As a successful African American man who’s worked with everyone from movie executives and A-list celebrities to boys from broken homes, McDonald shared these tidbits of wisdom on cultivating the next generation of leaders: “Stop using blanket terms like ‘Millenials.’ You have to listen to a young person as an individual. When I mentor kids from The Steve Harvey National Mentoring Camp for young men or the Disney Dreamers Academy, I challenge them for information on what they want to do, and then I provide guidelines on what they can do within that time frame. I don’t believe we can blame the media, rappers or artist for our youth problems. We have to stop making excuses. The problem is the mentorship surrounding these kids is very shallow. To make an impact, I had to change and I am still changing.”
When it comes to your skin color and success in the entertainment industry, most people would agree it’s a tough industry plagued by many challenges. But McDonald strongly believes it all boils down to your level of determination. “As an African American man coming up in the entertainment industry, I knew I was up against the wall. I realized, it doesn’t matter how articulate I am, how impressive my resume is, or how expensive my suit is, I am still a black man walking in a room. You can’t change your skin color but you can create relationships that allow your color to be comfortable in a work environment. A goal to overcoming some sort of racism is to be to be on the left or right of a decision maker. People don’t turn around to make decisions; they typically look to the left or right.”
“I love my life. It comes with a certain level of independence. And from my work in the entertainment industry, we’ve tried to put a positive spin on the African-American lifestyle for everybody—from producing shows such as ‘Me and the Boys,’ ‘Sister to Sister,” and ‘The Jaime Fox Show’. God has given me the ability to change the world.”
We at BE Modern Man salute you, Rushion McDonald, for contributing positive images of men of color to the world. Your ability to carve out a lane for yourself, while leaving a path to excellence for others to follow, is meant to be celebrated and appreciated.
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