Right now, I want you to take a moment and think through your family, your friends, colleagues, co-workers, church members is there a person close to you who’s an alcoholic? A compulsive gambler? Maybe there’s someone you know who’s abusing drugs or plagued with an eating disorder? Are there people in your life today who you know need to clean up their act?
One Thanksgiving years ago my kids, my husband and I were visiting with family…Aunts, Uncles, cousins, everyone was sitting around talking, laughing, having a good time when HE burst into the house. The He was one of my Uncles who for as long as I can remember was considered the “black sheep” of the family. EVERYONE in my family talked about him for YEARS! Well this night he rolled into the house ranting and raving, cussing, drunk out of his mind, high, smelling like urine and outdoors…sent everyone into a frenzy! But his invasion that night wasn’t anything new. He’d been an alcoholic, a drug users, hustler, gambler, abuser since he was a teen. We all grew up knowing that “that Uncle” had problems…needed help. And yet, I can’t recall a time when as a family we got together and said ENOUGH ALREADY and intervened FOR REAL in his life.
That’s how we do isn’t it, especially in the Black community. It seems as though we’ve have a “DON’T GET INTO ANYONE’S BUSINESS” mentality. But it’s WRONG! Don’t let those that you love and care about die right there in front of your face! People with addiction with deep problems don’t see the negative effects of their behavior.  AND I’m saying to you tonight, GET UP OFF YOUR BUTT AND GET INTO THEIR BUSINESS!
The chic technical term for what I’m talking about is called STAGING AN INTERVENTION.  There are several reality shows on TV that show people staging an intervention for their loved ones. It’s not pretty. In fact, it’s downright nasty. An intervention is a confrontation for getting a loved one the help that they need. Any person that is addicted to anything—drugs, bad relationships, gambling, alcohol, over-eating, over-spending, pornography, even computer or video games—anything that affects their health and their family’s health adversely can be helped by an intervention. Intervention works because it’s relentless AND THAT’S WHAT WE MUST DO, RELENTLESSLY PURSUE THE ONE’S WE LOVE. In spite of the hurt. In spite of the pain. Our failure to get into people’s business ends up costing all of us. Addicts steal, they commit crime, they wreak havoc on their families and they cost us money as a society NEVERMIND the damage that they do to themselves. If all of us would just focus on that ONE relative, husband, daughter, son-in-law or mother who’s strung out, then we can begin to change the tide.
I am your chief empowerment officer JENNIFER KEITT and I’m saying GET INTO THEIR BUSINESS, let’s learn how to stage interventions to help save the lives of those we care about most. This show is going to tell you how to do it. LISTEN RIGHT NOW.  The Jennifer Keitt Show is heard  exclusively on KISS 104, Atlanta’s R&B, every Sunday evening from 7- 8 pm ET.