Today we’d like to introduce you to James Robinson.
Hi James, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story is simple – I SURVIVED! Born to a teenage mother and an incarcerated father, the odds were stacked against me, but I kicked the odds butt my continuing to have the audacity to keep going even as a teenager because I knew back then that IT GETS BETTER. Born and raised in the church my faith in God kept me grounded. I knew that my life had a greater purpose. I just didn’t know that I would have to face so many adversities in order to get to greater, but sometimes you have to take the losses that life presents or you will never appreciate the wins when they come. I am better because I have been worse. I am stronger because I have been acquainted with weakness. I am wiser because I have walked in the shoes of foolishness. I am me. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I am who God called me to be. I am Buddy, San and Mike’s kid. Micah and Matthew’s dad. I am a SURVIVOR!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The poet Langston Hughes penned a poem that says, “Life ain’t been no crystal stair”. At an early age, I realized that this thing called life was going to be interesting for me. I entered the world in the middle of a mess. My mom was a teenager preparing to navigate through life with a new black boy and his dad on his way into the Correctional System sentenced to 300 years. The road called life for me has been bumpy, but early on my great-grandmother provided me with a safety net of scriptures. And because I knew and as long as I knew that the Lord was my Shepard that was enough for me. I got through the tough times, but not without learning lessons. There have been choices along the way that have come with their own potholes, sometimes knocking life out of alignment, but I always referred back to that old broken-down house on the corner of 22nd and Brevard where I learned that even when I walk through shadows of death, I am not alone. Life isn’t fair but I have been presented with 2 choices all my life – I can lay down and die or get up and live. I chose LIFE!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the author of “It Had to Happen, but it couldn’t kill me”, mentor to young men, advocate for present fathers and philanthropist.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Sometimes our parents get lost in the shuffle because they are doing what they were called to do. Now all parents aren’t lost in this shuffle. Some of them make a conscious choice to just not be a good parent, but I was blessed with a wonderful devoted mom and because I must have been special God gave me 2 dads. I want to shout out my parents James Williams, Sandra Peake and my Pops Steven Peake. These 3 people are the reason that I am the man I am today. My mom rode the city transit before she began driving and worked 2 jobs when I was born to make sure that I was taken care of. She didn’t run away. She didn’t abort me, but she was committed to me – loyal to me. She worked with what she had to do what needed to be done. My father, though incarcerated taught me to be resilient and never give up hope. He taught me to never admit to something that I didn’t do no matter the circumstances because even when people don’t understand the truth my integrity is vital and at the end of the day my name is all I have and my word is my bond. Pops taught me to work hard and provide for my family. To always be an interval and never shake a man’s hand without looking him in the face. They all taught me how to love without regret and live as if tomorrow never comes.
Contact Info:
- Website: allthingzjames.online
- Instagram: itz_justjames
- Facebook: Jay C Robinson
- Linkedin: James Robinson
- Twitter: itz_justjames
- Youtube: itz_justjames
