“I don’t want to submit to anybody or anything,” Egypt explains of her thoughts in past relationships. She would often hear “You’re too strong” to which, she reacted, “well you’re just too damn weak!” I‘ve heard this a number of times in debate circles with girlfriends. Women in today’s society wear independence as a badge of honor. We identify with that independence so unyieldingly, that we hinder the growth of our relationships by not yielding or submitting to our partners.
But sometimes, this pushback has to do with what we’ve witnessed. Singer Erica Campbell talked of growing up in the church. “I saw submissive wives but unhappy wives,” she said.
Dondré shared, “I didn’t know what it was to be a husband because I didn’t have an example.” He spoke of his father being in and out of jail, and how tough that was for him. After being married for 22 years he explained, “I am the man of my house, not because I tell everybody what to do, but because I show everybody what to do.”

Dondré also shared the nuances of personality derived from growing up in a certain neighborhood and how that can figure into things.
He gave his thoughts on his relationship with his wife, actress Salli Richardson. “My wife is from [the] south side of Chicago, I’m from Brooklyn. Somebody could die in our house!” he said jokingly of their strong bred personalities.
But when it came down to it, for him, submission meant “to give over.” He continued to say he doesn’t have to do or control everything and unveiled that when he submits to his wife “she usually gives it back.”
The Ego Convo
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