![]() ![]() They didn’t think anything could break me, or that anything emotionally was going on. When I first came out, people didn't think that anything could be wrong with me. I am a big masculine guy, so people receive me differently. We need to talk about mental health-in general-more. There’s still a stigma around talking about mental health issues, particularly among men. Mental health is an important topic for you. So when I say self-care I mean taking care of myself to then take care of others. Now I realize I could have helped even more people by taking better care of myself. But at the same time, I know that I had to stop a lot of things for myself to help more people. I did a lot, and I do even more now, for so many people and I don't regret it whatsoever. My brother was a military officer in the Navy. I use the word ‘servitude’ because my father was a preacher. My life has always been a life of servitude. Considering all that you’ve done, what would you say to your younger self growing up in the rural south? And you’re an advocate for mental health awareness. ![]() You're a celebrated chef who worked in the White House for four administrations. You’re a retired Master Sergeant of the US Army. These are the things that make people uncomfortable-but there’s no reason for you to feel uncomfortable because this is an open conversation and it’s about understanding.” “I almost didn't write it being in politics and in the military but I decided I wanted to tell what I wanted to tell, even with the backlash. (Chef was working at the Pentagon during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which led to his suffering from PTSD.) This book, he says, has been a way for him to share what brought him down and picked him up. “My mother taught me to love, my dad taught me to work, but they both taught me to understand that you don't ever judge a book by its cover.”Ĭall Me Chef, Damnit takes you through Rush’s upbringing in rural Mississippi, to his 24 years in the military, all the way through to the four presidencies during which he cooked in The White House. A notably fit man with 24-inch biceps (he’s garnered a following for his thousands of daily push-ups), Rush says people are quick to think his strength precludes him from suffering. Some of the words and actions Rush hopes people hear the loudest are around mental health and how it’s an issue that impacts everyone-including him. “Or if I say ‘whiteness,’ people will say, ‘But you're Black, so what are you going to say about it?’ But I say, ‘Listen to my words. “People instantly tense up,” he says about the topic of racism. Rush, a retired Master Sergeant of the US Army, celebrity and former White House chef, and founder of mental health non-profits, is here to get real about the tough topics he covers in his book: PTSD, trauma, suicide, toxic leadership, racism. He and I are meeting to discuss his book, Call Me Chef, Damnit: A Veteran’s Journal from the Rural South to the White House, but it’s not a contrived journalist-talent-book-tour conversation. ![]() As he chats with me over Zoom, there’s no pursuit of small talk, no forced banter. Chef Andre Rush has an endless depth of empathy. ![]()
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