Those who watched J. Cole‘s second HBO special, his 4 Your Eyez Only documentary, would remember its final scene, in which Cole came across a Baton Rouge woman going to her second job, who would then tell a heart-wrenching story on how she lost both her teenaged son and daughter to violence.
Dreamville has release a short vignette with Cole speaking to several students at Southern University, the historically black university in Louisiana. Jermaine reflects on the scene, as well as marvel at the resilience of the woman.
“We keep talking,” he says, “and then she tells me she had a daughter that was 14 that got murdered. She didn’t say it like it didn’t mean nothing, but I didn’t see no type of like bitterness or anger in this woman.”
The woman offers a powerful reason how she manages to push forward, something that resonates with J. Cole to this day. “She just said ‘God sent me here for a purpose. Everything happens for a reason and all I can do is look forward. Life goes on.'”
Watch the clip below.
