Chris Singleton was Cape Henry’s first distinguished speaker of the year when he gave a speech to grades 8-12 on 9/11/2019. Chris brought the message of “Love is Stronger than Hate.” A powerful message coming from a person who has lost so much to things he was unable to control. Chris is a former professional baseball player who was faced with the unthinkable when one day he got a call saying that his mother had been shot and killed. 

Chris began his speech by making every person in the room stand up and give another person a hug and say “I love you.” Singleton said that he begins every speech by making people do that because he believes that at least one person needs that hug. 

“How do we overcome the unthinkable” Chris asked. A quote by Charles Swindle “10% of our life is action and the other 90% is reaction.” Chris’s 10% was his alcoholic father and his dead mother who was murdered. His 90% is how he responds to unthinkable. How he moves on. 

Chris Singleton believes that hatred is taught. Chris has forgiven the shooter that took his mother away from him because Chris believes that love truly is stronger than hate. How forgiving someone allows you to understand what happened and move on because that is the most difficult thing, to forgive rather than seek revenge, to help rather than hurt. 

When asked what stood out the most about Chris Singleton’s life or message, Will Longacher, the CHC co-president, said that “what stood out the most was how Chris was able to forgive the shooter who killed his mother.” When asked the same question, Jack Kainer responded saying “the fact that the presentation related to the most people made an impact on our community stood out to me the most.” Chris Singleton’s message has connected with the majority of the Cape Henry Community.