This morning I was driving to the bank and listening to the Tom Joyner morning show. They were discussing how Michael Vick was supposed to come on the show and had declined at the final hour. Who knows why and what does it really matter. What grabbed me by the throat was what Tavis Smiley had to say. He spoke of how the maturation of Mr. Vick potentially had begun. He waxed poetic about how Mr. Vick ended his statement with, “I will redeem myself.” There was nothing new about those words but what Tavis said will always stay with me, because I truly believe in those words. Always have. He basically said that true redemption would have nothing to do with whether Vick ever played in the NFL again and that he didn’t need the football commissioner or the owner of the Falcons to redeem him. True redemption is a soul thing and once he is truly redeemed it won’t matter a whit whether he ever plays ball again. Amen. If he doesn’t, there are so many youngsters in Virginia, Atlanta or any other city who he can work with and make a difference in their lives. Tavis’s final words were that, ‘True redemption is about Michael Vick’s own maturation.” Well now.
I used to tell my students at Job Corps upon their graduation that it didn’t matter where they were from, or from whence they had come, but where they were and where they were going. My boss once asked me why did I like the bad boys so much. He was actually talking about Allen Iverson at the time, who, he seemed to abhor. I told him quite simply this, ‘There is nothing more appealing to me than a reformed, redeemed brother, someone who has been through some stuff and has come out on the other side. Lawd have Mercy! Everyone else can have the perfect, never done nothing, ain’t seen a thing brother. As Betty Shabazz once said about Malcolm X, “I want a man who is ready, when Malcolm came to me he was ready.” Hear, hear my sister. So if Michael meant what he said and is truly about redeeming himself, he has much to offer…maybe this is just what the doctor ordered. Only time will tell.
Love and Blessings…
angelia
