Karate Teacher Shärath Jason Wilson Gives an Amazing Pep Talk on Black Masculinity
In Detroit, a man named Shärath Jason Wilson is teaching young black boys and men how to push through the obstacles they face for their skin color, Buzzfeed reported.
This time, Wilson tackles black masculinity and perseverance with a student at his Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy. CATTA is dedicated to transforming young black boys and men into "physically conscious and spiritually strong" leaders by fusing the teachings of the Bible with martial arts, according to its website.
During a test, the young student is punching on Wilson's command and is trying to break the board. The student makes several attempts and isn't able to break it. Wilson senses the student's struggle and tells him to push through, because in life, it's important to push through the pain.
"Punch all the way through," Wilson said to the student. "When you feel the pain, punch all the way through — that could be a barrier to life or anything. Punch harder."
The young student tries his punches again and still isn't able to break the board. Wilson tells the young boy to shake off that pain and punch through. The young boy punches again, harder, while tears are streaming down his face.
Wilson stops the test, and asks the student why he's crying. He tells him that it's OK to cry, and that it is OK for men to cry, too. It's how they push through the pain.
The student tells him that he's crying because it's hard to punch through with his left hand.
Wilson reminds the student that he had punched through with his left hand before, and uses the student's board test as a metaphor for what life is like for black men.
"You know in life there's going to be things harder for you to do than other things," Wilson told him. "And do you know those things that may appear to be hard to do, you're going to have to do as a man regardless? And it's going to take tears. It's going to take the blood of Yahshua [Jesus] and your sweat can break through it."
He tells the student that everyone has to face fears some time.
"I don't know if you're facing fear or you feeling that you may not make it — and we all face that from time to time," Wilson said to the student. "As soon as we hit resistance, we want to stop right? Because it's hurting and we feel that pain and be like ... 'I'm not going through this no more,' right?"
He then explained, by breaking a board himself, that it doesn't matter how hard that pain is to them, it's important for them to pull through it.
Wilson powerfully explains to the young boy that mental perseverance is necessary for a black man to survive in this country.
"Being a black man in this country, you're going to need mental fortitude. You're going to have to be strong here, Wilson said, pointing to his head, "more than than here," he continued, touching his arm to indicate physical strength. "You can do it, you just gotta put your mind through it."
After the pep talk, Wilson puts the young boy to the test again. The boy breaks through.
You can watch the whole video here:
