'Why I stopped speaking with my mother' - Gospel vocalist Kirk Franklin

Kirk Franklin, a Grammy-winning American gospel singer, has stated that he stopped speaking to his mother at the age of 32.

On the 'Funky Friday' podcast, the 54-year-old music legend revealed that he stopped talking to his real mother because of an incident that occurred when his mother brought her new spouse while they were attempting to rehabilitate his sister, who had recently been released from prison.

"For the first time, I'm going to tell this narrative. This is why I stopped speaking to my biological mother. I was 32 years old when my sister was released from prison, and I was the only one trying to aid her with housing and other necessities," he recalled.

"She was still fighting with drugs. It was more than a 32-year-old could take. And we needed to stage an intervention to assist her. Once again, this is not my daughter. She is not my daughter. She's my sister. She has a mother.

"So we had a family meeting, but my biological mother arrived with her new husband. The intervention was going well. When it concluded, we all hugged, and because we hadn't seen each other in years, someone commented, "This is so beautiful." 'This is what a family should do.

"And I responded it wasn't about us; it was about my sister, who had just been released. After I said that, my mother's new spouse exclaimed, "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 dispute became heated, and my mother did something that broke my heart. She took his hand and said, 'Come on, sweetie, let's go.' She stepped out of the house with her two children. And I yelled at my mother, 'That's right, go ahead and leave like you usually do.'


"Because she did not grasp that man's hand and tell him, 'Baby, stay away. This is between myself and my children. I did not raise, nurture, care for, or protect these children. She grasped the man's hand and walked out with him. And I promised myself that as a young boy, I couldn't protect myself, but as an adult, I would never be put in a position where you would treat me like that again.”