This Ain’t What I Came For… But It’s What God Had Waiting.

 ​THE NAME I ALMOST MISSED

Ooooooweeeee, I’ve been sitting on this for a week. I couldn’t wait to tell you.

When we last spoke, I was headed home to Tennessee to celebrate my mama, Ms. Thang Thang, on the 50th anniversary of her graduation from Lane College.

The ceremony was held in a church, and since my mama’s part was done, I was all the way in the back row behind her, scrolling my phone, trying to knock out some emails.

I didn’t know anybody else walking that stage.

Then I heard a name over the speaker. My head popped up.

Out of respect for his privacy, I’ll call him C.A., but I only heard the first name, which is a common one.

I paused for a second and thought, “Wait… did I just hear what I think I heard?”

But all I could see from where I was sitting was just a shadow walking across the stage collecting his degree.

I texted Amber, the head of our Student Support Team, just to check. No response. So I let it go.

After the ceremony ended, the grads were instructed to go one way and the attendants another. I started making my way down a hallway, thinking my mom’s class would be exiting that way in their gold graduation gowns. So I stopped in a random corner, head down into my phone to wait.

The 2025 grads in black gowns started filing past me. But again…I didn’t know anybody, so I went back to squeezing in some more emails.

The next time I looked up, it was to see if I spotted gold gowns coming.

And right there coming towards me… was C.A., my gentle giant.

We locked eyes at the same time.

He knew me. I knew him. And I lost it.

I screamed. I cried. I jumped up and down. I vacillated between being annoyed that he didn’t tell us and hugging him like I had just watched him climb Mount Everest in flip-flops.

“I SAW YOU WALK…I SAW YOU WALK…I SAW YOU GET TO THE FINISH LINE! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT, C.A!”

He wrapped me in a bear hug. He was smiling, a little shy, maybe even a little embarrassed by how hard I was jumping in a circle around him, but I didn’t care.

Because this moment?

This is what Move-In Day Mafia is really about.

Not just move-in day. But the full journey. 

​The truth is, C.A. never told us. Because when you’ve spent a life used to people not showing up, you stop expecting them to, and you stop sharing good news.

And y’all… that almost happened here.

But God.

God made sure I was born in the right year… so my mama would be graduating in the right year… so 50 years later, I’d be standing in the exact right hallway at the exact right moment to celebrate C.A.

Nobody else from my mom’s graduating class even came down that hallway. Only the new graduates did.

You can’t plan that.

That’s divine timing.

That’s what it looks like when heaven taps you on the shoulder and says, “Look up. Don’t miss this.”

And I’m telling you now… we’re building a Graduation Crew.

We will not let our scholars cross that stage without celebration.

No more walking alone.

If I have anything to do with it, there will always be someone hollering their name, hugging their neck, and going ham over them.

Because C.A. may not have told us.

But God did.


WHEN HARASSMENT TURNS INTO HELP

Let me run this all the way back.

Last year, Cisco, the tech giant, came through with a $15,000 donation to Move-In Day Mafia. And listen… that wasn’t the result of a pitch deck or some fancy strategy meeting. Nah. That miracle was born straight out of a divine setup.

I was at the “A Different World” HBCU tour stop at Morehouse, just doing what I do, talking to everybody in sight. In the elevator, I started harmlessly harassing a woman, playfully, of course. Didn’t know her name. Didn’t know her title.

Then, a little later during the event, I introduced myself to a man from Cisco, who had done the welcome, because Cisco was a sponsor. Scott and I got to talking, and I tell him about Move-In Day Mafia, and his eyes light up.

And then he says, “I want you to talk to my colleague.”

Wanna guess who it was?

The same woman from the elevator.

Her name? Shaunya.

Yup. The woman I had been clowning moments earlier turned out to be our divine connection.

Scott introduced us. Shaunya listened to the vision. And soon after, Cisco dropped $15,000 into this mission.

Now fast forward to this weekend.

I’m at Mama’s graduation in Jackson, TN. They hosted a beautiful luncheon to honor her class, and one of the special guests was none other than Darryl Bell.

You know... Ron from A Different World.

So I texted Shaunya 'cause remember Cisco sponsored the Different World tour?

“Hey! Do you happen to know Darryl personally?”

She responded, and not only does she know him, but she hit me with this:

“Scott’s there too!”

Wait… What?

Scott, as in THAT Scott, was in the room.

Only God could write this kind of script.

Because not only did I get to celebrate my mama and her legacy, I got to walk right up to the man who opened the door for Cisco’s support last year and tell him face-to-face:

“Our kids are thriving.
Needs are getting met.
Lives are changing because of Cisco’s yes.”

He looked me square in the face and said, “What do you need this year?”

I didn’t hesitate.

I said, “Money! And lots of it!”

He said, “Tell Shaunya what you need.”

And baby... I did.

The proposal has been written.

The vision is big.

The need is real.

But so is the God who orchestrated an elevator joke, a Morehouse event, a 50-year graduation, a sitcom legend, and a miracle setup in a luncheon ballroom in my little hometown.

So now, Miracle Makers, I’m asking you to pray with me.

Pray that Cisco says yes again…this time even bigger. Pray that this next miracle carries more weight, more funding, and more futures than we could imagine.

Because if God did it once... You better believe He’s ready to do it again.

​
EVEN COUCH-SURFING COULDN'T TAKE HER JOY

You might remember me mentioning H.K. before.

She’s one of our freshman scholars, and before Move-In Day Mafia came into the picture, she spent her high school years unhoused, couch surfing, bouncing between places, trying to survive and still make it to class.

So when she got her dorm room?

It wasn’t just a place to sleep.

It was her first real taste of stability.

Her own space. Her own bed. Her own door to close at night.

When she first interviewed for Move-In Day Mafia, she had to beg a relative just to use a bedroom so she could have a quiet space.

And even then?

That relative kept coming into the room, over and over, making her visibly nervous and unsettled.

But she pushed through.

And that same courage is what’s been carrying her through freshman year at Bethune-Cookman, where she is on scholarship.

But that didn’t mean all the gaps were closed.

Because H.K. was still trying to tackle college… without a laptop.

You know what that means.

No reliable way to write papers, join Zoom calls, or do research unless she could hustle her way into a computer lab or borrow from someone else.

That’s where one of you had H.K.’s back.

One of our Mafia Miracle Makers stepped up and filled the gap!

Now this resilient young woman, who’s already overcome more than most adults, has what she needs to keep pressing forward.

No more borrowing. No more scrambling. No more hoping someone else will come through.

This time, someone did.

Because that’s what this community does.

We build the bridge from surviving to thriving.

And today? That bridge looks like a laptop and a bright future for H.K. I mean...look at that smile!

​To the anonymous donor who stepped up without hesitation, thank you for being the miracle in motion!

Last weekend, I was sitting on the back row watching my mama get honored for her 50-year graduation anniversary from Lane College.

This weekend?

I’ll be ON THE STAGE delivering my very first HBCU commencement address.

From her arms in 1975 to holding the mic in 2025… tell me God ain’t a full-circle specialist.

When God pulled me out of Hollywood ten years ago and set me on a path as a speaker, one of my first prayers was, “Lord, will You ever let me give an HBCU commencement speech?”

He heard me. He prepared me.

And now?

🗓️ This Saturday, May 3rd, 2025
🎓 I’ll be giving the commencement address at Jarvis Christian University near Dallas, TX!
⏰ 8 AM PT | 10 AM CT | 11 AM ET
🎥 Watch the live stream Either https://www.jarvis.edu/ or https://www.youtube.com/@jarvischristianuniversity1969/streams

My talk is called “Zigzag Across the Finish Line” because nobody I know made it without some detours.

Sometimes you fall.
Sometimes you crawl.
But you get across that finish line, even if you have to zigzag to do it.

See you next week, and if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe!