Kendrick Perkins is opening up about his journey through life, basketball and social justice in his new book The Education of Kendrick Perkins: A Memoir.
Perkins doesn’t shy away from discussing his own experience as a Black man in America in the book, how his upbringing and circumstances helped shape his worldview.
Talking to Stephen A. Smith on his podcast K[no]w Mercy, Perkins said when it comes to being a Black man in media, he learned from Stephen A. how to handle himself when Blackness gets questioned in the scope of work.
“I don’t give a damn, and I got that from you. I don’t give a damn, because I know who I am,” Perkins said. “And I thank you for raising me and being that big brother to me. Cause you have been that and more.”
“It’s crazy because it’s like we can’t go on television and do our damn job without our Blackness coming into question,” he added. “Like right is right, wrong is wrong. We don’t have to go on here and just say ‘oh you know what I’m just gonna stay on this because that’s what the hood wants me to do.'”
