September 19, 2023 • 29 mins
After his mother, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, was killed in the Mother Emanuel AME church shooting in 2015, Chris Singleton became a beacon of resilience and unity in the face of unthinkable tragedy. His story of losing his mother in a horrific hate crime and then transforming that unimaginable pain into a life dedicated to combating gun violence and racism is both heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. As he takes us on his journey from a grieving teenager to an impassioned advocate, Chris’s reflections on his mother’s unyielding support during his baseball games and his desire emphasizing love over hate and recognizing our shared humanity above our differences is marked with humor and kindness.
You can find Chris' books, including his most recent "Stories Behind Stances," here.
Further reading:
5 Years After Charleston Church Massacre, What Have We Learned? (NPR)
'Hate Crime': A Mass Killing at a Historic Church (the Atlantic)
What Forgiveness Means Nearly 5 Years After Emanuel AME Church Mass Shooting (WBUR)
Buffalo slayings hit close to home for former baseball player 900 miles away (NPR)
Chris Singleton ‘Changed His Mission’ When A White Supremacist Killed His Mother In Charleston Church Shooting (the Village Celebration)
Remembering the Mother Emanuel Nine eight years later (WLTX)
For more information on Brady, follow us on social media @Bradybuzz or visit our website at bradyunited.org.
Full transcripts and bibliographies of this episode are available at bradyunited.org/podcast.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.
In a crisis? Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor 24/7.
Music provided by: David “Drumcrazie” Curby
Special thanks to Hogan Lovells for their long-standing legal support
℗&©2019 Red, Blue, and Brady
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
JJ Janflone (00:08):
This is the legal disclaimer, where I tell you
that the views, thoughts andopinion shared on this podcast
belong solely to our guests andhosts and not necessarily Brady
or Brady's affiliates.
Please note this podcastcontains discussions of violence
that some people may finddisturbing.
It's okay, we find itdisturbing too.
Hey, everybody, welcome back toanother episode of Red Bull and
(00:44):
Brady.
I'm one of your hosts, jj.
Kelly Sampson (00:47):
And I'm Kelly, your other host.
JJ Janflone (00:49):
And listeners.
Just so you know, every time Iget an email from Kelly saying,
oh, I've got a new friend for us, I've got somebody I have to
bring on the podcast, I'm like,yes, bring it on, because Kelly
finds the most amazing guestsfor this podcast and I cannot
think of a better guest,probably, than Chris Singleton.
Kelly Sampson (01:04):
I emailed JJ just as she said.
I was at a conference earlierthis summer and Chris was
actually on a panel that I waspart of and he really sort of
captured the whole room, becauseChris lost his mother in the
shooting at Mother EmmanuelChurch and that put him on this
path to really wanting to bringpeace and love to such a violent
(01:28):
world and in a panel where youknow I was talking so much about
the Supreme Court and policy,chris being able to say I am a
human being, this is how gunviolence impacted me and these
are the ways that I'm going tomake sure I use my life and my
story so that other people don'thave to experience this pain.
It was just really, it wasreally impactful, and so I
(01:50):
reached out to JJ and I was likeall right, we got to invite
Chris on the show and make surethat listeners also get to
experience and hear the way thathe is determined to remain
hopeful and remain a person ofpeace despite all the violence
that we're seeing.
JJ Janflone (02:07):
And if you were someone who's wondering, like,
how do you keep positivity inthe face of something that maybe
feels so huge and powerful andmurky as gun violence, I think,
chris, is definitely kind oflike the breath of fresh, lovely
air that you're probably goingto need this morning.
Kelly Sampson (02:25):
Totally agree.
Chris Singleton (02:27):
My name is Chris Singleton, husband to my
high school sweetheart.
I got three beautiful kids withmy wife, inspirational speaker
and a former pro baseball playerWonderful.
Kelly Sampson (02:39):
I got a good file there, and this is a part of
the JJ.
And I always hate and findreally difficult on this podcast
is that we meet wonderfulpeople like you and we wish we
could talk about all the greatthings in your life, but your
mother was killed in ahate-based attack in 2015.
And so, if you're comfortableto the extent that you're
comfortable I'm wondering if youcould tell us a little bit
about her.
Chris Singleton (03:00):
Yeah, so, like you mentioned, well, the whole
reason why I started speakingand writing and all that stuff
is because of losing my mom.
I lost my mom in a raciallymotivated mass shooting in
Charleston, south Carolina, backin 2015.
She was 45 years young.
She's a track coach, children'schurch pastor at our church my
(03:20):
biggest fan, of course, when Iwas on the field on the court
and she's just a great humanbeing, very smart, very
well-spoken.
So that's that.
She's my hero.
And, yeah, unfortunately, shewas one of the nine victims at
Mother Emanuel AME Church inCharleston.
JJ Janflone (03:37):
And I wonder like, as Kelly said, this is the
hardest part, right, Becauseit's not doing a Devon's for
Richard podcast.
We don't get to ask you thequestions that we would ask an
old person.
What if we just happened tomeet and you'd be telling us
that we'd be like, well, tell meabout being a baseball player,
Tell me about your kids, Let mesee their pictures, Like that
sort of thing.
And instead we're like tell meabout a trauma.
But maybe on the braider sideof things I'm wondering.
(03:59):
We always ask folks like didyou have a favorite memory with
her, Maybe that you'd want toshare with the podcast?
Chris Singleton (04:05):
Yeah, and I'm totally open to discussing.
You know the tragedy thathappened.
You know the whole reason why Ido the work that I do today is
because of what happened to mymom.
So don't feel like you have toshy away from anything.
I talk about it almost every,every day and it's not easy to
talk about, but I feel like whenpeople know the real and they
(04:25):
see Actual people who areaffected by something like this,
it's definitely impactful.
So I guess one of the bestmemories I have my mom is I
think I was in like third grade,living in Atlanta, and you know
she was screaming and cheeringin the stands when I was playing
baseball, and it's such a goodmemory because when I became a
senior in high school, the exactsame she or she did when I was
(04:48):
a, you know, a little kid shewas doing that at my high school
playoff games, and so thatthose memories are amazing.
Christmas is a big time for ourfamily because Christmas is
always a time where we all cametogether and, no matter what
craziness was happening in theworld, we just love one another
and we were present with oneanother, and so Christmas is a
big holiday that I alwaysremember my mom on, and there's
(05:10):
so many other things, but thoseare some memories that I think I
I'd love to share with you guystoday.
JJ Janflone (05:14):
Well, and, as you just mentioned, in the wake of
that mass shooting, you've beenoutspoken not just about ending
gun violence but also aboutConfronting and dealing with
races and hate more broadly, andI'm wondering if you could
share how you go from, you know,being an 18 year old who's lost
your mom to being someone who'skind of working in this field
as an activist professionally.
Chris Singleton (05:36):
Yeah, absolutely so.
When my mom was taken away Atfirst, there was an ESPN
documentary done on you know meand my story and my mom's story
About my first time coming backto play baseball.
After ESPN did the documentaryMe, as well as some other family
members there's probably threeor four family members that were
that forgave the shooterinitially and I was on the today
(05:59):
show, had to throw out thefirst pitch for the Yankees, and
so a bunch of different thingsin the media were happening and
People were saying you know well, chris, we love you to speak to
my you know, high school or mytravel baseball team and I
always said no, like you know,already told people I had to say
it after after a while that theinterviews would became the
same and that, but it's not your, your job, you're like man, I
(06:21):
don't want to talk about thisanymore.
Right, if this is not yourmission, it's, you know, it's
traumatizing.
So I said no, I'm not doingthat.
And then finally there was anorganization that reached out to
me and they said, chris, we'regiving you an award.
There's gonna be lots of momshere that fell moms, nba moms,
and we feel like your mom wouldbe in the audience.
Would you share with them?
I got the award.
I shared for, you know, fiveminutes or so, a Super nervous
(06:44):
to do it, because we're talkingabout my life and you know my
mom After I did it, there was alady came up to me and said,
chris, I know you're playingsports, but you got to keep
doing this.
What you did here today andafter that moment whether I was
playing sports or, you know,even after I got done playing
this has been the mission ofunity, of resilience, of love
(07:05):
and Trying to get terriblethings to stop happening in this
world.
So that's the mission that I'mon.
Kelly Sampson (07:11):
Yeah, and I I mean I can speak for myself.
I remember when you and theother two people that you
mentioned came out, it was soIncredible the message that you
all conveyed and forgiveness ina space a lot of people cannot
comprehend.
And you sort of continue tothis day talking about love over
hate in the work that you do,and I'm wondering what are you
(07:34):
hoping to convey by emphasizingso much over and over again that
we have to have love over hate?
Chris Singleton (07:40):
Yeah, well, first and foremost, I don't want
people to think that, you know,it's all sunshine and rainbows
when I think about my mother'skiller, right?
That's not real, that's notpractical.
You know, my faith tells me toget slapped on one side and turn
the other cheek to get hitagain.
Now I, I will forgive theperson, but I don't want to get
hit again, right?
So for me in my life, when Italk about love being stronger
(08:02):
than the hate, mainly is talkingabout hey, how do we find the
things that we're more alikethan different about, right?
So, if you know you love aspecific sports team, that's
usually reason why you like thatsports team, and vice versa for
it to me, right?
If my first language is this, Ididn't choose it, neither did
you, so I don't want to learn tolove your culture, whether it's
you know, learn Italian, or youknow Brazilian steakhouse is
(08:25):
like my wife is from Brazil,like.
Whatever it may be, we don't,we're not the same.
But learn to love differentthings about different cultures,
different people, willhopefully stop some of the
hatred that just is Tarnishingour world right now, and that's
the mission that I'm on isteaching that love is spreading
that love.
I'm thankful to do it, but Iknow there's still a lot of work
that needs to be done.
JJ Janflone (08:46):
I was curious even why you view forgiveness as you
know, like why.
Why is it so important to you,or was important for even your
journey To do that right?
We've had survivors on who havetalked about like how healing
it is for them, but then alsohow they feel that forgiveness
fitting into.
We live in a very violent world.
I.
Chris Singleton (09:06):
Yeah, and I think, opposed to popular belief
, I don't think forgiveness isfor everybody If it drives you
to be a better person.
Some people say, you know,maybe they lost their son to a
drunk driver and they've neverforgiven that drunk driver, but
because they've never forgiven,it drives them to push forward
the mission of stopping drunkdriving right.
(09:27):
So in that case, if there'snothing for them with
forgiveness, I understand itmight not be for you, but for me
and for some other people thatI've experienced it with, it's
freeing because I don't have tothink about my mother's killer,
I don't have to think aboutwhere he's at, I don't have to
think about the thoughts thathe's having today.
It frees me from that, you know.
(09:48):
So I'm able to live my life.
There's a famous quote.
I don't even know who said it,but the quote says forgiveness
is like setting a prisoner free,only to later realize you
yourself are the prisoner.
And I've seen that happen in somany cases where because
somebody wrong does we think Imean, if I forgive them, I'm
letting them off the hook.
But you're not, you're lettingyourself off the hook.
(10:09):
So forgiveness for me doesn'tmean that I have to, for lack of
better words, be best friendswith my mother's killer.
That's not what it is.
Forgiveness to me is saying,hey, I have enough courage now
to.
I would even have aconversation with them to try to
stop future things like thisfrom happening in our world.
And I know I wouldn't be ableto do that had I not forgiven
him.
So that's what I feel like.
(10:30):
I know what's on the other sideof forgiveness for me and now
that I know what's on the otherside of it not feeling consumed
with the person that wronged youthat's what the process is for
me and that's what it looks likepractically in my life.
Kelly Sampson (10:45):
Thanks for kind of laying that out.
And you mentioned before thatat first this wasn't your job.
You're a baseball player.
You were sort of pulled intothis involuntarily when you were
18.
And I'm wondering, beunfortunately, be continue to
see people who are sort ofradicalized and filled with hate
committing acts of violence andhave your thoughts or your
(11:10):
attitudes or your approach togun violence and hate and racism
, how would they change sinceyou were 18?
And as you sort of matured?
Now your husband, your father,has your approach changed.
Chris Singleton (11:23):
Yeah, I wouldn't say my.
I would say my approach haschanged.
It used to be just to studentsI was sharing with, and now it's
more adults and realizing, hey,the kids are getting this from
somewhere right.
And as much as I love them, mymessage of love, of unity, if
they go home and their dad says,don't you ever say that around
me in this house again,unfortunately it could be in one
(11:44):
ear out the other ear.
So really driving it home toparents, making sure parents
know how much they mean to theworld and unfortunately some
parents are teaching wrong everysingle day.
So if you're an uncle or anaunt or a grandparent that can
have some influence, definitelyuse it because it's really
needed.
But it does hurt me when I seestuff happen like what we just
(12:05):
saw in Florida at the dollarstore.
It hurts me when I see stuffhappening in churches still, and
it's not easy to see that stuff.
But instead of it used todemoralize me and say, man, does
it even matter what I'm doing?
But I've actually seen peoplesay, chris, I used to think this
way about people that look likeyou.
Your message today changed mylevel of thinking.
(12:27):
So seeing the fruit from thiskeeps me going, and seeing stuff
that happens in the world stillkeeps me motivated.
JJ Janflone (12:36):
I always think hate is such an interesting thing
because it's taught, which theninversely means that it can be,
you can be educated out of it,you could have that experience
out of it.
But it's got to be, as you justmentioned, when you see another
shooting.
That's got to be personallyharmful for you and for your
family, beyond justprofessionally, I'm sure,
(12:58):
especially again because theattack against your mother and
her church was hate-based, andso that's got to be an added
level of just harsh.
Chris Singleton (13:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
When the shooting happened atthe grocery store up in Buffalo,
it was a day of me thinkinglike what can I do?
Because I need to be doingsomething.
And so I basically told my wife, hey, I want to go up there, I
want to go to some schools, Iwant to love on some kids.
I met a kid that lost hisgrandmother.
So just talking to him andsaying, hey, I know what it
(13:31):
feels like to lose somebody youlove in a terrible, terrible way
.
I don't know what you're goingthrough, because it's definitely
different and he's a lotyounger, but just having him to
talk to me and actually cry infront of me was important and
powerful.
So it's definitely not easy.
It hurts me.
On a professional level.
It makes me question does itreally make an impact, or should
I be staying home instead ofgoing 150 days a year?
(13:52):
But on a personal level, likeman, I know the pain that people
are experiencing, so it keepsme driving forward.
Kelly Sampson (14:02):
And I'm glad I mean you mentioned to how your
mother was at church and thenyou've talked about how your
faith has drives you to, and Ithink that's so important
because too often at least inthe work that JJ and I do we'll
often see people claiming thatJesus is for AR-15s or something
(14:23):
like that, and so your messagearound love over hate and peace
and unity, I think is soimportant and so powerful in the
ways that the conversation hassort of gone off the rails and
almost taken on a religiousfervor.
Chris Singleton (14:40):
Yeah, I've seen that and it's unfortunate
because when you talk about, youknow, in my faith especially,
you know being a follower ofJesus, the most non-aggressive,
loving, selfless person.
You know so and most faiths,like just being a good person,
would let you think, hey, lovepeople, that's like a universal
(15:02):
thing.
And whatever faith somebodyfollows or is a part of, or even
having no faith at all, likejust being a good person, is a
part of humanity.
And yeah, hey, when sometimespeople you know they see
something, they make itsomething that is not just to
fit their agenda and that'sunfortunate for sure.
JJ Janflone (15:21):
Sometimes I think, though, it can feel like that's
such a burden on folks that Ihave to educate myself if that
makes sense, you know,particularly if, like that, I
have to, like educate someonefor my rights to vote or
something like that.
But what do you think aboutthat kind of that?
Does this place sort of thatinverse that, like I'm having to
take on the burden to convinceyou not to hate me, or I'm
(15:42):
trying to have to take on theburden to convince you not to,
you know, harm me and my placeof worship?
Yeah, for sure.
Chris Singleton (15:48):
Yeah, some people.
I can see that.
I could also see where peoplesay it's an obligation.
I feel like I'm obligated to dothis, but I think it's more of
an opportunity, like if I goback to just thinking about
voting or whatever.
It may be like, oh man, now Ihave to do this, I have to talk
to people about this, or I haveto talk.
You know, I just feel like mygreat-great-grandfather wouldn't
(16:08):
even have this opportunity.
So how is it a burden?
I don't feel obligated.
I feel like man.
I'm able to.
Maya Angelou has a quote I comeas one, but stand as 10,000.
So anytime I feel like man, Ifeel obligated to do something,
I say no.
My 10,000 that came before megave me this opportunity and who
am I to sit on my hands and notdo anything with it?
(16:31):
So that's just the way that Ifeel.
But it's also like I'm sodeeply affected by it that it
just motivates me and pushes meforward.
And not everybody's going to bethat way.
Some people will be championsin silence or in the dark, and
you need those people too.
But whatever you feelcomfortable with, make sure you
go out and do it.
JJ Janflone (16:48):
And this kind of I think then ties into it, because
I know you've touched oneverything you've talked about
so far with us in your books,because you're also a pretty
prolific author as well.
You've got children's books,you've got a most recent book
that's just come out and I'mwondering, before we talk about
the most recent book, if I canask you, why was your focus
initially?
Why was it important for you tohave that children's-based
content?
Chris Singleton (17:08):
Yeah, good question.
The reason why I started doingchildren's books is because I
was speaking to middle schools,high schools, a lot of companies
, sports teams, college,professional.
But I said my story is too sadfor little kids is what I always
said.
There's a second grader outthere that thinks that the world
is all sunshine and rainbowsand butterflies.
Who is Chris Singleton to comein and say, hey, unfortunately
(17:31):
somebody took my mom away and itgot off away right.
So I didn't want to take away akid's innocence.
But what I said was my sisteractually said hey, chris, you
can do that with writing books.
And so wrote my first children'sbook and I got extremely lucky.
Some really cool people, theObama Foundation shared it and
people got the message and it'sall about loving people that are
(17:52):
different than you are.
And then I said, hey, if thisworks, man, I want to keep this
message going.
I used to say I was going to goto every single school in the
country.
I don't know if you know howmany schools there are, but that
cannot happen.
But your books can get outthere and that's what I've been
trying to do with the kids'books.
It's been a lot of fun.
I've got a really goodpublisher named David Miles who
(18:14):
helps me out now in California.
So it's been a good journey sofar with the children's books,
and that's why I started.
Kelly Sampson (18:20):
Yeah, I mean to JJ's point about, hey, it's
taught and can be untaught.
I certainly I'm 36 years oldand I still remember a book that
I read when I was six and theways that they sort of impacted
me in the lessons that theytaught me.
So you're definitely planningsome seed that hopefully, when
kids get older, you know, oreven as they're encountering
different things, it'll sort ofhelp them to have empathy and
(18:44):
understanding people who don'tlook like them.
Chris Singleton (18:47):
Absolutely.
That's the plan, that's thegoal, so hopefully it sticks
with these kids for decadesuntil they have families one day
.
JJ Janflone (18:56):
I wonder too for the newest book, which is
definitely, I think, more gearedtowards an adult audience.
Can you walk us through that?
Is this just to focus, kind of,as you said, who is teaching
these kids?
Was it aimed for that, or yeah?
Chris Singleton (19:11):
So this well, as I mentioned before, I could
love these kids all day long.
I can get the teachers to loveon them, but if they're going
home and they're gettingdifferent messages, then
hopefully it's not all fornothing, but sometimes it is.
So I said, okay, well, how do Iget the same type of message of
unity, of understanding, out toother people?
(19:32):
And I said, okay, well, I canwrite a book for adults, and
that's what the book storiesbehind stances is.
So my mission of unity isn'tthat we think the same or
believe the same, but we'll havea certain level of respect for
everybody, no matter what theirbelief is.
And I have different topics thatare very controversial in the
book and we get both sides ofthe story, why somebody might
like this or might hate this.
(19:52):
I get my personal story of howI don't like guns because my mom
was shot and killed in church,and when most people understand
that, they say you know what,chris?
I get it right.
But if there's a kid that grewup hunting his whole life with
his grandfather and they go,they go deer hunting and twice a
year and he feels safe aroundguns, I understand why he feels
safe, because that's what wedeal with his grandfather.
(20:14):
But unfortunately, if I walkinto most rooms, as you guys
know, and I say I don't likeguns, we might have 20% of
people immediately say I cannever listen to anything else
Chris says because he doesn'tlike guns.
Kelly Sampson (20:26):
And in this book I try to get more people to be
empathetic to other people'sstories, because we all have one
, one of the coolest thingsabout the way that you use books
and storytelling in helping tocreate some positive changes
that oftentimes, with gunviolence, there are some people
who will say, well, it's notreally about the guns, it's
about X, y or Z issue andwhether or not someone believes
(20:50):
that, or I think what you'redoing is showing that.
Okay, if you there are so manyfacets for this that if you want
to talk about people and theirattitudes, then do something
about it, and it's very coolthat you're using your talent
for storytelling to really dosome of that work.
That is important and is anaspect of this.
Chris Singleton (21:13):
I appreciate that, yeah, and I've seen that
they'll say well, it's not theweapon, is the person.
Or they'll say it's not, thisis that, and for me I'm like
okay, well, whatever argumentsomebody has, I want them to see
every single side of it so thatthere's empathy and say you
know what, now I understand, Iwon't probably say that anymore.
Maybe I don't agree with you,chris, but I understand where
(21:34):
you're coming from and that's mygoal at all times.
JJ Janflone (21:37):
It's sort of this kind of, I think, like repeated
appeal to humanity, which andthe sort of baseline of like
that we all exist and we alldeserve to live and be happy,
which is a direct attack that ona lot of racist ideals like
those held, you know, even bythe shooter in Charleston or the
shooter in Buffalo or theshooter at Dollar Tree, these
folks who are espousing like avery particular hate health
(22:00):
rhetoric, like even thisconception that you're pushing
is so fundamentally differentfrom them, but it's such a
loving position to come fromrather than an offensive one.
I think that's really powerfultoo.
Chris Singleton (22:10):
Yeah for sure.
I wholeheartedly believe wedon't move the needle unless
they're understanding, you know,even if somebody's dead wrong
and you tell them two plus twoequals four, and they're saying
it equals seven, If you don'tgive them an explanation of you
know what let me get this seethis way they will tell you
(22:31):
seven till the day they die.
And so I've learned that withmy mission, and I'm just trying
to open people's hearts so thatthey can get the message that I
have to share.
JJ Janflone (22:40):
I wonder to that end and this might be an unfair
question, so please feel free totell me if it is but you know,
I'm wondering if there's onemessage you could share, if this
goes out right now to alistener who is like hateful,
who is racist or who is you knowwho is hate listening to Red
Blue and Brady right now, youknow, is there a message that
(23:00):
you would want them to have asthey listen to this?
Chris Singleton (23:04):
Yeah, for a second.
I just want people to stop andthink about who they are and why
they are the way that they are,and there's usually two reasons
they were taught to be that way, or they experienced something
that made them that way, andthat is literally everything.
That is.
Hey, hey.
Why do you love this team?
Why do you love this music?
Oh well, I remember on Sundaymorning, my mom was cleaning out
(23:26):
listening to this music, and Ilove it now, right?
Or I grew up watching this team, where my grandfather would
listen to these teams, and now Ilook Every single thing.
There's usually reasons why youlike what you like and who you
are, and so the fact thatsomebody would hate somebody
else because they have adifferent first language than
they do, even though they didn'tchoose it themselves, it
doesn't make any sense to me,and I want people to just stop
(23:47):
and think about the things thatthey enjoy, the way that they
vote, every single thing.
There's usually reasons whythey might experience something.
Hey, chris, I was born into afamily that loved this and I was
taught to love this, but then Ihad this experience and it
changed my way of thinking, andI want people to just stop and
think about your experiencesthat you've had and what you've
(24:08):
been taught.
It probably led you to whereyou are.
So who are you to hate somebodyelse if they've had different
experiences or they've beentaught different than you?
So I don't believe in mymission of unity, isn't that way
the same?
But we have respect foreverybody.
Kelly Sampson (24:22):
I think that's a great.
I love that you kind of saidjust take a moment and pause,
because I think all of usself-included, have sort of
sometimes like an automaticresponse to certain things that
are different or that we're notfamiliar with, whether it's
something you know, whether it'sa hate reaction or just like a
knee-jerk reaction, and that'sdefinitely something we see in
(24:42):
this space sometimes wheresomething happens there's a
shooting, and people are justoff and running and not stopping
at think and so on, and so kindof along the same lines of
talking directly to listeners,if there's someone who is
concerned about gun violence orthey're concerned about hate, is
there a message that you wouldhave for those type of people
who are listening and maybethey're feeling like you know
(25:04):
what, nothing's gonna change,I'm discouraged.
Is there something you wouldwanna say to those sorts of
listeners?
Chris Singleton (25:11):
Yeah, I think every generation.
There's a feeling of, hey,there's some people that think
nothing's gonna change.
Right, it happens, you know, ithappened with Jim Crow, it
happened with women's rights, ithappened with, it happens today
and with what you all arestriving for, what I'm striving
for.
So I think there will always bepeople that say, hey, nothing's
gonna change, no matter whatyou do.
(25:31):
But to the people that say, hey, I don't know how much I can do
, but I wanna help.
Listen to podcasts like this,checking what the laws are in
your state are super important.
I check my friends and family,you know.
I have a really good friend whoyou know, carries a gun, and I
always ask him questions aboutit.
I wanna learn from him.
What does that do for you Like?
(25:52):
I like to ask him thesequestions.
So just know where the peopleare coming from is important.
And then, when it's time tovote, you know, vote with your
heart and your head right.
So you know for a fact, whenthis person championed something
that you think is important andwhen that's the case, do your
(26:12):
part.
I'm a young guy, but I feellike that matters.
And you know for generations,people that look like me weren't
able to do that.
So I think it's super importantthat we can, and we use that to
our best of our abilities now.
Kelly Sampson (26:27):
All right.
That really resonates with metoo, because someone who also
has to send it from people whowere enslaved, if they could
keep going and have hope in theface of that, then I definitely
can, because I think that's justlike an incredible example, and
we have so appreciated yourtime.
Chris Singleton (26:46):
And I think you're doing a phenomenal job.
So I'm thankful that you guyshave me on and I'm gonna be
tuning in from now on, so I'mlooking to see who you guys got
next.
JJ Janflone (26:56):
Oh well, thank you.
We appreciate that and anyonewho's working in this space,
particularly who's coming froman impacted background, I
appreciate so much because Iknow that this is talking about
this.
Every day is hard for Kelly andI and we're not survivors,
right, so it's I appreciatepeople putting themselves
(27:16):
through it again and again tosave other people from
experiencing a fraction of thatpain.
So I just we really appreciateyou and your time and you take a
time away from Freakute, whoI'm sure were very cute babies.
And for folks who wanna findyou and the book, where can they
find you?
Chris Singleton (27:34):
Yep, everybody can go to chrissingletoncom.
That's one of my books, mybooking, my everything, my
social medias you'll see all ofit chrissingletoncom.
JJ Janflone (27:44):
Amazing and that'll be linked in the description of
this episode ["Singleton"] heywanna share with the podcast.
Listeners can now get in touchwith us here at Red Blue and
Brady via phone or text message.
Simply call or text us at480-744-3452 with your thoughts,
questions, concerns, ideas, catpictures, whatever.
Kelly Sampson (28:05):
Thanks for listening.
As always, brady's lifesavingwork in Congress, the courts and
communities across the countryis made possible thanks to you.
For more information on Bradyor how to get involved in the
fight against gun violence,please like and subscribe to the
podcast.
Get in touch with us atbradyunitedorg or on social at
Brady Buzz.
Be brave and remember.
(28:26):
Take action, not sides.
["singleton"].
["singleton"].
This is the legal disclaimer, where I tell you
that the views, thoughts andopinion shared on this podcast
belong solely to our guests andhosts and not necessarily Brady
or Brady's affiliates.
Please note this podcastcontains discussions of violence
that some people may finddisturbing.
It's okay, we find itdisturbing too.
Hey, everybody, welcome back toanother episode of Red Bull and
(00:44):
Brady.
I'm one of your hosts, jj.
Kelly Sampson (00:47):
And I'm Kelly, your other host.
JJ Janflone (00:49):
And listeners.
Just so you know, every time Iget an email from Kelly saying,
oh, I've got a new friend for us, I've got somebody I have to
bring on the podcast, I'm like,yes, bring it on, because Kelly
finds the most amazing guestsfor this podcast and I cannot
think of a better guest,probably, than Chris Singleton.
Kelly Sampson (01:04):
I emailed JJ just as she said.
I was at a conference earlierthis summer and Chris was
actually on a panel that I waspart of and he really sort of
captured the whole room, becauseChris lost his mother in the
shooting at Mother EmmanuelChurch and that put him on this
path to really wanting to bringpeace and love to such a violent
(01:28):
world and in a panel where youknow I was talking so much about
the Supreme Court and policy,chris being able to say I am a
human being, this is how gunviolence impacted me and these
are the ways that I'm going tomake sure I use my life and my
story so that other people don'thave to experience this pain.
It was just really, it wasreally impactful, and so I
(01:50):
reached out to JJ and I was likeall right, we got to invite
Chris on the show and make surethat listeners also get to
experience and hear the way thathe is determined to remain
hopeful and remain a person ofpeace despite all the violence
that we're seeing.
JJ Janflone (02:07):
And if you were someone who's wondering, like,
how do you keep positivity inthe face of something that maybe
feels so huge and powerful andmurky as gun violence, I think,
chris, is definitely kind oflike the breath of fresh, lovely
air that you're probably goingto need this morning.
Kelly Sampson (02:25):
Totally agree.
Chris Singleton (02:27):
My name is Chris Singleton, husband to my
high school sweetheart.
I got three beautiful kids withmy wife, inspirational speaker
and a former pro baseball playerWonderful.
Kelly Sampson (02:39):
I got a good file there, and this is a part of
the JJ.
And I always hate and findreally difficult on this podcast
is that we meet wonderfulpeople like you and we wish we
could talk about all the greatthings in your life, but your
mother was killed in ahate-based attack in 2015.
And so, if you're comfortableto the extent that you're
comfortable I'm wondering if youcould tell us a little bit
about her.
Chris Singleton (03:00):
Yeah, so, like you mentioned, well, the whole
reason why I started speakingand writing and all that stuff
is because of losing my mom.
I lost my mom in a raciallymotivated mass shooting in
Charleston, south Carolina, backin 2015.
She was 45 years young.
She's a track coach, children'schurch pastor at our church my
(03:20):
biggest fan, of course, when Iwas on the field on the court
and she's just a great humanbeing, very smart, very
well-spoken.
So that's that.
She's my hero.
And, yeah, unfortunately, shewas one of the nine victims at
Mother Emanuel AME Church inCharleston.
JJ Janflone (03:37):
And I wonder like, as Kelly said, this is the
hardest part, right, Becauseit's not doing a Devon's for
Richard podcast.
We don't get to ask you thequestions that we would ask an
old person.
What if we just happened tomeet and you'd be telling us
that we'd be like, well, tell meabout being a baseball player,
Tell me about your kids, Let mesee their pictures, Like that
sort of thing.
And instead we're like tell meabout a trauma.
But maybe on the braider sideof things I'm wondering.
(03:59):
We always ask folks like didyou have a favorite memory with
her, Maybe that you'd want toshare with the podcast?
Chris Singleton (04:05):
Yeah, and I'm totally open to discussing.
You know the tragedy thathappened.
You know the whole reason why Ido the work that I do today is
because of what happened to mymom.
So don't feel like you have toshy away from anything.
I talk about it almost every,every day and it's not easy to
talk about, but I feel like whenpeople know the real and they
(04:25):
see Actual people who areaffected by something like this,
it's definitely impactful.
So I guess one of the bestmemories I have my mom is I
think I was in like third grade,living in Atlanta, and you know
she was screaming and cheeringin the stands when I was playing
baseball, and it's such a goodmemory because when I became a
senior in high school, the exactsame she or she did when I was
(04:48):
a, you know, a little kid shewas doing that at my high school
playoff games, and so thatthose memories are amazing.
Christmas is a big time for ourfamily because Christmas is
always a time where we all cametogether and, no matter what
craziness was happening in theworld, we just love one another
and we were present with oneanother, and so Christmas is a
big holiday that I alwaysremember my mom on, and there's
(05:10):
so many other things, but thoseare some memories that I think I
I'd love to share with you guystoday.
JJ Janflone (05:14):
Well, and, as you just mentioned, in the wake of
that mass shooting, you've beenoutspoken not just about ending
gun violence but also aboutConfronting and dealing with
races and hate more broadly, andI'm wondering if you could
share how you go from, you know,being an 18 year old who's lost
your mom to being someone who'skind of working in this field
as an activist professionally.
Chris Singleton (05:36):
Yeah, absolutely so.
When my mom was taken away Atfirst, there was an ESPN
documentary done on you know meand my story and my mom's story
About my first time coming backto play baseball.
After ESPN did the documentaryMe, as well as some other family
members there's probably threeor four family members that were
that forgave the shooterinitially and I was on the today
(05:59):
show, had to throw out thefirst pitch for the Yankees, and
so a bunch of different thingsin the media were happening and
People were saying you know well, chris, we love you to speak to
my you know, high school or mytravel baseball team and I
always said no, like you know,already told people I had to say
it after after a while that theinterviews would became the
same and that, but it's not your, your job, you're like man, I
(06:21):
don't want to talk about thisanymore.
Right, if this is not yourmission, it's, you know, it's
traumatizing.
So I said no, I'm not doingthat.
And then finally there was anorganization that reached out to
me and they said, chris, we'regiving you an award.
There's gonna be lots of momshere that fell moms, nba moms,
and we feel like your mom wouldbe in the audience.
Would you share with them?
I got the award.
I shared for, you know, fiveminutes or so, a Super nervous
(06:44):
to do it, because we're talkingabout my life and you know my
mom After I did it, there was alady came up to me and said,
chris, I know you're playingsports, but you got to keep
doing this.
What you did here today andafter that moment whether I was
playing sports or, you know,even after I got done playing
this has been the mission ofunity, of resilience, of love
(07:05):
and Trying to get terriblethings to stop happening in this
world.
So that's the mission that I'mon.
Kelly Sampson (07:11):
Yeah, and I I mean I can speak for myself.
I remember when you and theother two people that you
mentioned came out, it was soIncredible the message that you
all conveyed and forgiveness ina space a lot of people cannot
comprehend.
And you sort of continue tothis day talking about love over
hate in the work that you do,and I'm wondering what are you
(07:34):
hoping to convey by emphasizingso much over and over again that
we have to have love over hate?
Chris Singleton (07:40):
Yeah, well, first and foremost, I don't want
people to think that, you know,it's all sunshine and rainbows
when I think about my mother'skiller, right?
That's not real, that's notpractical.
You know, my faith tells me toget slapped on one side and turn
the other cheek to get hitagain.
Now I, I will forgive theperson, but I don't want to get
hit again, right?
So for me in my life, when Italk about love being stronger
(08:02):
than the hate, mainly is talkingabout hey, how do we find the
things that we're more alikethan different about, right?
So, if you know you love aspecific sports team, that's
usually reason why you like thatsports team, and vice versa for
it to me, right?
If my first language is this, Ididn't choose it, neither did
you, so I don't want to learn tolove your culture, whether it's
you know, learn Italian, or youknow Brazilian steakhouse is
(08:25):
like my wife is from Brazil,like.
Whatever it may be, we don't,we're not the same.
But learn to love differentthings about different cultures,
different people, willhopefully stop some of the
hatred that just is Tarnishingour world right now, and that's
the mission that I'm on isteaching that love is spreading
that love.
I'm thankful to do it, but Iknow there's still a lot of work
that needs to be done.
JJ Janflone (08:46):
I was curious even why you view forgiveness as you
know, like why.
Why is it so important to you,or was important for even your
journey To do that right?
We've had survivors on who havetalked about like how healing
it is for them, but then alsohow they feel that forgiveness
fitting into.
We live in a very violent world.
I.
Chris Singleton (09:06):
Yeah, and I think, opposed to popular belief
, I don't think forgiveness isfor everybody If it drives you
to be a better person.
Some people say, you know,maybe they lost their son to a
drunk driver and they've neverforgiven that drunk driver, but
because they've never forgiven,it drives them to push forward
the mission of stopping drunkdriving right.
(09:27):
So in that case, if there'snothing for them with
forgiveness, I understand itmight not be for you, but for me
and for some other people thatI've experienced it with, it's
freeing because I don't have tothink about my mother's killer,
I don't have to think aboutwhere he's at, I don't have to
think about the thoughts thathe's having today.
It frees me from that, you know.
(09:48):
So I'm able to live my life.
There's a famous quote.
I don't even know who said it,but the quote says forgiveness
is like setting a prisoner free,only to later realize you
yourself are the prisoner.
And I've seen that happen in somany cases where because
somebody wrong does we think Imean, if I forgive them, I'm
letting them off the hook.
But you're not, you're lettingyourself off the hook.
(10:09):
So forgiveness for me doesn'tmean that I have to, for lack of
better words, be best friendswith my mother's killer.
That's not what it is.
Forgiveness to me is saying,hey, I have enough courage now
to.
I would even have aconversation with them to try to
stop future things like thisfrom happening in our world.
And I know I wouldn't be ableto do that had I not forgiven
him.
So that's what I feel like.
(10:30):
I know what's on the other sideof forgiveness for me and now
that I know what's on the otherside of it not feeling consumed
with the person that wronged youthat's what the process is for
me and that's what it looks likepractically in my life.
Kelly Sampson (10:45):
Thanks for kind of laying that out.
And you mentioned before thatat first this wasn't your job.
You're a baseball player.
You were sort of pulled intothis involuntarily when you were
18.
And I'm wondering, beunfortunately, be continue to
see people who are sort ofradicalized and filled with hate
committing acts of violence andhave your thoughts or your
(11:10):
attitudes or your approach togun violence and hate and racism
, how would they change sinceyou were 18?
And as you sort of matured?
Now your husband, your father,has your approach changed.
Chris Singleton (11:23):
Yeah, I wouldn't say my.
I would say my approach haschanged.
It used to be just to studentsI was sharing with, and now it's
more adults and realizing, hey,the kids are getting this from
somewhere right.
And as much as I love them, mymessage of love, of unity, if
they go home and their dad says,don't you ever say that around
me in this house again,unfortunately it could be in one
(11:44):
ear out the other ear.
So really driving it home toparents, making sure parents
know how much they mean to theworld and unfortunately some
parents are teaching wrong everysingle day.
So if you're an uncle or anaunt or a grandparent that can
have some influence, definitelyuse it because it's really
needed.
But it does hurt me when I seestuff happen like what we just
(12:05):
saw in Florida at the dollarstore.
It hurts me when I see stuffhappening in churches still, and
it's not easy to see that stuff.
But instead of it used todemoralize me and say, man, does
it even matter what I'm doing?
But I've actually seen peoplesay, chris, I used to think this
way about people that look likeyou.
Your message today changed mylevel of thinking.
(12:27):
So seeing the fruit from thiskeeps me going, and seeing stuff
that happens in the world stillkeeps me motivated.
JJ Janflone (12:36):
I always think hate is such an interesting thing
because it's taught, which theninversely means that it can be,
you can be educated out of it,you could have that experience
out of it.
But it's got to be, as you justmentioned, when you see another
shooting.
That's got to be personallyharmful for you and for your
family, beyond justprofessionally, I'm sure,
(12:58):
especially again because theattack against your mother and
her church was hate-based, andso that's got to be an added
level of just harsh.
Chris Singleton (13:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
When the shooting happened atthe grocery store up in Buffalo,
it was a day of me thinkinglike what can I do?
Because I need to be doingsomething.
And so I basically told my wife, hey, I want to go up there, I
want to go to some schools, Iwant to love on some kids.
I met a kid that lost hisgrandmother.
So just talking to him andsaying, hey, I know what it
(13:31):
feels like to lose somebody youlove in a terrible, terrible way
.
I don't know what you're goingthrough, because it's definitely
different and he's a lotyounger, but just having him to
talk to me and actually cry infront of me was important and
powerful.
So it's definitely not easy.
It hurts me.
On a professional level.
It makes me question does itreally make an impact, or should
I be staying home instead ofgoing 150 days a year?
(13:52):
But on a personal level, likeman, I know the pain that people
are experiencing, so it keepsme driving forward.
Kelly Sampson (14:02):
And I'm glad I mean you mentioned to how your
mother was at church and thenyou've talked about how your
faith has drives you to, and Ithink that's so important
because too often at least inthe work that JJ and I do we'll
often see people claiming thatJesus is for AR-15s or something
(14:23):
like that, and so your messagearound love over hate and peace
and unity, I think is soimportant and so powerful in the
ways that the conversation hassort of gone off the rails and
almost taken on a religiousfervor.
Chris Singleton (14:40):
Yeah, I've seen that and it's unfortunate
because when you talk about, youknow, in my faith especially,
you know being a follower ofJesus, the most non-aggressive,
loving, selfless person.
You know so and most faiths,like just being a good person,
would let you think, hey, lovepeople, that's like a universal
(15:02):
thing.
And whatever faith somebodyfollows or is a part of, or even
having no faith at all, likejust being a good person, is a
part of humanity.
And yeah, hey, when sometimespeople you know they see
something, they make itsomething that is not just to
fit their agenda and that'sunfortunate for sure.
JJ Janflone (15:21):
Sometimes I think, though, it can feel like that's
such a burden on folks that Ihave to educate myself if that
makes sense, you know,particularly if, like that, I
have to, like educate someonefor my rights to vote or
something like that.
But what do you think aboutthat kind of that?
Does this place sort of thatinverse that, like I'm having to
take on the burden to convinceyou not to hate me, or I'm
(15:42):
trying to have to take on theburden to convince you not to,
you know, harm me and my placeof worship?
Yeah, for sure.
Chris Singleton (15:48):
Yeah, some people.
I can see that.
I could also see where peoplesay it's an obligation.
I feel like I'm obligated to dothis, but I think it's more of
an opportunity, like if I goback to just thinking about
voting or whatever.
It may be like, oh man, now Ihave to do this, I have to talk
to people about this, or I haveto talk.
You know, I just feel like mygreat-great-grandfather wouldn't
(16:08):
even have this opportunity.
So how is it a burden?
I don't feel obligated.
I feel like man.
I'm able to.
Maya Angelou has a quote I comeas one, but stand as 10,000.
So anytime I feel like man, Ifeel obligated to do something,
I say no.
My 10,000 that came before megave me this opportunity and who
am I to sit on my hands and notdo anything with it?
(16:31):
So that's just the way that Ifeel.
But it's also like I'm sodeeply affected by it that it
just motivates me and pushes meforward.
And not everybody's going to bethat way.
Some people will be championsin silence or in the dark, and
you need those people too.
But whatever you feelcomfortable with, make sure you
go out and do it.
JJ Janflone (16:48):
And this kind of I think then ties into it, because
I know you've touched oneverything you've talked about
so far with us in your books,because you're also a pretty
prolific author as well.
You've got children's books,you've got a most recent book
that's just come out and I'mwondering, before we talk about
the most recent book, if I canask you, why was your focus
initially?
Why was it important for you tohave that children's-based
content?
Chris Singleton (17:08):
Yeah, good question.
The reason why I started doingchildren's books is because I
was speaking to middle schools,high schools, a lot of companies
, sports teams, college,professional.
But I said my story is too sadfor little kids is what I always
said.
There's a second grader outthere that thinks that the world
is all sunshine and rainbowsand butterflies.
Who is Chris Singleton to comein and say, hey, unfortunately
(17:31):
somebody took my mom away and itgot off away right.
So I didn't want to take away akid's innocence.
But what I said was my sisteractually said hey, chris, you
can do that with writing books.
And so wrote my first children'sbook and I got extremely lucky.
Some really cool people, theObama Foundation shared it and
people got the message and it'sall about loving people that are
(17:52):
different than you are.
And then I said, hey, if thisworks, man, I want to keep this
message going.
I used to say I was going to goto every single school in the
country.
I don't know if you know howmany schools there are, but that
cannot happen.
But your books can get outthere and that's what I've been
trying to do with the kids'books.
It's been a lot of fun.
I've got a really goodpublisher named David Miles who
(18:14):
helps me out now in California.
So it's been a good journey sofar with the children's books,
and that's why I started.
Kelly Sampson (18:20):
Yeah, I mean to JJ's point about, hey, it's
taught and can be untaught.
I certainly I'm 36 years oldand I still remember a book that
I read when I was six and theways that they sort of impacted
me in the lessons that theytaught me.
So you're definitely planningsome seed that hopefully, when
kids get older, you know, oreven as they're encountering
different things, it'll sort ofhelp them to have empathy and
(18:44):
understanding people who don'tlook like them.
Chris Singleton (18:47):
Absolutely.
That's the plan, that's thegoal, so hopefully it sticks
with these kids for decadesuntil they have families one day
.
JJ Janflone (18:56):
I wonder too for the newest book, which is
definitely, I think, more gearedtowards an adult audience.
Can you walk us through that?
Is this just to focus, kind of,as you said, who is teaching
these kids?
Was it aimed for that, or yeah?
Chris Singleton (19:11):
So this well, as I mentioned before, I could
love these kids all day long.
I can get the teachers to loveon them, but if they're going
home and they're gettingdifferent messages, then
hopefully it's not all fornothing, but sometimes it is.
So I said, okay, well, how do Iget the same type of message of
unity, of understanding, out toother people?
(19:32):
And I said, okay, well, I canwrite a book for adults, and
that's what the book storiesbehind stances is.
So my mission of unity isn'tthat we think the same or
believe the same, but we'll havea certain level of respect for
everybody, no matter what theirbelief is.
And I have different topics thatare very controversial in the
book and we get both sides ofthe story, why somebody might
like this or might hate this.
(19:52):
I get my personal story of howI don't like guns because my mom
was shot and killed in church,and when most people understand
that, they say you know what,chris?
I get it right.
But if there's a kid that grewup hunting his whole life with
his grandfather and they go,they go deer hunting and twice a
year and he feels safe aroundguns, I understand why he feels
safe, because that's what wedeal with his grandfather.
(20:14):
But unfortunately, if I walkinto most rooms, as you guys
know, and I say I don't likeguns, we might have 20% of
people immediately say I cannever listen to anything else
Chris says because he doesn'tlike guns.
Kelly Sampson (20:26):
And in this book I try to get more people to be
empathetic to other people'sstories, because we all have one
, one of the coolest thingsabout the way that you use books
and storytelling in helping tocreate some positive changes
that oftentimes, with gunviolence, there are some people
who will say, well, it's notreally about the guns, it's
about X, y or Z issue andwhether or not someone believes
(20:50):
that, or I think what you'redoing is showing that.
Okay, if you there are so manyfacets for this that if you want
to talk about people and theirattitudes, then do something
about it, and it's very coolthat you're using your talent
for storytelling to really dosome of that work.
That is important and is anaspect of this.
Chris Singleton (21:13):
I appreciate that, yeah, and I've seen that
they'll say well, it's not theweapon, is the person.
Or they'll say it's not, thisis that, and for me I'm like
okay, well, whatever argumentsomebody has, I want them to see
every single side of it so thatthere's empathy and say you
know what, now I understand, Iwon't probably say that anymore.
Maybe I don't agree with you,chris, but I understand where
(21:34):
you're coming from and that's mygoal at all times.
JJ Janflone (21:37):
It's sort of this kind of, I think, like repeated
appeal to humanity, which andthe sort of baseline of like
that we all exist and we alldeserve to live and be happy,
which is a direct attack that ona lot of racist ideals like
those held, you know, even bythe shooter in Charleston or the
shooter in Buffalo or theshooter at Dollar Tree, these
folks who are espousing like avery particular hate health
(22:00):
rhetoric, like even thisconception that you're pushing
is so fundamentally differentfrom them, but it's such a
loving position to come fromrather than an offensive one.
I think that's really powerfultoo.
Chris Singleton (22:10):
Yeah for sure.
I wholeheartedly believe wedon't move the needle unless
they're understanding, you know,even if somebody's dead wrong
and you tell them two plus twoequals four, and they're saying
it equals seven, If you don'tgive them an explanation of you
know what let me get this seethis way they will tell you
(22:31):
seven till the day they die.
And so I've learned that withmy mission, and I'm just trying
to open people's hearts so thatthey can get the message that I
have to share.
JJ Janflone (22:40):
I wonder to that end and this might be an unfair
question, so please feel free totell me if it is but you know,
I'm wondering if there's onemessage you could share, if this
goes out right now to alistener who is like hateful,
who is racist or who is you knowwho is hate listening to Red
Blue and Brady right now, youknow, is there a message that
(23:00):
you would want them to have asthey listen to this?
Chris Singleton (23:04):
Yeah, for a second.
I just want people to stop andthink about who they are and why
they are the way that they are,and there's usually two reasons
they were taught to be that way, or they experienced something
that made them that way, andthat is literally everything.
That is.
Hey, hey.
Why do you love this team?
Why do you love this music?
Oh well, I remember on Sundaymorning, my mom was cleaning out
(23:26):
listening to this music, and Ilove it now, right?
Or I grew up watching this team, where my grandfather would
listen to these teams, and now Ilook Every single thing.
There's usually reasons why youlike what you like and who you
are, and so the fact thatsomebody would hate somebody
else because they have adifferent first language than
they do, even though they didn'tchoose it themselves, it
doesn't make any sense to me,and I want people to just stop
(23:47):
and think about the things thatthey enjoy, the way that they
vote, every single thing.
There's usually reasons whythey might experience something.
Hey, chris, I was born into afamily that loved this and I was
taught to love this, but then Ihad this experience and it
changed my way of thinking, andI want people to just stop and
think about your experiencesthat you've had and what you've
(24:08):
been taught.
It probably led you to whereyou are.
So who are you to hate somebodyelse if they've had different
experiences or they've beentaught different than you?
So I don't believe in mymission of unity, isn't that way
the same?
But we have respect foreverybody.
Kelly Sampson (24:22):
I think that's a great.
I love that you kind of saidjust take a moment and pause,
because I think all of usself-included, have sort of
sometimes like an automaticresponse to certain things that
are different or that we're notfamiliar with, whether it's
something you know, whether it'sa hate reaction or just like a
knee-jerk reaction, and that'sdefinitely something we see in
(24:42):
this space sometimes wheresomething happens there's a
shooting, and people are justoff and running and not stopping
at think and so on, and so kindof along the same lines of
talking directly to listeners,if there's someone who is
concerned about gun violence orthey're concerned about hate, is
there a message that you wouldhave for those type of people
who are listening and maybethey're feeling like you know
(25:04):
what, nothing's gonna change,I'm discouraged.
Is there something you wouldwanna say to those sorts of
listeners?
Chris Singleton (25:11):
Yeah, I think every generation.
There's a feeling of, hey,there's some people that think
nothing's gonna change.
Right, it happens, you know, ithappened with Jim Crow, it
happened with women's rights, ithappened with, it happens today
and with what you all arestriving for, what I'm striving
for.
So I think there will always bepeople that say, hey, nothing's
gonna change, no matter whatyou do.
(25:31):
But to the people that say, hey, I don't know how much I can do
, but I wanna help.
Listen to podcasts like this,checking what the laws are in
your state are super important.
I check my friends and family,you know.
I have a really good friend whoyou know, carries a gun, and I
always ask him questions aboutit.
I wanna learn from him.
What does that do for you Like?
(25:52):
I like to ask him thesequestions.
So just know where the peopleare coming from is important.
And then, when it's time tovote, you know, vote with your
heart and your head right.
So you know for a fact, whenthis person championed something
that you think is important andwhen that's the case, do your
(26:12):
part.
I'm a young guy, but I feellike that matters.
And you know for generations,people that look like me weren't
able to do that.
So I think it's super importantthat we can, and we use that to
our best of our abilities now.
Kelly Sampson (26:27):
All right.
That really resonates with metoo, because someone who also
has to send it from people whowere enslaved, if they could
keep going and have hope in theface of that, then I definitely
can, because I think that's justlike an incredible example, and
we have so appreciated yourtime.
Chris Singleton (26:46):
And I think you're doing a phenomenal job.
So I'm thankful that you guyshave me on and I'm gonna be
tuning in from now on, so I'mlooking to see who you guys got
next.
JJ Janflone (26:56):
Oh well, thank you.
We appreciate that and anyonewho's working in this space,
particularly who's coming froman impacted background, I
appreciate so much because Iknow that this is talking about
this.
Every day is hard for Kelly andI and we're not survivors,
right, so it's I appreciatepeople putting themselves
(27:16):
through it again and again tosave other people from
experiencing a fraction of thatpain.
So I just we really appreciateyou and your time and you take a
time away from Freakute, whoI'm sure were very cute babies.
And for folks who wanna findyou and the book, where can they
find you?
Chris Singleton (27:34):
Yep, everybody can go to chrissingletoncom.
That's one of my books, mybooking, my everything, my
social medias you'll see all ofit chrissingletoncom.
JJ Janflone (27:44):
Amazing and that'll be linked in the description of
this episode ["Singleton"] heywanna share with the podcast.
Listeners can now get in touchwith us here at Red Blue and
Brady via phone or text message.
Simply call or text us at480-744-3452 with your thoughts,
questions, concerns, ideas, catpictures, whatever.
Kelly Sampson (28:05):
Thanks for listening.
As always, brady's lifesavingwork in Congress, the courts and
communities across the countryis made possible thanks to you.
For more information on Bradyor how to get involved in the
fight against gun violence,please like and subscribe to the
podcast.
Get in touch with us atbradyunitedorg or on social at
Brady Buzz.
Be brave and remember.
(28:26):
Take action, not sides.
["singleton"].
["singleton"].
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