Rev. Run and Justine Simmons have a new victory to celebrate as parents with the success of their new book Take Back Your Family.
The book, which offers parental guidance based on the same principals they apply to their own family, entered the New York Times’ list of best selling Hardcover Advice books this week in the number 15 position.
The self-help tome is the first co-written by the Simmons’, who have each penned best sellers independently.
The reality TV patriarch and Hip-Hop legend explains that Take Back Your Family is a continuation of the message he attempts to spread through his popular MTV series, Run’s House.
“My whole show is a ministry,” Rev. Run, born Joseph Simmons, told AllHipHop.com. “I don’t have a church that I’m the pastor of. So in my mind, I’m a very untraditional reverend. And my pulpit just happens to be MTV, which is a very different type of congregation.”
Released earlier this month, Take Back Your Family shares the Simmons’ very hands-on approach to parenting, using the proven methods which keep their children balanced in an age of shallow materialism and fragmented families.
Included are lessons like “Run your family as the ‘COEs: Chief Officers of Everything; Lead by example, not by preaching;'” and what Run considers the most important lesson of all: “When they get older it’s not time to back out, it’s time to push further in their life,” said Run, whose oldest child, Vanessa, recently celebrated her 25th birthday.
“That’s the time when they need mentoring the most, and they need love the most when they get older, Run told AllHipHop.com. “Some parents might think it’s time to cut the strings, I think it’s time to get closer. These are when they’re making the biggest decisions of their life.”
The Simmons family has spent the last few weeks on tour, promoting the new book, attempting to get closer to the 4.1 million viewers Run’s House garners every week.
According to Run, the responses they have gotten have been overwhelmingly positive.
However, he knows that in this age of media scrutiny, the public light doesn’t always shine positively, as was recently the case with Internet coverage of photos taken of Angela over the weekend.
“People are showing me blog things, and I’m like what do you want me to look at,” Run said of the salacious stories that have been printed. “There’s nothing to see. What is she not supposed to talk to guys? There’s nothing I can do but let guys be guys, let girls be girls; let JoJo put his album out, and [let them] live their life. That’s all I can do is raise them the best that I can, and watch them operate in this world without cramping their style…I’ve been blessed with kids that are smart, and they’re not follower, they’re leaders. They’re not really caught up in the whole game like that. They move around. They’re basically good kids. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but I did the best I could and I do the best I can.”
Take Back Your Family is available for purchase at finer book stores nationwide.
