Former minor league player spreads message of resiliency, forgiveness following tragedy
Singleton was only 18-years old- playing baseball at Charleston Southern University when he got a phone call that changed his life
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Former minor league baseball player Chris Singleton understands tragedy.
“It’s been 8 years since I lost my mom. Toughest night of my life, by far,” says Singleton.
Singleton was only 18-years old- playing baseball at Charleston Southern University when he got a phone call that changed his life.
Showing up near Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina, he learned his mother was one of nine people shot and killed by Dylann Roof in a hate crime.
“I guess my favorite quote is 10% of life is action, the other 90% is reaction, so how you respond to anything is everything in life,” says Singleton.
Singleton now travels more than a hundred days each year throughout the country, speaking to groups of people about resiliency and forgiveness.
He was invited by Lexington’s Black Male Working Academy.
“It lets them know that they’re gonna have some distractions. They’re gonna have some obstacles they have to get through. And to see someone that looks like them, and has something a lot more tragic than some of the things they go through, they can fight through that,” said Roger Cleveland, the Black Male Working Academy board chair.
The BMW is a nonprofit educational program, works to close achievement gaps in school systems.
“Our mission is to educate, motivate, and activate the potential for excellence that lies within every African American male,” said Roszalyn Akins, BMW’s executive director.
The academy was started in 2005 and now includes more than 400 members. The academy brings in different speakers annually to speak to their young men and their families.
“The amount of impact that you can make on a young persons life is second to none,” says Singleton.
Singleton says he’s forgiven Roof.
Nearly a year and a half after his mother was taken, Singleton was drafted by an MLB team and went on to play in the minor leagues. He now has a wife and two kids with another on the way.
“All I can do now is just to try honor her every day that I live my life. And people can hopefully say, man this guy was raised the right way,” says Singleton.
Singleton says he will continue working to stop all acts of hatred, as he carries on his mothers legacy.
