Grammy-winning American gospel artist Kirk Franklin has revealed that he stopped talking to his mother when he was 32 years old.
In an appearance on the ‘Funky Friday’ podcast, the 54-year-old musician shared the reasons behind this estrangement. He explained that the rift began during a critical time when he was trying to help his sister, who had just been released from prison and was struggling with addiction.
“For the first time ever, I’m going to tell this story. This is why I stopped talking to my biological mother. I was 32 years old and my sister got out of prison, and I was the only one trying to help her with accommodation and other things,” he recalled.
“She was still struggling with drugs. It was more than a 32-year-old can handle. We needed to have an intervention to help her. And again, this is not my daughter. She’s not my daughter. She’s my sister. She has a mother.
“So, we had a family meeting, but my biological mother showed up with her new husband. The intervention was going okay. When it ended, we all hugged, and because we hadn’t been around each other for years, someone said, ‘This is so beautiful. This is what a family should be doing.’
“And I said this is not about us, this is about my sister who just got released. After I said that, my mother’s new husband yelled, ‘What you need to do is call your mama sometimes.’ I said, ‘Sir, I don’t know who you are, but she’s the mother, I’m the child.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but you call yourself a Christian.’
“The argument got heated, and my mother did something that crushed my heart. She grabbed his hand and said, ‘Come on, baby, let’s go.’ And she walked out of the house with her new husband. I yelled at my mama, ‘That’s right, go ahead and walk out like you always do.’
“The fact that she didn’t take that man’s hand and say, ‘Baby, stay away. This is between me and my kids. Kids I did not raise, kids I did not nurture, kids I did not provide for, kids I did not protect.’ She took that man’s hand and walked out with him. And I promised myself that as a little boy I couldn’t protect myself, but as a grown man I would never be put in a position where you would treat me like that again.”
