apRil danieLS
On September 3, 2019, God did a thing: He shook the world as we know it for the music, media, and entertainment industries. Most importantly, it reframed life for television personality April Daniels, founder of the Rock Out With Me movement and wife of legendary Grammy Award winning songwriter Lashawn Daniels. “When tragedy strikes, you can’t see past the next 10 minutes,” explains April. “There was a point where I was like, I don’t even know what to do. So, I am just going to sit here and soak in whatever this is. The emotion of it all. The hurt. The pain. The disappointment …” April was walking into her 8th day. Her 8th day, a day synchronously marked by abrupt endings and startling new beginnings. Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 (KJV) tells us:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” As April and their sons opened their eyes and awakened to start their 8th day, no calendar was there to mark the incoming season clos-
ing in on them, with expected landfall just a few short hours away. “When you go through times of adversity, it’s very easy to ask, why is this happening to me?” shares Omarr Rambert, the eldest of April’s sons. “Having the ability to adapt and not being set on what we thought things would look like is how our family has been able to pivot during the most pressing time of adversity in our lives.” Jett, April’s youngest son, chimes in, “When Dad passed, Mom did not really get a chance to pause and check on how she was really feeling. Her mothering instincts kicked in as she became highly focused on making sure that me and my brothers were straight. I feel like she is in a pivotal moment of her life right now where she is checking on self, making moves and living her life.” Tahshon gives a chuckle of astonishment, reflecting on how April has adapted to this new season in her life, “Yes, she has been going ham! … Mom has helped all of us to get better. Now, it’s her time.” Omarr concludes, “I [can] speak for me and my brothers when I say that we are super proud of her.”
the puRpose is
just begiNNING Mindblowing Magazine | 23
