Morris Chestnut is an accomplished actor, producer and philanthropic leader. Chestnut was a special guest at the sixth annual Leadership Luncheon for the United Way of Greater Atlanta African-American Partnership. He spoke with rolling out about his connection with United Way AAP, the importance of uplifting young Black men in America, and what inspires him to be a leader.
How do you connect with the core values that United Way and the African-American Partnership stand on?
United Way and AAP are trying to empower the young African American males, as they’re at very vulnerable ages to where we need to keep them on the right path. In today’s society, there are so many distractions. We have a war right now, we got COVID and a more detrimental war is social media. Social media is a constant assault on mental health, with all the mean-spirited comments, and just the images of so many people projecting fake lives and it’s really hard not to be affected as a young child by what you see on social media. I think it’s very important to be able to have a [supportive] group, and it takes a village. Having the AAP being out in front of these young men to keep them focused and keep them on the right path is vital.
As a father, how do you want to see the younger generation being uplifted?
Being a father, I relate to all these young men that I talk to. And then [with] my son, I try to have the same conversations with him. I know firsthand the challenges of those conversations because it’s hard for young people nowadays to stay focused. When I was growing up, which was a long time ago, you had a phone that was on a cord that you could only talk on in the house. So my big thing was getting home to see if I had any messages on my tape recorder. But now you have social media, you have a lot of things happening. So it’s really hard keeping them focused, but we’re just going to have to try to do our part.
How do young men looking up to you inspire you to be a leader?
I’m truly inspired by it, and I truly understand the responsibility that I have. Unfortunately for some people, they feel like they get on TV and they’re not a role model to anyone. Anybody on television, you’re going to be a role model for someone — whether it’s good or bad. I know that it’s a huge responsibility, and I’ve been blessed with the opportunity. I want to make something of it, so I’m going to go further in what I do with it to really influence and inspire young men or just young people all over the world.
