Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson responds to domestic violence message sent to him
3 min readDwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has responded to a Kiwi-Samoan five-year-old child who recently sent him a powerful message about spreading the word about violence against women.
‘UNCLE ROCK’ RESPONDS TO ANGELOU BROW
According to the New Zealand Herald, Angelou Brow sent the Hollywood actor a message and a gift, in a bid to help spread an anti-violence message to men around the world. He said to be apart of the She is Not Your Rehab group, a movement that empowers men to address their domestic violence issues and encourages family and communities to treat our women better.
Five days after Brow’s video went viral, ‘The Rock’ posted his response.
“Just watched and this one just sat me down,” he said on Instagram. “A bit emotional watching this five-year-old little boy speak to me,” the actor posted, alongside young Angelou’s video. ‘The Rock’ added a crying emoji to his caption, which then became an open letter to the boy from Christchurch.
“Angelou, it’s Uncle Rock. Yes, I’m your ‘uncle’ because of course, all us Samoans are related,” he began. “I’m very proud of you, son. You don’t understand yet, because you’re too young but just know how courageous and inspiring you are to myself and our aiga (family), but now – to the world.”
He went on to single out the work Brow’s father does with the She is Not Your Rehab group, as well as Brow’s grandmother.
“I admire your father, greatly for standing up and creating @sheisnotyourrehab. And to make sure his mom – your Nana – will never be forgotten. Encouraging men all over the world to treat our women with respect, love and most importantly, violence-free,” he said.
“The way you sit in your Nana’s arms as she speaks to you is the exact same way I would sit in my grandma’s arms when I was your age, while she said her prayers in Samoan to God, and then she’d talk to me afterwards just like she talks to you.
“She would tell me the exact same things your Nana is telling you. Listen to her. And always remember her words,” the actor advises the boy.
The actor said in a postscript that he is arranging with his staff to be connected with Brow’s family.
GOING VIRAL
The video of Brow was first posted online on the She is Not Your Rehab page last week. In it, the Brow addresses ‘The Rock’ personally, sending him a shirt that says She is Not Your Rehab and asking a favour from the “strongest man on the planet” to help spread awareness of how domestic violence is harming our women, families and communities.
“Dear Mr Rock, my name is Angelou Brown and I am five years old. I live in Christchurch, New Zealand,” he starts off. “My dad is Samoan so I’m pretty sure you’re his cousin. And since you’re part of the aiga (family), I thought I’d send you a gift. It’s a T-shirt. Not just any T-shirt. This T-shirt my dad and my uncles wear to encourage other men to treat girls well.”
Angelou’s father and founder of She is Not Your Rehab, Matt Brown, told the Herald last week he decided to reach out to ‘The Rock’ in the hope his mana in the Pacific community would make men stand up and listen.
“There’s no one better to lead that than ‘The Rock’ himself,” He said. “For many of us, he was a superhero growing up so I thought if he would support this then Polynesian men would listen.”