Why was it important for you to help people get out of their medical debt?
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. One thing we have to do that’s incumbent upon us is to make a difference in the spirit and in the way you can make a difference. I connected with this company that allowed me to pay off close to $1 million worth of medical debt for everyone who was in collections in the city of Birmingham. That’s important to me. I love my city, and I love my people.
What message do you have for people who are really hurting right now?
During the Civil Rights Movement, all of them [Black people] were of the same economic status. All Black people for the most part lived in one neighborhood. They had nothing to lose but their life and everything to gain. The fear I have is that our movement may lose some energy because so many of us have a lot to lose, which causes people to stay on the sidelines. What God’s been dealing with me on is that we’re all in the same storm.
Jay-Z said, “Rich Negro, field Negro, broke Negro, still Negro.” We have to understand we’re all in the same storm, but we’re not all in the same boat. Certain people are in rowboats; they don’t have much. Certain people are in sailboats and have a little money, so they can put a sail up and just let life take them. Certain people are on cruise ships, and they have some bread, a good career and their boat has amenities, and certain people have yachts and they have no cares in the world. Don’t be a type of Negro that gets on a yacht and forgets you came from a rowboat.
