Tyler Perry Speaks Candidly About the World He Wants for His Son
Tyler Perry spoke to People magazine about his reluctance to write an essay about hope and his vision for the future of America.
“I initially said no, and that was strange for me because I’m a man of faith and I believe greatly in hope,” he said. “My reluctance wasn’t because I didn’t think it was important, and certainly not that I’m not outraged at the murder of George Floyd and so many others.”
“It was simply because I was exhausted,” he explained.
The star ultimately wrote a deeply personal and powerful first-person essay for People.
He wrote, “I’m exhausted from all the hate and the division, the vitriol that I see online from one to another. I’m exhausted from seeing these kinds of senseless murders play out over and over again with no changes in our society.”
“The level of racism and brutality that George Floyd faced is something that we as black people know all too well. When I saw that video, I had so many raw, guttural emotions. I felt for him and his family, I felt for all of us as black people, I felt for my five-year-old son,” he added. “As I watched with tears in my eyes, it brought back a flood of years of emotions from carrying what feels like the weight of racism on my neck.”
He wrote, “I dried my eyes and put pen to paper for not only myself, not only for hope, but for morning to come for the millions of us who just want to be treated fairly, for those of us who want justice for all, and for my five-year-old son.”
Read more at People.