Taking Reaction To an Action! Way to go Tyler Perry

Please read his comments to the end. It is not a story on Michael Jackson. It is how one man, Mr Perry instead of simply venting did something. May we all find a way to take passion and power to do something righteous and good. I give him great respect in using his mean to do something right for those who may not have the means.

I would love to meet this man and create some art for him. Way to go!

JHM

http://www.tylerperry.com/

This made me so angry.

Since Michael Jackson died I have not watched the news. I have just been so disgusted at how the mainstream media has riddled this family with disrespect, and no matter what anyone, you or I included, might have thought of him, the truth of the matter is this - the man was still a human being and his kids and family deserve some privacy and space. And I know that I'm not the only one that feels this way, so I purposely kept the TV off.

Anyway, I was walking through the house, and I don't know how this TV was on, but I saw a little boy on the news crying his eyes out.So I turned it up. Here is this kid talking about being kicked out of theValley Swim Club outside Philadelphia because he was black.

Did you hear me? I said, "No way, this can't be! It's 2009. I don't believe this!" But,I know it happens even in this year of Obama.

As I listened to the story the anchorperson went on to talk about a woman named Althea Wright. This young lady started a non-profit called CreativeSteps to help inner-city children. And apparently she had booked the Valley Swim Club's pool and paid for it to be used by the children throughthe summer. As we all know, this is such a great thing. During the summerour kids can get into a lot of trouble if they don't have somethingcreative to do.

Anyway, as the story went on I was shocked to find out that it wasn't just him but 65 children in all, black and Hispanic kids,that were kicked out of the pool. You should Google this story and read it online for yourself. It's crazy! I went from being mad to being furious.

The news reporter went on to say that the president of the club and itsmembers said, and I quote, "We don't want to change the complexion of ourclub." The president refunded the money of the children and asked them notto come back. WHAT?! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said Ihave to do something for these children. I can't let them think that theyare inferior because of the color of their skin.

Then that night I saw the president of the Valley Swim Club on the news again saying that he misspoke and that it was a safety issue and the club wasn't able to accommodate so many children. But the children themselves reportedly said that members were taking their kids out of the pool, and that they were saying things like, "Why are they here?" and "They're black", even insinuating that these kids would steal or maybe hurt their children.

Now get this. A few days later I catch the story again on CNN. This time the club was inviting the kids to come and swim. WHAT?! I'm confused. If you refunded the money because there was not enough room in the pool andit was a safety issue then why are you asking the same 65 kids to comeback?
This is awful, and for anyone that has grown up in the inner-city, youknow that one small act of kindness can change your life. These kids seethe images of President Obama on TV and then they see the drug dealers andthugs on the corner. Which do you think is more their reality?

One act of kindness, one person telling them that they are special, one moment of encouragement can make them move mountains. I know it to be true because Iwas one of them. They don't need to be called names and be told that they are less than, because of the color of their skin or because of where they come from.

I was told that one of these children, a seven year old, asked her mother if she was "to black to be in a pool." How do you answer that? How do you get a seven year old past that?

Again, it broke my heart and I wanted todo something, and I feel like you all would want to do something, too.That's why I'm telling you this. Since you all have put me in the position to be able to do something I feel like by me doing this we are all doing it together.

So what I did was on Aug 1st thru 3rd I'm sending these kidsto Disney World, and then to a Disney water park. I want them to know that for every act of evil that a few people will throw at you, there are millions more who will do something kind for them.

This is all about then kids. So, thank you for letting me do this. Thank you so much.

And do me a favor please. When you see these kids coming through the airport, (I'msure you won't be able to miss them. I imagine they are going to be superexcited) when you see them in the park and in the hotel, let's show them a whole lot of love and respect.

Show them that they are just as good asanyone else. And show them that they can do or be anything they want tobe no matter what any one says!

Thanks,
Tyler Perry