Poitier was born to a poor family on Cat Island in the Bahamas and at birth, he weighed just three pounds. His parents, believing he wouldn’t survive, built a little coffin for him. But in a home that had no electricity or indoor plumbing, he beat the odds. Poitier’s formal education never went beyond the second grade and at the age of “six or seven,” he began working in the tomato fields.
His parents desperately wanted a better life for him and so in his early teens, they sent him to Miami to live with an older brother. Poitier became a delivery boy and one day; he took a package to a wealthy white woman. Deliveries were to be made at the rear entrance of her residence but not knowing this, he came to the front door.
When she insisted that the package be delivered to the rear entrance, he said he’d made a mistake but as they were now together, would she please accept the package. She refused and got upset with him for not doing as he was told and for talking back. Soon, Ku Klux Klan members came looking for him and his family quickly sent him to New York City.
Poitier was 15 and had “$3 in my pocket.” He got a job as a dishwasher and was so poor; he “slept in a pay toilet.” One day, he saw an ad seeking actors for a play in Harlem. This seemed exciting and he auditioned but was so bad, that the producer tore the script from his hands and in front of others, screamed at him to become a dishwasher, not knowing he already was. Poitier was humiliated and fighting back tears, vowed to do what was necessary to become an actor.
For the next six months, he listened to the radio to learn to speak better and to get rid of his “Caribbean sing-song.” Now more confident, Poitier enrolled in an acting school, paying his tuition by becoming the school’s janitor. He soon got a small role in a play and he was so awkward he inappropriately made the audience laugh, but his performance captivated them as well.
This led him to bigger stage roles and eventually he was cast in the 1950 movie, “No Way Out,” starring Richard Widmark. Poitier’s movie career had begun and with hard work, dedication and his determination to prevail over discrimination it took him to Hollywood’s top echelon.
How did Poitier overcome his lack of education? He became an avid reader of books, plays, newspapers and magazines. At 78, he still reads extensively, including five newspapers a day. So for whatever may lack in your education, you’ll find it in the library, on the Internet, in a newspaper or magazine rack or in a bookstore, where a world of knowledge awaits you.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
A dirty little secret and the life it changed
“This is on too high a level for me to approve,” said the CEO of a company I started many years earlier. “We need you to approve it.”
This happened years ago when I was chairman and biggest shareholder of this company. What surprised me was it just an expense report for a dinner a board member submitted for a meal he had with me.
“Why are you giving this to me,” I asked. “You can easily approve it.” But he was insistent I should see it and act on it. His persistence told me he was suspicious of the expense report.
In reviewing it, I shook my head in disbelief. This board member had padded the bill. It was not for a lot of money, but for example, it included a cost of parking and a tip to the valet, when it was actually self-parking and free. In total he added less than $20 to the bill, but the amount was not the issue.
The issue was integrity.
But how could this be? This board member was a man of major stature in business and rich. He owned a multi-million dollar home, expensive automobiles and lived a lavish life-style. Why would he falsify his expense report? And for such a small amount of money?
Then it occurred to me, this is no isolated instance. It is what he had learned to do over the years as the person in charge and he did it habitually.
What do I do? Should I discuss this with him? It wouldn’t be on my desk if others weren’t already suspicious. Or should I approve it? And if I approve it, am I condoning dishonesty?
What would you do if you were confronted with this issue?
I approved it, a decision I might not make today. “I’m glad you approved it,” said the CEO with an insincere smile when I gave him the expense report. “It was not a decision I wanted to make.”
Though I didn’t discuss it with the CEO, I approved the expense report to avoid embarrassing this board member, for there is good in him as there is in each person.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
I then took a look at myself and didn’t like what I saw. As CEO hadn’t I sometimes cheated on my expense reports? Hadn’t I also done this over the years and justified it to myself, saying “it’s okay, everyone does it.”
Being in charge, no-one would question me, although how many others had lost respect for me? I felt very bad for what I had done and it was time to change me, not this board member.
From that time on, I set an ideal example by being scrupulously honest and sometimes submitting no expense report when I was entitled to. I was also reading Gandhi’s writings and integrity to him was crucial to anyone’s path to God and to a righteous life.
Later, when I sold my interest in the company, the firm negotiated hard not to pay me a large sum of money I was owed because my ex-partners didn’t want me to have it. When my attorney asked me for direction I said they were bluffing and would negotiate a settlement if we filed a lawsuit.
But after considered the expense money I got for years I was not entitled to, I wanted to clear my conscience.
After speaking with my wife Anne, I asked this attorney to complete the negotiation without those funds, which were far beyond any unjustified expense money I ever received.
Soon after the negotiation was completed, it came as no surprise that my ex-partners each paid themselves a bonus equal to the money I was entitled to, for they too were entitled. But I had no regrets then and don’t have regrets now.
My integrity is priceless and leaving that money behind to benefit the company helped to cleanse my shame. And my family has never done without for not having that money.
Since then, if I start to do something which could compromise my integrity I correct it immediately!
The incident I shared with you today changed my life and it may change yours too. In any case, if you conduct yourself with honesty, you’ll feel better about yourself and help to make others proud to be associated with you.
Success Tip of the Week: If you have a dirty little secret and you can correct it, do it now. It will remove a burden you may long have carried and replace it with happiness.
This happened years ago when I was chairman and biggest shareholder of this company. What surprised me was it just an expense report for a dinner a board member submitted for a meal he had with me.
“Why are you giving this to me,” I asked. “You can easily approve it.” But he was insistent I should see it and act on it. His persistence told me he was suspicious of the expense report.
In reviewing it, I shook my head in disbelief. This board member had padded the bill. It was not for a lot of money, but for example, it included a cost of parking and a tip to the valet, when it was actually self-parking and free. In total he added less than $20 to the bill, but the amount was not the issue.
The issue was integrity.
But how could this be? This board member was a man of major stature in business and rich. He owned a multi-million dollar home, expensive automobiles and lived a lavish life-style. Why would he falsify his expense report? And for such a small amount of money?
Then it occurred to me, this is no isolated instance. It is what he had learned to do over the years as the person in charge and he did it habitually.
What do I do? Should I discuss this with him? It wouldn’t be on my desk if others weren’t already suspicious. Or should I approve it? And if I approve it, am I condoning dishonesty?
What would you do if you were confronted with this issue?
I approved it, a decision I might not make today. “I’m glad you approved it,” said the CEO with an insincere smile when I gave him the expense report. “It was not a decision I wanted to make.”
Though I didn’t discuss it with the CEO, I approved the expense report to avoid embarrassing this board member, for there is good in him as there is in each person.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
I then took a look at myself and didn’t like what I saw. As CEO hadn’t I sometimes cheated on my expense reports? Hadn’t I also done this over the years and justified it to myself, saying “it’s okay, everyone does it.”
Being in charge, no-one would question me, although how many others had lost respect for me? I felt very bad for what I had done and it was time to change me, not this board member.
From that time on, I set an ideal example by being scrupulously honest and sometimes submitting no expense report when I was entitled to. I was also reading Gandhi’s writings and integrity to him was crucial to anyone’s path to God and to a righteous life.
Later, when I sold my interest in the company, the firm negotiated hard not to pay me a large sum of money I was owed because my ex-partners didn’t want me to have it. When my attorney asked me for direction I said they were bluffing and would negotiate a settlement if we filed a lawsuit.
But after considered the expense money I got for years I was not entitled to, I wanted to clear my conscience.
After speaking with my wife Anne, I asked this attorney to complete the negotiation without those funds, which were far beyond any unjustified expense money I ever received.
Soon after the negotiation was completed, it came as no surprise that my ex-partners each paid themselves a bonus equal to the money I was entitled to, for they too were entitled. But I had no regrets then and don’t have regrets now.
My integrity is priceless and leaving that money behind to benefit the company helped to cleanse my shame. And my family has never done without for not having that money.
Since then, if I start to do something which could compromise my integrity I correct it immediately!
The incident I shared with you today changed my life and it may change yours too. In any case, if you conduct yourself with honesty, you’ll feel better about yourself and help to make others proud to be associated with you.
Success Tip of the Week: If you have a dirty little secret and you can correct it, do it now. It will remove a burden you may long have carried and replace it with happiness.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Forgive
Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born a slave in Georgia in 1818. To be a slave meant she and every member of her family, not “free” belonged to someone, just as that someone also owned a home, horses, cattle and other possessions.
And as a possession, a slave had no legal rights. He or she could be beaten, tortured, raped or anything else the owner chose to do. Slave marriages had no legal standing and family members could be put on an auction block at any time, stripped naked for inspection and sold.
When Biddy was a baby, her owner took her from her family and sold her to a Mississippi slave owner. As in most cases, her parents surely cried and begged the master not to sell her but their heartache and sobbing fell on deaf ears, for there was money to be made. Her family never saw her again.
As Biddy grew up, she became an expert nurse, assigned to care for slaves and livestock. But as bright and knowledgeable as she was, being a slave meant she could not attend school for it was illegal for slaves to be taught to read and write which could sow the seeds of a slave revolt.
At 18, her owner gave Biddy as a wedding gift to Robert Marion Smith and his bride Rebecca. As Smith’s property, he could do with her as he liked and among his demands he required sex. Over the next 10-years, she gave birth to three daughters, the latter two he fathered.
How could a slave owner do this? Not only did slaves have no legal rights but they had overseers who kept them in line through whippings, the threat of mutilation or death to them or their families or simply to sell them on behalf of the owner.
Ironically, Smith later went through a great personal religious rebirth and he became a Mormon, presumably deeply caring for the well-being of others. He packed up his family and Biddy and his other slaves and possessions and went across the country to Utah in a wagon train. The wagon train had 56 white men, women and children and 34 slaves.
For seven long hard months, Biddy walked in back of the wagons, through the dust and the heat, and at other times she was pelted by rain and sloshed through the mud, as she carried her baby on her back, and cared for her other two daughters, ages 10 and 4. Biddy’s primary responsibility was to care for the Smith’s six children and help heard the 300 livestock.
Having reached the Promised Land, for three years the Smiths and their slaves lived in Salt Lake City, the heart of the Mormon community. Smith was so devoted a Mormon, that when the church decided to build a church and trading post in San Bernardino, CA, he and his slaves were among a wagon train of 437 people that in 1851 made the 800-mile journey.
Most of that journey was across some of the hottest, most desolate scorching desert sands in the world. Once again Biddy and the other slaves walked and worked all the way, as the wagon train reached San Bernardino.
In San Bernardino, for the next four years Biddy, her daughters and the other 10 slaves continued to live and work under the iron clad rule of Smith. But California was a “free” state and Smith had no legal right to enslave them.
Afraid he would loose his slaves Smith packed up his family and all of his possessions including his slaves and began to move everyone to Texas, where slave ownership was legal.
To make this long 1,500 mile journey, they needed to go through Los Angeles to buy supplies. To avoid detection he had slaves, Smith hid them nearby. But a freed slave tipped the County Sheriff who seized the slaves and petitioned the court for a trial to free them.
On Jan. 19, 1856 Biddy as the leader of the 14 slaves joined their court appointed attorney in the court room. But being black, even in California, she was not allowed to testify. The judge instead invited her and two other witnesses into his chambers to speak with him.
Meanwhile, to influence what they would tell the judge, Smith and his overseer threatened them and tried to grab some of the children and Smith even tried to bribe the court appointed attorney to lose the case. But when the judge found out what Smith and his overseer were doing, he was furious and both men fled California before charges could be filed against them.
The judge then ruled, “All of the said persons of color are entitled to their freedom and are free forever.”
For Biddy and the other slaves, this proved to be a very timely decision for a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the infamous Dred Scott decision that a slave was a possession, not a person, and that a slave living in a free territory was still property and legally should be returned to the owner.
But Biddy and her children were now free. For the first 37-years of her life she had been a slave and her children also belonged to Smith. Just as she had been sold as an infant, never to see her family again, her children could also have been sold off. No more.
Recognizing her outstanding medical skills, a Los Angeles doctor hired Biddy to be a nurse and paid her well. For the next 10-years, she delivered hundreds of babies and nursed many patients through small pox and numerous other severe diseases.
All the while, Biddy saved her money and in 1866, bought her first Los Angeles property and built a home for herself and her family. She also used that home to help those in need and to host the city’s first black church. People of all colors were welcome in her home.
As the years passed, Biddy kept saving her money and buying more real estate and she became very wealthy. Biddy donated to local churches and charities and visited the jail to bring hope and good cheer to prisoners along with food she cooked for them.
Then in 1884, a tremendous rain storm swept through Los Angeles destroying homes and turning the fields to mud, killing the crops and leaving vast numbers of people homeless and threatened with starvation. Responding immediately, Biddy donated a large sum of money to a downtown store to provide free food and supplies to anyone who needed it.
People in Los Angeles had long known she had a big heart but after rescuing so many of them from the ravages of that storm, she became a local hero. When Biddy Mason passed away at the age of 72 in 1891, she was widely loved and respected and her death was mourned by the entire community.
What made Biddy so successful was not simply being rich. It was that she had long ago forgiven those who had sold her from her family and enslaved her for the first half of her life. She opened her heart to everyone, regardless of race or religion, and was generous to all.
“If you hold your hand closed,” Biddy said, “nothing can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives.”
And as a possession, a slave had no legal rights. He or she could be beaten, tortured, raped or anything else the owner chose to do. Slave marriages had no legal standing and family members could be put on an auction block at any time, stripped naked for inspection and sold.
When Biddy was a baby, her owner took her from her family and sold her to a Mississippi slave owner. As in most cases, her parents surely cried and begged the master not to sell her but their heartache and sobbing fell on deaf ears, for there was money to be made. Her family never saw her again.
As Biddy grew up, she became an expert nurse, assigned to care for slaves and livestock. But as bright and knowledgeable as she was, being a slave meant she could not attend school for it was illegal for slaves to be taught to read and write which could sow the seeds of a slave revolt.
At 18, her owner gave Biddy as a wedding gift to Robert Marion Smith and his bride Rebecca. As Smith’s property, he could do with her as he liked and among his demands he required sex. Over the next 10-years, she gave birth to three daughters, the latter two he fathered.
How could a slave owner do this? Not only did slaves have no legal rights but they had overseers who kept them in line through whippings, the threat of mutilation or death to them or their families or simply to sell them on behalf of the owner.
Ironically, Smith later went through a great personal religious rebirth and he became a Mormon, presumably deeply caring for the well-being of others. He packed up his family and Biddy and his other slaves and possessions and went across the country to Utah in a wagon train. The wagon train had 56 white men, women and children and 34 slaves.
For seven long hard months, Biddy walked in back of the wagons, through the dust and the heat, and at other times she was pelted by rain and sloshed through the mud, as she carried her baby on her back, and cared for her other two daughters, ages 10 and 4. Biddy’s primary responsibility was to care for the Smith’s six children and help heard the 300 livestock.
Having reached the Promised Land, for three years the Smiths and their slaves lived in Salt Lake City, the heart of the Mormon community. Smith was so devoted a Mormon, that when the church decided to build a church and trading post in San Bernardino, CA, he and his slaves were among a wagon train of 437 people that in 1851 made the 800-mile journey.
Most of that journey was across some of the hottest, most desolate scorching desert sands in the world. Once again Biddy and the other slaves walked and worked all the way, as the wagon train reached San Bernardino.
In San Bernardino, for the next four years Biddy, her daughters and the other 10 slaves continued to live and work under the iron clad rule of Smith. But California was a “free” state and Smith had no legal right to enslave them.
Afraid he would loose his slaves Smith packed up his family and all of his possessions including his slaves and began to move everyone to Texas, where slave ownership was legal.
To make this long 1,500 mile journey, they needed to go through Los Angeles to buy supplies. To avoid detection he had slaves, Smith hid them nearby. But a freed slave tipped the County Sheriff who seized the slaves and petitioned the court for a trial to free them.
On Jan. 19, 1856 Biddy as the leader of the 14 slaves joined their court appointed attorney in the court room. But being black, even in California, she was not allowed to testify. The judge instead invited her and two other witnesses into his chambers to speak with him.
Meanwhile, to influence what they would tell the judge, Smith and his overseer threatened them and tried to grab some of the children and Smith even tried to bribe the court appointed attorney to lose the case. But when the judge found out what Smith and his overseer were doing, he was furious and both men fled California before charges could be filed against them.
The judge then ruled, “All of the said persons of color are entitled to their freedom and are free forever.”
For Biddy and the other slaves, this proved to be a very timely decision for a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the infamous Dred Scott decision that a slave was a possession, not a person, and that a slave living in a free territory was still property and legally should be returned to the owner.
But Biddy and her children were now free. For the first 37-years of her life she had been a slave and her children also belonged to Smith. Just as she had been sold as an infant, never to see her family again, her children could also have been sold off. No more.
Recognizing her outstanding medical skills, a Los Angeles doctor hired Biddy to be a nurse and paid her well. For the next 10-years, she delivered hundreds of babies and nursed many patients through small pox and numerous other severe diseases.
All the while, Biddy saved her money and in 1866, bought her first Los Angeles property and built a home for herself and her family. She also used that home to help those in need and to host the city’s first black church. People of all colors were welcome in her home.
As the years passed, Biddy kept saving her money and buying more real estate and she became very wealthy. Biddy donated to local churches and charities and visited the jail to bring hope and good cheer to prisoners along with food she cooked for them.
Then in 1884, a tremendous rain storm swept through Los Angeles destroying homes and turning the fields to mud, killing the crops and leaving vast numbers of people homeless and threatened with starvation. Responding immediately, Biddy donated a large sum of money to a downtown store to provide free food and supplies to anyone who needed it.
People in Los Angeles had long known she had a big heart but after rescuing so many of them from the ravages of that storm, she became a local hero. When Biddy Mason passed away at the age of 72 in 1891, she was widely loved and respected and her death was mourned by the entire community.
What made Biddy so successful was not simply being rich. It was that she had long ago forgiven those who had sold her from her family and enslaved her for the first half of her life. She opened her heart to everyone, regardless of race or religion, and was generous to all.
“If you hold your hand closed,” Biddy said, “nothing can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives.”
Friday, January 23, 2009
I've learned-
I've learned
I've learned-
that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
I've learned-
that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.
I've learned-
that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
I've learned-
that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I've learned-
that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.
I've learned-
that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.
I've learned-
that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.
I've learned-
that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.
I've learned-
that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I've learned-
that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I've learned-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned-
that you can keep going long after you can't.
I've learned-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I've learned-
that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I've learned-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
I've learned-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I've learned-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I've learned-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I've learned-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.
I've learned-
that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I've learned-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I've learned-
that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I've learned-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I've learned-
that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.
I've learned-
that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.
I've learned-
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself.
I've learned-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I've learned-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I've learned-
that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.
I've learned-
that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
I've learned-
that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I've learned-
that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
I've learned-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I've learned-
that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.
I've learned-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
I've learned-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I've learned-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.
I've learned-
that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings, and standing up for what you believe.
I've learned-
that people will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
I've learned-
that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
I've learned-
that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.
I've learned-
that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
I've learned-
that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I've learned-
that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.
I've learned-
that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.
I've learned-
that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.
I've learned-
that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.
I've learned-
that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I've learned-
that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I've learned-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned-
that you can keep going long after you can't.
I've learned-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I've learned-
that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I've learned-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
I've learned-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I've learned-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I've learned-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I've learned-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.
I've learned-
that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I've learned-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I've learned-
that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I've learned-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I've learned-
that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.
I've learned-
that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.
I've learned-
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself.
I've learned-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I've learned-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I've learned-
that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.
I've learned-
that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
I've learned-
that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I've learned-
that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
I've learned-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I've learned-
that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.
I've learned-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
I've learned-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I've learned-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.
I've learned-
that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings, and standing up for what you believe.
I've learned-
that people will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Barack Obama - Inaguration Speech
Barack Obama - Inaguration Speech
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Oseola McCarty and her extraordinary life-changing gift.
Oseola McCarty was a black woman who lived in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a place that for most of her life was deeply segregated.
Blacks could not attend “white” schools, live in “white” neighborhoods, eat in “white” restaurants or stay in “white” hotels. Government officials, judges, juries and police were white.
Voting rights were almost exclusively “white.” And for blacks that wanted to challenge the system, White Citizen’s Councils, comprised of community leaders, could eliminate their jobs and cut off their home and business loans.
And the Ku Klux Klan would threaten or even kill “uppity niggers,” as police were sometimes Klan members or looked the other way. This was Oseola McCarty’s world.
Born in 1908, she lived in a tiny 700 square foot home, an only child in a household comprised of her grandmother, mother and aunt. They supported themselves by long hard hours hand washing and drying laundry. Oseola dropped out of school in the 6th grade.
The years passed and by 1967, her grandmother, mother and aunt had died and she lived alone.
As Oseola lived frugally, she saved most of her income and it earned interest. Her uncle gave her the house so aside from taxes and upkeep, her costs were few.
Oseola had no television and for years no telephone. Instead, she became an avid reader, often reading her bible. Her social life was buying groceries and going to church. She was very lonely and wished she could be involved in the lives of others.
But it seemed it wasn’t to be. She was all alone in the world. In 1995, she turned 87 and with her small five foot one inch body stooped and her arthritic hands misshapen from so many years of hard labor, this little old washerwoman decided it was time to retire.
Oseola met with her banker, who knew her secret. That from a lifetime of hard work and spending nothing on herself, this lonely elderly woman had saved a quarter of a million dollars!
With so much money, she could travel and entertain or buy nice things for herself. But she only wanted one thing: It had come to her in prayer and she felt it was inspired by God.
“I want to help somebody’s child go to college,” she said. “I just want it to go to someone who will appreciate it and learn.”
With her banker, she set up an irrevocable trust and directed the bank to carry out her wishes. A total of $100,000 would be donated to her church and to two of her relatives.
The remaining $150,000 would go to the University of Southern Mississippi, which for most of her life had been a “white” school, no blacks allowed. She asked the school to please give preference to bright African-American students who lacked the funds to otherwise attend.
This extraordinarily kind act and racially forgiving gift from a woman who worked so hard all of her life stunned people and brought her global media attention.
Suddenly, soft spoken Miss McCarty as some called her was lonely no more. The University selected Jewel Tucker, the administrative assistant to its president to assist her, as invitations to speak pored in from all over the world.
Jewel, who is also African-American, became the daughter Oseola never had. For the next four years she traveled with her, advised and assisted her as Oseola met President Clinton and had lunch with Hillary Clinton.
Oseola was on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Letterman Show and numerous other TV and radio shows and spoke at many gatherings, her travel paid for by the groups that invited her. It was the first time she had ever been on an airplane, stayed in a hotel or had room service.
And true to her kind and humble nature, Oseola would clean her hotel room and make her bed so others would not have to do it.
“You’ve got to have a TV,” Jewel kept telling her because of all the media attention. When Oseola finally agreed, a 32 inch color TV set was donated to her.
What were some of Jewel’s memorable moments with Oseola?
“When we traveled we always had separate rooms,” Jewel said. “One day I came into her room and she was reading the stock market page. She laughed and said, ‘You didn’t know I knew how to read this did you.’ I said ‘no I didn’t.’ We both laughed and she kept reading.”
In another memorable moment, “she registered to vote for the first time when she was 90,” Jewel said. “She walked into the precinct and everyone started applauding.
“She was a simple woman,” said Jewel softly, “that God raised up to do great things. She did them with grace, finesse and a smile. She became the conscience of a lot of people and changed many lives because she gave freely, with no strings attached.”
In 1999, at the age of 91, Miss McCarty peacefully passed away in the little house where she had lived and worked most of her life. For her the last four years had been so rewarding and joyful.
What became of her Oseola McCarty Scholarship Fund?
“Right now 27 students have received her scholarships,” replied Jewel. “Three are doctors, one is an engineer, one is a CPA,” and the list went on. All lives profoundly uplifted by Miss McCarty’s remarkable donation and nearly 10 years after her death, more lives are being uplifted.
Their educational opportunities coming in part from her life savings earned a few dollars at a time in back breaking work to give them the schooling she could never have.
Blacks could not attend “white” schools, live in “white” neighborhoods, eat in “white” restaurants or stay in “white” hotels. Government officials, judges, juries and police were white.
Voting rights were almost exclusively “white.” And for blacks that wanted to challenge the system, White Citizen’s Councils, comprised of community leaders, could eliminate their jobs and cut off their home and business loans.
And the Ku Klux Klan would threaten or even kill “uppity niggers,” as police were sometimes Klan members or looked the other way. This was Oseola McCarty’s world.
Born in 1908, she lived in a tiny 700 square foot home, an only child in a household comprised of her grandmother, mother and aunt. They supported themselves by long hard hours hand washing and drying laundry. Oseola dropped out of school in the 6th grade.
The years passed and by 1967, her grandmother, mother and aunt had died and she lived alone.
As Oseola lived frugally, she saved most of her income and it earned interest. Her uncle gave her the house so aside from taxes and upkeep, her costs were few.
Oseola had no television and for years no telephone. Instead, she became an avid reader, often reading her bible. Her social life was buying groceries and going to church. She was very lonely and wished she could be involved in the lives of others.
But it seemed it wasn’t to be. She was all alone in the world. In 1995, she turned 87 and with her small five foot one inch body stooped and her arthritic hands misshapen from so many years of hard labor, this little old washerwoman decided it was time to retire.
Oseola met with her banker, who knew her secret. That from a lifetime of hard work and spending nothing on herself, this lonely elderly woman had saved a quarter of a million dollars!
With so much money, she could travel and entertain or buy nice things for herself. But she only wanted one thing: It had come to her in prayer and she felt it was inspired by God.
“I want to help somebody’s child go to college,” she said. “I just want it to go to someone who will appreciate it and learn.”
With her banker, she set up an irrevocable trust and directed the bank to carry out her wishes. A total of $100,000 would be donated to her church and to two of her relatives.
The remaining $150,000 would go to the University of Southern Mississippi, which for most of her life had been a “white” school, no blacks allowed. She asked the school to please give preference to bright African-American students who lacked the funds to otherwise attend.
This extraordinarily kind act and racially forgiving gift from a woman who worked so hard all of her life stunned people and brought her global media attention.
Suddenly, soft spoken Miss McCarty as some called her was lonely no more. The University selected Jewel Tucker, the administrative assistant to its president to assist her, as invitations to speak pored in from all over the world.
Jewel, who is also African-American, became the daughter Oseola never had. For the next four years she traveled with her, advised and assisted her as Oseola met President Clinton and had lunch with Hillary Clinton.
Oseola was on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Letterman Show and numerous other TV and radio shows and spoke at many gatherings, her travel paid for by the groups that invited her. It was the first time she had ever been on an airplane, stayed in a hotel or had room service.
And true to her kind and humble nature, Oseola would clean her hotel room and make her bed so others would not have to do it.
“You’ve got to have a TV,” Jewel kept telling her because of all the media attention. When Oseola finally agreed, a 32 inch color TV set was donated to her.
What were some of Jewel’s memorable moments with Oseola?
“When we traveled we always had separate rooms,” Jewel said. “One day I came into her room and she was reading the stock market page. She laughed and said, ‘You didn’t know I knew how to read this did you.’ I said ‘no I didn’t.’ We both laughed and she kept reading.”
In another memorable moment, “she registered to vote for the first time when she was 90,” Jewel said. “She walked into the precinct and everyone started applauding.
“She was a simple woman,” said Jewel softly, “that God raised up to do great things. She did them with grace, finesse and a smile. She became the conscience of a lot of people and changed many lives because she gave freely, with no strings attached.”
In 1999, at the age of 91, Miss McCarty peacefully passed away in the little house where she had lived and worked most of her life. For her the last four years had been so rewarding and joyful.
What became of her Oseola McCarty Scholarship Fund?
“Right now 27 students have received her scholarships,” replied Jewel. “Three are doctors, one is an engineer, one is a CPA,” and the list went on. All lives profoundly uplifted by Miss McCarty’s remarkable donation and nearly 10 years after her death, more lives are being uplifted.
Their educational opportunities coming in part from her life savings earned a few dollars at a time in back breaking work to give them the schooling she could never have.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Count your blessings
Count your blessings.
Outside the gym recently, I met a man who looked like a movie star.
He was handsome and smiling, about 50-years-old, 6 ft. 2 in. with thick brown graying hair. His upper body was muscular and trim and he appeared to be on top of the world.
“How are you,” I asked with a smile. “I’m doing really well,” he replied in a deep baritone voice his enthusiasm and big smile and booming voice lighting up the parking garage.
But as he walked-up, I noticed his long legs were thin and I saw he had a silver cane.
“Why do you need that cane,” I uttered thinking he had a minor workout injury. “I have MS,” he answered in a cheery voice, as his broad smile never left his face.
Multiple Sclerosis is a very serious disease and often painful and debilitating. I looked at him from my little red sports car and said, “You handle it very well. You seem like a happy man despite the MS.”
Without losing a beat or his smile he replied, “I am a happy man,” and added with a chuckle, “I’d be even happier if I had that sports car.”
It was ironic. Just before we spoke, I’d been sitting in that little sports car brooding about having a sore left heal over the last 11-months (Plantar Fasciitis), and that I’m recovering from a surgically repaired left shoulder.
Here’s a man with a situation far tougher than mine, and his positive attitude put it in perspective. He’d come to grips with his severe problem and was not going to let it interfere with his enjoyment of his life.
It was also a wonderful reminder of that old saying, “I cried because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.”
Whatever your problems, just remember none of us goes through life unscathed and like the man with MS, make the most of what you have. Count your blessings.
Outside the gym recently, I met a man who looked like a movie star.
He was handsome and smiling, about 50-years-old, 6 ft. 2 in. with thick brown graying hair. His upper body was muscular and trim and he appeared to be on top of the world.
“How are you,” I asked with a smile. “I’m doing really well,” he replied in a deep baritone voice his enthusiasm and big smile and booming voice lighting up the parking garage.
But as he walked-up, I noticed his long legs were thin and I saw he had a silver cane.
“Why do you need that cane,” I uttered thinking he had a minor workout injury. “I have MS,” he answered in a cheery voice, as his broad smile never left his face.
Multiple Sclerosis is a very serious disease and often painful and debilitating. I looked at him from my little red sports car and said, “You handle it very well. You seem like a happy man despite the MS.”
Without losing a beat or his smile he replied, “I am a happy man,” and added with a chuckle, “I’d be even happier if I had that sports car.”
It was ironic. Just before we spoke, I’d been sitting in that little sports car brooding about having a sore left heal over the last 11-months (Plantar Fasciitis), and that I’m recovering from a surgically repaired left shoulder.
Here’s a man with a situation far tougher than mine, and his positive attitude put it in perspective. He’d come to grips with his severe problem and was not going to let it interfere with his enjoyment of his life.
It was also a wonderful reminder of that old saying, “I cried because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.”
Whatever your problems, just remember none of us goes through life unscathed and like the man with MS, make the most of what you have. Count your blessings.
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