#BamaHateWeek...We're Here...

He was a coarse man. Wicked. Mama used to say he was ill-tempered...but I knew...there was nothing ill. He knew exactly what he was doing. Screaming. Cursing. He was never afraid to put his hands on me, on her...on anybody.

I used to cry and scream and wonder "Why daddy? Why?! Why you gotta say all them things! What did I do? No daddy...not the belt...DADDY!"

But he had a way. A plan. He knew what he was doin'. My daddy was gettin' me ready. Helpin' me learn how to fly. Fly higher than he ever could ever go. To get to a place where I'd be able to survey everything that lay below me. All at my feet in little pools of maroon.

Daddy wore a lot of masks too. When those fancy folks from town came to the bayou he always put on his best face and told ‘em "yes sir" and "no ma'am" and "pardon my boy...his momma don't never show him how to do nothin' right." But it was that son that showed the world his true face.

It was late one night. Daddy was passed out on the couch. I walked up...ran my hands through that greasy hair and...a razor blade right under his chin. And I shouted "DADDY DADDY LOOK AT THE WINGS YOU GAVE ME!"

Made an awful mess. The red was...everywhere. When they found him it was all over his face. It looked like a crimson mask but...that was what he tried to hide from the world.

So you see...when they talk about the Crimson Tide rollin' in, that's just something I will never fear. For you see, I have embraced a wave of the reddest blood you have ever seen. I have let it wash over me, and I have come out on the other side stronger. When I see that color...when I see that mask, on another man...it doesn't scare me. Because I know that while everybody else will be drowning in all those burgundy waves, I'll be flying above it all.

Saturday...you'll see. You'll all see...I'll have my wings...I'm going to show you all. Just like I showed my daddy.