Dignity: Faith + Family = Foundation 

When I woke up this morning, I was setting up my Apple Music App to play while I did my usual 4 am workout. I have a set playlist I use to help keep me motivated. When I opened the app, this random song started playing. I never heard it before, but this verse caught my attention, 

I thought you should know 
That all those prayers you thought you wasted on me 
Must’ve finally made their way on through…. 

The song is by Morgan Wallen, and it is called, Thought You Should Know. It is a song written to his mother. It made me think about my life and how much my mother gave to me and my two younger brothers. It took me a long time to learn what my mother always knew that when you become a parent your life is committed to the growth and stability of the family. 

In 1969 my mother had to make a difficult decision. She had to decide what was going to be best for our family. She made the decision to raise three boys ages five, four, and two as a single parent. I cannot imagine what a difficult decision that had to be for a woman in her middle twenties to make. The support systems we have today were not as available in the seventies. My mother knew that, but she also knew she needed to build a stable foundation for her sons, which meant without our father. Some people may question that decision but me and my brothers did not because of the mother we had. We were poor growing up in Boston, but we never knew that because of the life my mother provided for us. We were fortunate that we had family to help but it was my mother who was the foundation of the Redd Family. 

I am the oldest and then there is my bother Ken and my brother Tracy. We were all different but the thing we had in common was our love for our mother and each other. The challenges of raising three young Black males as a single parent in the inner-city was known because that is all you heard. The reality to everyone outside the Redd family circle was that one if not all of us would be dead or in jail by age 21. We did not believe that because my mother did not support that narrative. She made choices that would give us the opportunity to succeed. Ultimately it was up to us but my mother set the foundation for us to build off of. 

I will admit that everything my mother taught me I forgot about for all of my twenties. I think sometimes we can rebel against what we were taught and we think we know a better way. My mother instilled in us on how to be responsible and to own up to our mistakes but I spent my twenties being irresponsible and blaming others for my life choices. When I hit bottom do you know who was there to lift me up. It was my mother and my brothers. It was their unconditional love and their honesty in telling me to get my act together that is what has led me down the road to redemtion. It also help me to remember the foundation my mother had built for all of us. 

Here I am at age 59 and I am still a work in progress. I have been blessed enough to have amazing people in my life. I have children who have grown up to be amazing people. I have family who supported me and believed in me and supported me when I wanted to give up. I now have the opportunity to build a foundation for my family like my mother did for me, Ken, and Tracy. 

I dedicate this post to my mother Phyllis and my brothers Ken and Tracy. Thank you for your faith in me. Thank you for being my family and thank you for helping me build a stronger foundation that I can build on for my family.  

I am Blessed. 

Charles Redd RN 

Dignity Freedom Fighter