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I am my father’s child, but Our Father’s creation…
I tell myself this daily in an exercise to honor me.
But as a man, how can I honor anything but this mask of masculinity dictated by a society that says it’s “gay” to love those gays, or to even say and live the word love in a way that is older than spoken language.
I guess this is what you get when you are born on the tail end of
Generation X and birth of the Millennial… I am a Gen-lineal.
Part of a generation of children that was still bussed across town each morning to pristine school districts to prove that opportunity was indeed equal.
I wore leather Africa necklaces and in my preteens, remember when Latifah was queen of a love movement.
I saw hip hop go gangsta.
I was 13 when NWA released their frustrated anthem towards the police… Almost 30 years later with the same story…. and we condemn our kids who won’t advocate for “peace.”
Magic Johnson admitted and actually played basketball with HIV.
I was 15 when Rodney King said, “Why can’t we all just get along, while Los Angeles, California burned behind him…
So, some days I feel like the middle child who was told it was not nearly as bad for you as your older brother, which is not to be confused with good… but enough that you should never complain…
Work hard enough to reap the benefit of affirmative action.
Chin up, shoulders back, chest out. You. are. a. man…
But in the end I now realize that’s the BS that we’re all fed.
I am strong enough to be brave in a new way for my sons that l I have never seen as a child, but have always known.
A gift from our Father.
Oh, and I said Father with no disrespect to our mothers, but because lord knows fathers need fathers too.
Christian, (13) and Morgan (9), Bennett, downtown Chicago
So, I fill my boys with hope without borders, dreams that don’t have to make sense to anyone but them. Give them support to find their passions and be led by their inner truth and happiness. Help them not to make a change, but “be the change.”
What a powerful faith walk, when I have to say what I want to and will do. To prove that it’s never too late to realize that your True North– is truly up to you.
So, I am humbly under reconstruction, giving myself permission to take the time to learn how to fix the cracks in the foundation, improve the heat in my heart, and to provide a comfortable space to let others in.
To show those I trust the beautiful art of my scars and be proud of my story.
It’s a gift.
-Taurus Bennett
Taurus just shifted. He sold his insurance business and is now pursuing his soul’s purpose as a grant writer and Community Outreach activist. Taurus is a volunteer for CASA, advocating for foster children, and an engaged husband and father.
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