hide from her children. He let his guard all the way down as he spoke with vulnerability to share the emotional turbulent world he lived through, what it was like to feel all alone, confused, nowhere to turn, feeling that anyone he could talk to wouldn’t have any semblance of what he felt. He turned to writing hip-hop lyrics and basketball as a way to process anger and regulate other emotions, he later found courage to talk to friends about what was going on, and much later in adult years he was able to reach out and trust the supports provided by professionals. His key message to the listeners is that: never give up; all pain is temporary - - whether it is for a minute, one week, one year, or ten years, it does end; go to therapy and you can launch your rocket.