Unless you happen to be an avid cyclist, I doubt you would know what a chainbreaker is.
I certainly did not.
Then Game of Thrones made its debut on HBO in 2011.
By now I’m guessing you probably know what, or who I’m referring to.
Yes, I’m referring to one Daenerys Targaryen – the silver haired princess in Game of Thrones who also goes by “Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of her Name, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.’
Sent into exile by the treacherous Lannisters who had seized control of the iron throne, Daenerys sought to overthrow them and rid the seven kingdoms of corruption and slavery.
She rose from her lowly beginnings in a forced betrothal to become a powerful leader willing to stake her claim to the iron throne.
Defiled, humiliated, and enslaved, Daenerys could have abused the power she had amassed in violent and vengeful ways.
But rather than pillage and plunder, she chose to punish other oppressors and liberated thousands of slaves in distant lands on her way to the kingdom.
Daenerys Targaryen remains, to my knowledge, the most visible representation of a chainbreaker in recent pop culture.
Like modern-day revolutionaries, chainbreakers are individuals who have broken the mold and strive to effect positive change around them.
Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty
Growing up poor in the Midwest where drugs and crime had claimed many casualties, my circumstances certainly did not align with a path to success.
Stubborn and unyielding, I clung to the belief that I could forge a professional career in mixed martial arts – a sport that was once coined ‘human cockfighting’.
People must have thought I was nuts to give up a stable pension and career in teaching to become a professional fighter.
My defiance to convention – a wholesome, eloquent, college-educated Christian athlete among the brutish and ruffian fighter stereotypes of that era – was an orthodox path to success.
Not only had I broken the mold of how people perceived combat sports athletes, I lifted myself from the poverty that threatened to grip me as it did generations of my family.
Breaking The Cycle of Trauma
For most of her teenage life, Katariina Rosenblatt experienced trauma at the hands of abusers, pimps, and sex traffickers.
Exploited for her vulnerability, Rosenblatt was groomed into prostitution in her youth.
It took a psychological struggle for Rosenblatt to become the person she is today – a keynote speaker and advocate against sex trafficking.
Because unlike the other women who go on to become groomers and sex traffickers themselves, Rosenblatt refused to become a statistic.
Now, she strives to be a voice for the powerless.
Rosenblatt’s story gives others hope that they too can break their chains, like she did.
Breaking The Cycle Of Education
TRUTH! #IvebeenCoachPrime pic.twitter.com/RyrZaA9zGI
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) January 29, 2022
Deion Sanders is widely regarded as the greatest NFL cornerback of all time.
In his illustrious football career, Sanders won two Super Bowls, won the Defensive Player of the Year in 1994, made six First-team All-Pro and the NFL 1990s All Decade team.
Since retiring, Sanders has focused on coaching and mentoring younger players to prepare them for the NFL.
With his credentials, Sanders could have landed any top profile coaching gig that routinely came available during the season.
Surprisingly, Sanders forwent the typically higher salary and bonuses at a bigger institution.
Instead, he chose to coach the Jackson State Tigers, a football team in the NCAA second division and a HBCU (historically black college and university).
Sanders elected to give back to his community and hopes to re-ignite a tradition of recruitment at HBCUs.
A generational talent, Sanders changed the way the cornerback position was played. But more than his play on the field, is the potential impact Sanders has made on the college football landscape.
Will we see more top ranked high school players enrolling into HBCUs? Will NFL scouts start paying more attention to HBCUs for new talent?
Before Sanders’ arrival into college football, these questions were mostly an afterthought. This might already be changing.
Breaking the Cycle of Corruption
Police corruption and misconduct have become a hot button topic in America over the last few years.
So, when Dr. Michael Wood Jr, an ex-cop in Baltimore exposed shocking police misconduct on social media, he set off a storm.
Tired of witnessing the strained relations between the community and police, Dr. Wood resolved to make a difference.
He became a police management scholar and leads the pathway to police reform today.
In Baltimore where crime was routine, Dr. Wood could have kept mum and preserved his career in the force.
Instead, he risked it all and broke the chain of corruption, all because he wants to spark change in the community he loves.