“It wasn’t until I started wrestling that I started to realize that not everybody was out to get you, and there are some really good people out there who aren’t people that look like you, and that’s the cool thing about it,” he continues. “So, with that being said, I think wrestling in itself helped me to mature to become a better version of myself and see things differently. It’s not like it’s not there, but at the same time, you can’t make everything about that because not everyone is like that.”
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Race is a prevalent issue, though, and unfortunately, it always has been. But these days, Sterling notices that a younger generation is paying attention even more closely to what’s going on in the world while actively trying to promote change. It wasn’t necessarily how he was growing up, but it’s certainly the way he is now.
“I definitely agree that the kids of today’s generation are paying attention a lot more to what’s going on in the news,” he said. “I’ll admit that when I was younger, I never really paid attention to anything. It was just about me, my friends and doing boy stuff and being young teens and not really having an interest in how you got to where you are in terms of your history. And I made sure I made that a huge part of my adulthood – the teachings and the stuff that I want to learn about. It’s nice to see kids look at things in a little bit of a different lens and they are paying attention. They’re a lot more involved in their society and their community and making sure they’re taking notice of things that can potentially happen to them and things that they want to change or be better for everybody else.”
In 2020, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the world exploded on so many levels. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, a contentious U.S. Presidential race and the social justice movements that took place across the globe, everyone was affected on some level, and those in the public eye, like Sterling, had the platform to speak their mind on everything going on. It was a revealing look into a world and a way of life many have not experienced.
