The former U.S. ambassador and daughter of the music industry’s ‘Black Godfather’ discusses grief, grace, and her radical response to a shocking crime.
This was such a beautiful interview despite the grim topic of her mothers death. I loved her reframing of the tragedy and victimhood. She’s incredible!
Great story of how she found it within herself to forgive.
That MSNBC person commenting that there has been "no progress" for Blacks In America is Joy Reid, no doubt. What Joy Reid and her producers know is there are a whole lot of people out there that actually listen to her hateful garbage and are capitalizing in it.
I fully embrace her forgiveness of the criminal who committed the hateful deed. Simultaneously I fully advocate for all of us old people to use firearms to cancel the advantages of the criminal young.
Forgiveness is not absolution. Forgiveness is freeing oneself from bitterness and vengeance and acting resolutely in the face of an injustice to do what is in our own power to blunt the effects of the injustice and make sure we do not propagate bitterness and vengeance into the world. We have a responsibility to make sure that offenses against us to not become our offenses against others. Matthew 6:14-15.
I started out with low expectations based on the information that Nicole Avant was an Obama supporter and fundraiser. But irrespective of her politics, Nicole is an amazing woman who had great parents. Bari always does a top notch job of bringing out the soul of her guests, and this was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. I'm only sorry Nicole didn't use her dad's title, You're Fucking Welcome, for her book. If you're not sure you whether you want to hear this interview, do yourself a big favor and listen. You'll likely find you have more in common with Ms. Avant than you would have guessed.
She is exactly right. Many times in life I felt very sorry for myself, until I understood that forgiveness is not a permission for the perpetrators' acts, it is a permission for myself to move on. My life became so much better since. My mother was killed on the pedestrian crossing by a heavily drugged teenage driver who then fled and left my mom die in the gutter. I spent years in the prison of victimhood over it. It ruined my life and didn't do any good for me. I applaud her for courage and strength.
Through grit, hard work, determination and an indomitable spirit, MS Avant's father became a music mogul. That can't be true! The left portrays all black's as victims, oppressed by the evil whites. Is MS Avent sure it was a white Jew saw who potential in her father and mentor him?
The left tells me all whites are racists and all Jews are evil money grubbing swine. Also through hard work MS Avent's father overcame horrible obstacles to become a success. This can't be true because to a leftist work is a four letter word.
This article has to be fiction, not just fiction but fantasy fiction.
According to the left, whites would never let her father become a success. The ever senile Joe says we want to put them back in chains. So how can this wonderful story be true?
Wow. More voices like that, raised a n unison, might help. Look, I KNOW that I was born on third base - hell, halfway down the third base line - but I’ve had times when things were bad for me and I always knew that by just having a job, a roof over my head, and parents who loved me that I had it made.
It is a daily struggle for me, as a Christian, to embrace forgiveness. Ms. Avant has not condoned the murder of her mother-clearly, that is a sin. However, in order to move forward and not continue the victimization, she needs to forgive. The late NYPD Officer Steven McDonald (1957-2017) forgave the young man, 15 year old Shavod Jones who shot him resulting in McDonald's paralysis from the neck down. The two never met but Jones did call him once to apologize; he died from a motorcycle accident four days after he was paroled. For the remainder of his life McDonald preached the power of forgiveness His wife was pregnant at the time of the shooting and I believe his son is now an NYPD officer.
These people are an inspiration and I pray to be able to exhibit a scintilla of their character.
This was a stunningly beautiful interview with tremendous heart and meaning for us all. The Avant family, and the legacy of Nicole’s parents and grandparents lives on. This is a very valuable teaching tool for overcoming tremendous challenges and hardship with the values of grace, humility, gratitude, love and hope. Nicole is such a beautiful person, and it was such a joy to listen though the subject matter was difficult.
“I want you to have this attitude of being a triumphant person.” And being a triumphant person does not mean that you escaped through life with no negativity. Being triumphant means you overcome. That means to have a triumph, you have to go through a trial. You have to go through a tribulation."
This article misuses the word "forgive" in a deceptive and dangerous way. If a guest in my home unintentionally breaks a prized family heirloom so it is irreparable, I can, after a few moments of shock and unexpressed anger, try to forgive them.
If a group of Hamas terrorists invade a small village and deliberately rape, mutilate, and slaughter infants, children, women, and men as they did on October 7th. Then no, I will not "forgive" them. Of course, life goes on, and we must all live in the present. But I will never bastardize the word "forgive" or pretend I "forgive" those evil monsters in any sense of the word. Let them all roast in the proverbial Hell.
I don’t understand this connotation of forgiveness. I admire Ms. Avant’s ability to put aside the idea of being a victim, to move beyond corrosive hate, to avoid obsessing about a past crime against her family. What she has done is very difficult and a good example for everyone. But forgiveness is something that the perpetrator must request, with contrition, acknowledgement of the damage caused, and a commitment to act differently. I didn’t see where the murderer did that or requested her forgiveness. I see incidents in the news where a crime victim immediately “forgives” a perpetrator without any contact with that person. Even worse, I see people who were not a victim in an incident, offering their forgiveness, without any acknowledgement that the perpetrator has any regrets at all—that forgiveness must involve two people committing to making the future different. That is how forgiveness worked for Jesus Christ, the most prominent advocate of forgiveness in all of history. It is not just about forgetting or moving on. Forgiveness is about redemption. Sadly, victims—even those who discard victimhood—cannot do it by themselves.
Amen! Love the sentiment. Spread it far & wide. I especially relate to her mom saying that to triumph you must have adversity. That’s the stuff of a meaningful life.
This was such a beautiful interview despite the grim topic of her mothers death. I loved her reframing of the tragedy and victimhood. She’s incredible!
Great story of how she found it within herself to forgive.
That MSNBC person commenting that there has been "no progress" for Blacks In America is Joy Reid, no doubt. What Joy Reid and her producers know is there are a whole lot of people out there that actually listen to her hateful garbage and are capitalizing in it.
I fully embrace her forgiveness of the criminal who committed the hateful deed. Simultaneously I fully advocate for all of us old people to use firearms to cancel the advantages of the criminal young.
Forgiveness is not absolution. Forgiveness is freeing oneself from bitterness and vengeance and acting resolutely in the face of an injustice to do what is in our own power to blunt the effects of the injustice and make sure we do not propagate bitterness and vengeance into the world. We have a responsibility to make sure that offenses against us to not become our offenses against others. Matthew 6:14-15.
I started out with low expectations based on the information that Nicole Avant was an Obama supporter and fundraiser. But irrespective of her politics, Nicole is an amazing woman who had great parents. Bari always does a top notch job of bringing out the soul of her guests, and this was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. I'm only sorry Nicole didn't use her dad's title, You're Fucking Welcome, for her book. If you're not sure you whether you want to hear this interview, do yourself a big favor and listen. You'll likely find you have more in common with Ms. Avant than you would have guessed.
She is exactly right. Many times in life I felt very sorry for myself, until I understood that forgiveness is not a permission for the perpetrators' acts, it is a permission for myself to move on. My life became so much better since. My mother was killed on the pedestrian crossing by a heavily drugged teenage driver who then fled and left my mom die in the gutter. I spent years in the prison of victimhood over it. It ruined my life and didn't do any good for me. I applaud her for courage and strength.
Through grit, hard work, determination and an indomitable spirit, MS Avant's father became a music mogul. That can't be true! The left portrays all black's as victims, oppressed by the evil whites. Is MS Avent sure it was a white Jew saw who potential in her father and mentor him?
The left tells me all whites are racists and all Jews are evil money grubbing swine. Also through hard work MS Avent's father overcame horrible obstacles to become a success. This can't be true because to a leftist work is a four letter word.
This article has to be fiction, not just fiction but fantasy fiction.
According to the left, whites would never let her father become a success. The ever senile Joe says we want to put them back in chains. So how can this wonderful story be true?
Wow. More voices like that, raised a n unison, might help. Look, I KNOW that I was born on third base - hell, halfway down the third base line - but I’ve had times when things were bad for me and I always knew that by just having a job, a roof over my head, and parents who loved me that I had it made.
Attitude of gratitude. Gotta have it.
It is a daily struggle for me, as a Christian, to embrace forgiveness. Ms. Avant has not condoned the murder of her mother-clearly, that is a sin. However, in order to move forward and not continue the victimization, she needs to forgive. The late NYPD Officer Steven McDonald (1957-2017) forgave the young man, 15 year old Shavod Jones who shot him resulting in McDonald's paralysis from the neck down. The two never met but Jones did call him once to apologize; he died from a motorcycle accident four days after he was paroled. For the remainder of his life McDonald preached the power of forgiveness His wife was pregnant at the time of the shooting and I believe his son is now an NYPD officer.
These people are an inspiration and I pray to be able to exhibit a scintilla of their character.
This was a stunningly beautiful interview with tremendous heart and meaning for us all. The Avant family, and the legacy of Nicole’s parents and grandparents lives on. This is a very valuable teaching tool for overcoming tremendous challenges and hardship with the values of grace, humility, gratitude, love and hope. Nicole is such a beautiful person, and it was such a joy to listen though the subject matter was difficult.
“I want you to have this attitude of being a triumphant person.” And being a triumphant person does not mean that you escaped through life with no negativity. Being triumphant means you overcome. That means to have a triumph, you have to go through a trial. You have to go through a tribulation."
"You're Fucking Welcome!"
This article misuses the word "forgive" in a deceptive and dangerous way. If a guest in my home unintentionally breaks a prized family heirloom so it is irreparable, I can, after a few moments of shock and unexpressed anger, try to forgive them.
If a group of Hamas terrorists invade a small village and deliberately rape, mutilate, and slaughter infants, children, women, and men as they did on October 7th. Then no, I will not "forgive" them. Of course, life goes on, and we must all live in the present. But I will never bastardize the word "forgive" or pretend I "forgive" those evil monsters in any sense of the word. Let them all roast in the proverbial Hell.
I don’t understand this connotation of forgiveness. I admire Ms. Avant’s ability to put aside the idea of being a victim, to move beyond corrosive hate, to avoid obsessing about a past crime against her family. What she has done is very difficult and a good example for everyone. But forgiveness is something that the perpetrator must request, with contrition, acknowledgement of the damage caused, and a commitment to act differently. I didn’t see where the murderer did that or requested her forgiveness. I see incidents in the news where a crime victim immediately “forgives” a perpetrator without any contact with that person. Even worse, I see people who were not a victim in an incident, offering their forgiveness, without any acknowledgement that the perpetrator has any regrets at all—that forgiveness must involve two people committing to making the future different. That is how forgiveness worked for Jesus Christ, the most prominent advocate of forgiveness in all of history. It is not just about forgetting or moving on. Forgiveness is about redemption. Sadly, victims—even those who discard victimhood—cannot do it by themselves.
I loved this interview so much too. The Avant family are an American treasure.
Can’t wait to read that book. “You’re Fucking Welcome.” I’m still chuckling. Thank you both.
Amen! Love the sentiment. Spread it far & wide. I especially relate to her mom saying that to triumph you must have adversity. That’s the stuff of a meaningful life.