Stop crying

Stop with the tears

Don't cry

Pick yourself up

Stop with the emotions

Don't be a pussy

Don't let nobody disrespect you

Be cool

And be kind of a dick

Always keep your mouth shut

Nobody likes a tattle-tale

Bros come before hos

Don't let your woman run your life.

You're a bitch.

What a fag.

Get laid.

Do something.

Be a man.

Be a man!

Grow some balls!

The 3 most destructive words

that every man receives when he is a boy,

is when he's told to be a man.

We've constructed an idea of masculinity

in the United States

that doesn't give young boys

a way to feel secure in their masculinity.

So, we make 'em go prove it all the time.

Within their peer group culture

each of them is posturing

based on how the other boys are posturing,

and what they end up missing

is what they each really want,

which is just that closeness.

In good times guys are,

like, really close to each other,

but when things get a little bit worse

you're on your own.

From middle school

I had four really close friends.

Once I went kind of went into high school,

I struggled finding people I can talk to

because I feel like I'm not supposed to get help.

Our kids get up every morning.

They have to prepare their mask

for how they're going to walk to school.

A lot of our students don't know how

to take the mask off.

What is it you don't let people see?

Almost 90% of you have pain and anger

on the back of that paper.

If you never cry

then you have all these feelings

stuffed up inside of you,

and then you can't get them out.

They really buy into th-a culture

that doesn't value what we feminized.

If we're in a culture that doesn't value caring,

doesn't value relationships,

doesn't value empathy,

you are going to have boys and girls,

men and women go crazy.

I had anger issues in high school.

I felt like an outcast.

I've been suspended at least once

every year I was here.

We would just look for trouble

and just like, try to fight.

Boys are more likely to act out,

they're more likely to become aggressive.

Most people miss that as depression,

or see it as a conduct disorder,

or just a bad kid.

I felt like just giving up on life, you know,

see I had suicide thoughts

in my head in sixth grade.

I felt alone for-for a long time,

and I actually thought about killing myself.

Whether it's homicidal violence,

or suicidal violence,

people resort to such desperate behavior,

only when they are feeling

shamed and humiliated,

or feel they would be

if they didn't prove that they were real men.

If you're told from day one

'don't let nobody disrespect you',

and 'this is the way you handle it as a man',

respect is linked to violence.

If I can man up,

why step down from that,

you feel me?

It's like instinct.

So man up!

Man up.

Man up.

Man up.

Grow some fucking balls!

Act like a man.

Be a man.

Be a man!

For my kids,

I was gonna end this

hyper masculine narrative here.