Davonte Green

So I take this two-hour drive in the middle of the night,

I get into the fight and I was doing what I thought it meant to be a real man.

But the consequences of that night actually led me to a felony assault charge, a felony.

And that wasn't the worst part.

I wasn't able to see my daughter for the next three and a half years.

Not because I was tough.

I got a felony because I had my feelings hurt.

and I didn't have the emotional management skills to respond differently at the time.

See, our community doesn't teach men and boys conflict resolution skills.

In fact, when I came up, I learned conflict escalation skills, how to pop off, right?

And I understand all the things that happened in our past and in the community and the world that has led to these conditions and those valuable lessons that weren't taught to many of us.

But after bumping my head, after doing my work, I've realized the importance of men having actual emotional management skills.

Having emotional management skills, not only to be a nice person, but to avoid life altering situations, like going down that treacherous path of mass incarceration, substance abuse, domestic violence, a strained family relationships,

and statistically speaking, dying early.

But I want to give some tools that could have been a game changer for me and my situation.

And if you're someone who is still currently being impacted and influenced by that invisible yet potent misconception of manhood and masculinity, hopefully it can help you to avoid some of these life altering situations as well.

The first thing I recognize is, I ask guys, how they doing?

They say, I'm cool, I'm straight.

You know, another day.

Not often having the language to pinpoint an actual emotion.