You know the poster board I'm talking about. When you have to do a project at school, you buy a board that is perforated to bend on each side so that it stands up and makes your presentation 3-D (kind of). You use the surface to glue your art, science project or history presentation to its surface and then you proudly cart it off to school.
There was only one poster in that waiting room. And it was celebrating Black History Month (February in the United States). The poster had a variety of statistics, features on famous African American leaders and dates of key milestones.
I was surprised to see it there, but pleasantly surprised. I hadn't had time to really reflect on the importance of Black History in my country yet this month. So I used that time in the waiting room to stop, think and celebrate. Our country is so blessed by their contribution. As I scanned the poster, I came across this inspirational challenge (pictured above). I was inspired to think about the contributions of each of these amazing leaders. So as my tribute to them, below is a simple quote from each that you can reflect on as we wrap up this month's celebrations.
Dream Like Martin (Luther King Jr.)
“I must confess that that dream that I had that day has in many points turned into a nightmare. Now I’m not one to lose hope. I keep on hoping. I still have faith in the future.”
Lead like Harriet (Tubman)
“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
Believe like Thurgood (Marshall)
"I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better."
Fight like Malcolm (X)
“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.”
Write like Maya (Angelou)
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
Challenge like Rosa (Parks)
“People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in”
Build like Madam C. J. (Walker)
"I got my start by giving myself a start."
Think like Garvey (Marcus Garvey)
"Let the sky and God be our limit, and eternity our measurement. There is no height to which we cannot climb by using the active intelligence of our own minds."
Speak like Fredrick (Douglas)
"At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed."
Educate like W.E.B. (DuBois)
"We say easily, for instance, 'The ignorant ought not to vote.' We would say, 'No civilized state should have citizens too ignorant to participate in government.' and this statement is but a step to the fact: that no state is civilized which has citizens too ignorant to help rule it."
Inspire like Obama (Barak Obama)
"The leaders we revere, the businesses and institutions that last, are not generally the result of a narrow pursuit of popularity or personal advancement but of devotion to some bigger purpose."
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