I suppose I knew I was gay at age 11 or so. John Amaechi More Quotes by John Amaechi More Quotes From John Amaechi Knowing yourself, knowing where you want to get, combining those things gives you the pragmatic steps. John Amaechi knowing want giving You can't be a part-time man of principle. John Amaechi part-time principles men I always think coming out is something that you do for people who really deserve it. It should be. John Amaechi coming-out people thinking I grew up thinking the best job in the world would be a Jedi and being a psychologist is the closest thing I could get, so I wanted to be a Jedi and I don't want to be a Sith, so that is what keeps me on the straight and narrow. John Amaechi best-job jobs thinking I was a man who played basketball and after I played basketball and before I played basketball I was going to be a psychologist, whereas most people who play their occupation is their definition - and then when they stop doing who they are, they become nothing. John Amaechi basketball play men We need to get past the point where being black and a male means that I am likely to mug you for your wallet, likely to have a minus 15 on my IQ, likely to not go to college and likely to wear my pants below my arse. John Amaechi college mean past I think it's too easy to just say that there is a direct and necessary conflict between black identity and gay identity. I think it's more nuanced than that simply because I think black is a color and then people layer on top of it all kinds of socio-cultural elements. John Amaechi gay color thinking In a country like America, there are places, many states here still where coming out means you lose your job, where coming out means division, where it means potentially abuse. John Amaechi jobs mean country In my experience, it's only people who don't play sport at a professional level who think that there is anything remotely erotic about a locker room. John Amaechi play sports thinking I wasn't going to let Jerry Sloan embarrass me, because basketball had a proper role in my life. I suspected my basketball philosophy wasn't the bottom line anyway. John Amaechi roles basketball philosophy You are axes, in a world of wood. And the wood remembers when it has been cut, even if the axe forgets. John Amaechi axes cutting world I consider myself a pretty rounded guy. I've done pretty elite things in business, sport and academics and all of a sudden I woke up one morning and I'm a 'big, black, British, gay guy'. That was frustrating at times. John Amaechi gay morning sports I've been captivated by the idea of being on a basketball court and being surrounded by people who made me look a little bit less like a freak. John Amaechi basketball people ideas I think that we ill-prepare athletes from the very beginning. From the moment they pick up a ball or kick or whatever it is they're doing. We ill-prepare them. Especially with the major sports. What you see is this cycle of entitlement that gets thrown their way, so the kid who is in junior high and hasn't finished his test, but still gets to play because he is an athlete, fails the test and still gets to play because they're an athlete, gets to get away with not doing chores at home because they've got practice. John Amaechi athlete home sports My particular interest area is working in issues of emotional literacy. What I see of the way that we educate boys and more than that, the way we socialize boys within their families and then in schools to me is tantamount to just removing any element of emotional intelligence from them. John Amaechi emotional boys school Combining the lack of emotional literacy they may be imbued with, with the fact that if you're black you're not supposed to be that smart and if you... as a boy you're not even supposed to like school. All of the sudden you've got kids who are afraid, black kids and Latino kids who are afraid to be great, afraid to bask in the enjoyment of education, lest they be labeled less than black, less than Latino, less they be called the oreo. John Amaechi smart kids school I don't need to think that I'm being loomed over my shoulder in order to behave in a way that's moral. John Amaechi order needs thinking I think there is unnecessary conflict right now between the vehemently religious and the LGBT community. The extremes of religion I think and the LGBT community have an issue and because a lot of black families in America are more religious, I think that is where the conflict comes into play. John Amaechi religious play thinking I'd probably have to leave home in order to become a basketball player of any note. John Amaechi basketball player home There are some people the gestation period is like an elephant's and it's just years and years before they're ready. John Amaechi gestation-period elephants years
