St. Louis High School students listening to motivational speaker, Eric Thomas
St. Louis, MO — Motivational speaker Eric Thomas, also known as “The Hip Hop Preacher”, recently went off on some students as he was speaking to them in an auditorium at a local high school in St. Louis. Several students reportedly were being disruptive, and refused to be quiet.
“Listen to me very closely. They pay me $50,000 to $100,000 when I speak to corporate America. I go to a basketball program and they pay me good. I ain’t getting a dime here. I’m here because I love you, but I’ll be darned if I come here for free and you disrespect me. I ain’t 20-years-old. I ain’t 19-years-old. I’m a grown man. I’m here because I love you. I’m here because I love ya’ll, they ain’t paid me a dime. As a matter of fact, I came to use my influence to raise money so a group of kids can go to Costa Rica. I’m not here to get nothing, I’m here to give you something. I’m not here to take nothing from you. I’m here to give you something.”
“And listen to me closely, when people love you, you don’t do them like dirt. When people care for them, you don’t disrespect them. You ain’t got but a few people who care about you in this world. Didn’t you hear what I just said? If you’re in the wrong place, you’re going to get shot and killed. Ain’t nobody going to go to jail for it. Ain’t nobody going to go to jail for it. Ain’t nobody gonna do no time for it. So the few people who you do have that care, you can’t treat them like garbage.”
He continued:
“And you’re gonna have the nerve to laugh and joke when teachers are trying to teach you? You got the nerve to act the fool when somebody cares about you? You’re talking when I’m talking. Do you know that if I go to a Jewish school, them kids are quiet. If I go to a white school, them kids quiet. If I go to a Latino school, they quiet. The only kids that disrespect me is black kids. That’s it, my own, are the only ones who disrespect me. I work in any other school and they’re like, ET, we’re taking notes. I come home, you talking. You’re capping jokes. You think something is funny. Look how we’re living. Ain’t nothing funny. Ain’t nothing funny y’all.”
“Have you lost your mind? We are survivors… You know how to sit down and shut up. You do it when you’re watching videos.”
His words, although harsh, seemed to calm the students down, and many got serious and started listening to him – and even started clapping. Even more, the YouTube clip ended up going viral on Facebook and Twitter and to-date has more than 900,000 views.
Watch the YouTube video below:
About Eric Thomas – “The Hip Hop Preacher”
Eric Thomas, PhD is a critically acclaimed author, World renowned speaker, educator, pastor and audible.com Audie Awards Finalist. ET, as he is better known, has taken the world by storm, with his creative style and high-energy messages. His words continue to impact tens of millions of people in several hundred countries across the planet! Through a significant social media presence and his recent domestic and international tours, “ET, The Hip Hop Preacher” has become a global phenomenon! Learn more about him at www.etinspires.com or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thehiphoppreacher