Common opens up like never before in his new book that is now available. More inside...
Rapper-turned-actor Common has been a journey where he's learning to practice love. Learning to love himself enough where he can spread love and light to others. He just released his new memoir “Let Love Have the Last Word,” where he opens up about therapy and wanting to erase the stigma it has in the black community.
The Grammy Award winner also shares how two years ago, while working on a scene with actress/friend Laura Dern for "The Tale," a haunting memory resurfaced of him being molested by a family friend as a kid.
“One day, while talking through the script with Laura, old memories surprisingly flashed in my mind,” he writes. “I caught my breath and just kept looping the memories over and over, like rewinding an old VHS tape…I said ‘Laura, I think I was abused.'”
The Chi-town native goes on to share the incident happened when he was 9 or 10-years-old when he and his family went on a road trip to Cleveland.
“I was excited for a road trip I was about to take with my family. My mother; my godmother, Barbara; her son and my godbrother Skeet; and his relative, who I’ll call Brandon…”
He said once they got to his aunt's house, he and Brandon were made to share a bed together one night of the trip.
“At some point I felt Brandon’s hand on me,” he writes. “I pushed him away. I don’t remember saying a whole lot besides ‘No, no, no.'”
While he tried to get him to stop, his abuser wouldn't.
“He kept saying ‘It’s okay, It’s okay,’ as he pulled down my shorts and molested me. After he stopped he kept asking me to perform it on him. I kept repeating ‘No’ and pushing him away,” the rapper writes. “I felt a deep and sudden shame for what happened.”
Back then, abuse wasn't openly talked about like it is today. To deal with what happened, the rapper said he "buried" the memory.
“I just pushed the whole thing out of my head,” he writes. “Maybe it’s a matter of survival—Even now, two years after that flash resurgence of memories, as I’m writing, I’m still working through all of this in myself and with my therapist.”
Common said he hasn't spoken to or seen the person in over 25 years and this is his first time speaking about the one-time incident. He said he has forgiven him for his sake.
“I want to be a person who helps break cycles of violence,” he writes. “This is love in action and I intend to practice it.”
Good for him. We love that he's using his huge platform and vulnerability to help others.
Photo: JStone / Shutterstock.com
source: theybf
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