Renowned gospel music artist Kirk Franklin is coming to Atlanta to give the Commencement address at Morris Brown University. The 20-time Grammy Award-winning artist, songwriter, and choir director will be at the university on May 18 to give the address, per Morris Browns' Instagram account.
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Franklin seems to be on an HBCU tour of sorts. Most recently, he's coming off an appearance at Norfolk State University on April 11. NSU hosted their Courageous Conversation: Black Fatherhood in America event and invited Franklin to speak on his own experience on fatherhood, both as a father and son. Just last year, at 53 years of age, Franklin met his biological father. While filming the creation of his 13th album, he embarked on a journey of reconnection with the man he previously thought had passed away. To add to the spectacle, Richard Hubbard, Franklin's father, had lived in the same neighborhood as his growing son.
“To live over half a century with somebody who lived in the same city as you…” Franklin told People's Janine Rubenstein. “I suffered so much as a young man without guidance. I struggled with love, intimacy, faith, identity. And to know that the answer was less than 10 minutes away.”
Kirk Franklin released the documentary capturing the raw moments with the reconnection with his father. It also showed him reaching out to his son, Kerrion, to whom he hadn't spoken with for years.
“My son is a beautiful soul,” Franklin said. “There are parts of his life that are his to share. I am just very proud that I'm seeing him in his own way. He is beginning to reveal and testify to his struggles, his own battles with certain things that have at times cost him. I know many young Black men struggle with these same things and as he continues to get help and healing he's going to help so many. He has me and now his grandfather that will be there to help in any way we can.”
The documentary, Father's Day: A Kirk Franklin Story, is available on his YouTube channel.
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