The 48 year old daughter of the late James Brown, Dr. Yamma Brown, revealed some very horrific things about what it was like growing up in the Brown household with her Pops, her two siblings, Deanna and Daryl and their mother, Deirde “DeeDee Jenkins. She details watching her father brutally beat down their mom like she was thief in the night who stole something from him.

Yamma grew up with conflicting views about her Pops. She had a love-hate relationship with him- she loved him as her Dad, hated him for repeatedly abusing her Mom. After you see what Yamma revealed about the brutal incidents between her parents, you may have some conflicting views on the ‘Godfather’ too.

YAMMA ON HER DAD, JAMES BROWN: “I HATED HIM DURING THOSE TIMES”

In Yamma’s book, “Cold Sweat: My Father James Brown and Me,” she discussed the many violent incidents where she and her sister, Deanna (pictured with Yamma below), would hear a body being punched and tossed around her parents bedroom, accompanied by their Mother’s muffled cry:

‘Deanna and I were happy to be playing a game…when the screams and the banging began. We knew the drill and quickly climbed under the coffee table in the living room and held our ears, waiting for the sounds to stop. But this time was different. Waiting for the silence, I heard the bedroom door slam and the sounds of footsteps rumbling down the hallway. The footsteps got louder and closer. Louder and closer. Deanna and I squeezed each other tightly, holding on for dear life.’

‘From our hiding spot under the coffee table we could see my mother pad past the living room in her bare feet, with my father on the edge of her heels. Cowering under the table, I watched as the two pairs of feet moved toward the front door. My mother was crying…

I saw my father lunge forward to grab her, and she leaped forward and screamed. “James! Stop! James! Please! Ahhhhhhh!” I had never heard her sound so afraid. The front door flew open, and they were outside. “Daddy’s going to kill her,” I said to my sister. “We have to do something.” I was 5 years old.’

“I ran to the front door and peered outside,” she wrote. “My mother was dressed in her blue and white robe. Her legs were splayed wide open and my father was straddling her, pummeling her with clenched fists. Doosh. Thud. Doosh. Thud. Blood spurted from my mother’s face. She started thrashing around, kicking her legs, holding up her arms to ward off the punches and trying to break free, trying to save herself.”

“STOP PUNCHING MY MOMMY!”

Then Yamma got the courage to try to stop her Pops and this happened…

 

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A post shared by Dr. Yamma Brown (@daughterofsoul)

Yamma tried her hardest to get her dad to get off of her Mommy:

“I froze in place, but then something inside of me took over and I knew I had to do something,” she continued. “I felt no fear, only rage. I ran outside, screaming, ‘Leave her alone! Stop punching Mommy!’ He didn’t even turn around. He just kept punching.”’

‘He didn’t even turn around. He just kept punching. The next thing I knew I was on his back, trying to pull him off of my mom. Sweat was dripping off his face and his eyes were glazed and wild. When he first looked at me, it was as if I was looking into the eyes of a stranger — and a mad one at that. “Stop!’’ I screamed. “Leave Mommy alone!” My father looked stunned. It was as if he’d awakened from a bad dream. His head dropped and his shoulders slumped. I looked down at my mom. Her eyes were purple and her face was bloody. She didn’t look back at me.’

Yamma said their dad never once beat them (the kids) though. But unfortunately, she said that she, too, married and divorce someone just like her father:

“I’d been programmed to accept abuse as part of life… witnessing my father beating on my mother would have a profound effect on me,” she said.

This is heartbreaking. But it’s like we always say, here at ILOSM: Icons, such as James Brown, have accomplished great things in life, but that never negates that fact that they are perfectly flawed human beings, just like us regular folks.