Keion Henderson - Training Day

I want to talk about this subject, «Training Day,» and I’m not even going to mention a movie, so I won’t give a soliloquy about Denzel in the film. However, I want to talk to everyone about «Training Day.» Growing up in the Midwest, I’m from Gary, Indiana, and I wonder if there are any other Midwest folks here. Y’all take a look around — we’ve got our theme music! In the Midwest, people often take for granted what you have here in Texas because y’all have many things that the rest of the world lacks, like jobs. In Houston, over 40 percent of the people in the town where I grew up were unemployed. The steel mills shut down, and everyone left. The campus pastor for this location and I were raised in that same place since the day we were born. My name is Keon; his name is Seon. My father was his father’s uncle, which makes us cousins—first cousins raised in a place that is literally a valley of dry bones. The only options we had while growing up were to either be an athlete or a singer, channeling Michael Jackson and others. The other outlet was religious leadership—there was literally a church on every corner. I wanted to be a professional athlete, but the Lord didn’t see it that way. I was never going to be a lawyer because I didn’t want to go to school long enough, and I would never be a doctor because I can’t stand the sight of your blood. I can look at mine, but not at yours. I was called to preach the gospel at the age of 14. There was one other option I considered, but it didn’t last long, and that was joining the military. For about five minutes—on a Thursday from five to five—I thought about it. I was never going, and the reason I was intrigued was that they recruited many of us at our high schools and middle schools. They talked about free education and how much money you could make in the military. We were poor; my mother worked at fast-food restaurants, and so did we. I thought making forty thousand dollars a year would mean I could care for my entire family. That’s how far we had come from. I considered joining the military and remember hearing all these slogans. You remember, «The few, the proud, the Marines»? They tried to recruit us too. I also heard «Born Ready,» which was the Coast Guard’s motto—they tried to recruit us, as well. I attended all these meetings. I remember hearing «Be all you can be,» which branch was that? So y’all went to the meeting too! But the branch I was most intrigued by was not the Air Force; it was the Navy. The reason I wanted to join the Navy wasn’t just any Navy job—it was to be a Navy SEAL. You know, the elite group that took down Osama Bin Laden. I envisioned coming in off a helicopter, dropping in the night with night vision goggles, popping out, shooting you twice, and being back home before you even knew you were dead. SEALs are what’s up! If you meet someone who says they’re in the Army, you thank them for their service. But if you meet someone who says, «I’m a Navy SEAL, ” you’ll be like, „What?“ Because Navy SEALs belong to a specialized division. They carry the mystique of being just a little above the rest. I considered doing it until they told me what you had to go through to become one. Oh man, the free danishes were amazing, and the prospect of getting a job and a free education was tantalizing. It was good for my mind, but when I attended the meeting to find out what I had to do to become a SEAL, I immediately knew in my spirit that I was not going. My mother would tell you this is a true story; I found out two ways to avoid being drafted. Number one, I was my mama’s only son. Number two, the arch of my foot wasn’t large enough, and they didn’t send people to war who had flat feet. So I’ve wanted an arch ever since I was little. I literally employed those two ideas and considered being a Navy SEAL. Then the recruiter told me, „Listen, the training for a SEAL is not designed to get you in shape; you have to be in shape before they let you in training.“ Oh, this is good! This is good because there are certain levels in life. If you’re going to do well, you can’t practice at those levels; you’ve got to be ready before you can enter. I actually asked, „What is the training for becoming a Navy SEAL?“ He responded, „No, ask me about the training; let me tell you what you’ll have to do in order…“