Davonte Green

Folks fueled by anger, jealousy, and a lack of self-accountability.

It was the murder of my two best friends and my cousin, Robert Gary Jackson Jr., Trayvon Williams, Tyrone Tucker Jr.,

that really propelled me to become a healthy manhood and masculinity advocate, and to go on to found the Giant's Den Leadership Network for aspiring Black men and boys, where we foster emotionally intelligent leaders who are also actively engaged in their communities.

But this ain't how I started.

Before I was known for this work, before I found my passion for supporting Black men and boys, I was known and celebrated for my aggression on the football field, and also known for these hands.

I was the guy who wanted to fight once folks started making one too many jokes.

In fact, I often wanted to fight whenever I felt disrespected, which is okay in my community.

Because in my community, it was okay and it was celebrated for young men to have short fuses and to be emotionally immature.

I was taught that disrespect needed to be responded to with violence.

That's how real men dealt with it.

And to walk away or try to talk through a situation made you scared or weak and could lead to a shameful reputation.

So I followed suit.

When I was 20 years old, I took a two hour drive in the middle of the night to get into a fight because I had felt disrespected.

But in my reflection, I recognized that it wasn't disrespect that I was feeling, it was insecurity.

Because two hours is a long time to stay mad.

You know what I mean?

You have to really be working at this mad stuff.

So how does one sustain anger for a two-hour ride?

I'm telling myself one-sided stories that justify what I'm about to do.

Adding fuel to my fire, letting my anger boil because the narrative that I'm sharing is allowing me to feel like I'm justified.