Alan Martinez 
UTRGV- This Monday, February 8th, UTRGV Student Activities hosted another edition of their Distinguished Speaker Series.
This event was in honor of Lew Hill, the university’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach, who died Sunday at age 55. Hill had been with UTRGV since 2016 and coached the Men’s Basketball team for five seasons.
The night began with Arlett Lomeli, UTRGV Assistant Professor of Sociology and Billy Ulibarri, a UTRGV Sociology lecturer, the moderators of the event asking guest speaker, artist, actor, and activist Terry Crews about his childhood.
“I grew up in a very, very religious household, and it was a very strange household because, again, my father was addicted to alcohol, and my mother was addicted to religion,” he said.
Terry Alan Crews was born on July 30, 1968, and grew up in Flint, Michigan, alongside his parents Patricia and Terry Crews and his sister Marcelle in a strict Christian household.
He mentioned the environmental issues the city of Flint faced such as the water crisis.
“My relationship with Flint is very painful simply because you know my mother passed away in 2016,” said Crews.
“She had Lymphoma. She had cancer.”
Crews says he would tell his mother to come to live with him as things started getting worse in Flint, and said he sometimes wonders about the cause of his mother’s condition.
“There were so many problems for families in Flint that claimed out of the water situation,” he said.
“Always makes me wonder if it was the water. Michigan still doesn’t have clean water, which blows my mind.”
Before making it as an actor and athlete, Crews worked as a courtroom sketch artist where his commitment, passion, and imagination led him to many open doors.
“First of all, I’m an artist first. Art was my peace. So, my art talent just developed out of this desire to want peace,” he said.
“It really provided scholarships, which took me out of the hood and really let me see a great part of the world which I will never touch otherwise.”
He went on to explain that he eventually made it to the NFL and played as a defensive end and linebacker.
During what he says was a short career, Crews says this is where he experienced a different kind of abuse.
“When you look at the world of professional sports, it is so brutal,” said Crews.
“The NFL kind of gives the appearance of caring. I thought I loved football, but the reality is that I really loved just being outside.”
He mentions helping different football players in their transition to no longer being an athlete and spoke about his own transition into becoming an actor.
“First of all, I never wanted to be an actor. I thought I was going to be a filmmaker,” said Crews.
He says that the 1977 Sci-Fi film, Star Wars, inspired him to want to be part of the “Industrial Life Magic.”
Crews also spoke about his role as “Silence Breaker” in the #MeToo Movement.
As a result of numerous Hollywood actresses going public with their stories of sexual harassment and assault by Harvey Weinstein, Crews said it took him back to when a powerful Hollywood executive sexually assaulted him.
“I thanked the women for coming forward because it was their courage that allowed me to tell my story,” he said.
When the Q & A portion of the event began, it was revealed that over 100 questions were submitted by attendees for Crews during the event.
Crews said that one action came to change his life and it was the advice he decided to give to all the attendees at the end of the night.
“The best advice that I can tell you is to do something that you are afraid to do,” he said. “Not go giant and don’t jump off a cliff, but just take a little step, just one little step.”
