After doomsday: I outgrew a cult and became a professor
It鈥檚 New Year鈥檚 Eve 1972. 8-year-old Jerald Walker peeks anxiously into the dark, convinced the world鈥檚 about to end. When it doesn't, he's desperate for something to believe in.
Jerald Walker grew up in the predominantly white, Worldwide Church of God 鈥� a doomsday cult that convinced its followers the world would end in 1972. Raised by blind, African American parents and under the cult's strict teachings, which preached racial segregation and an imminent apocalypse, Jerald鈥檚 life was dominated by fear, isolation, and the belief that his future didn鈥檛 exist.
When the promised doomsday never came, Jerald and his family were left grappling with shattered beliefs. As his life unravelled, Jerald fell into addiction and crime, struggling to escape the mental and emotional grip of the cult. But through education, an extraordinary teacher and a passion for writing, he found a path to redemption.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Jerald Walker Short text description of photo. Credit: Samuel Williams)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Tue 22 Oct 2024 11:06GMT91热爆 World Service
- Tue 22 Oct 2024 17:06GMT91热爆 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Tue 22 Oct 2024 21:06GMT91热爆 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 23 Oct 2024 02:06GMT91热爆 World Service
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected