Bryant and Friends:

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August 18, 2010

Friend Karen A. Clark "gives" with her passion for music at Long Beach Jazz Festival

US Bank executive and former Operation HOPE leader Karen A. Clark joins prestigious lineup of A-List artists at Long Beach Jazz Festival this year, as she shares one of her deep passions for music, and giving through the give of music, with others.

You can read about why I think Karen A. Clark is so amazing in my book LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World. Los Angeles is better off, because Karen A. Clark is there.

Onward with HOPE,

Her friend and chief supporter, John Hope Bryant

August 18, 2010 in Arts and Culture, Friends Living Their Passion, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: aren a. clark, john hope bryant, love leadership: the new way to lead in a fear-based world

August 09, 2010

In Loving Memory of a Leader who Gives

(Stacey Bryant is pictured here center, amongst friends and Pink Ladder supporters)

When a friend hurts, I hurt with them. Such is the case in the recent passing of a special soul; Ms. Stacey Bryant. Stacey Bryant (no relation to me, but of course, I would have been honored by the association, based on what I have subsequently learned about her life and her gentle, loving and giving spirit) was a former top executive with First American Corporation in Southern California, and even more impressive to me, the founder of Pink Ladder, a nonprofit focused on empowering women.

My dear friend in question is Mrs. Tawnia Taylor, wife of HOPE associated (and my friend and brother) Landon Taylor. Tawnia lost her dear friend earlier this month to a tragic death in Southern California, and when I heard about it, it felt like it was my loss also on some level. I hurt right along with her, but what can you say to a friend, really, in times like these? I love you, and I am with you, helps I believe. I also wanted to make sure that the world knew about the "good works," good heart, and it appears, the incredible spirit of one Stacey Bryant. This is my modest contribution in that regard.

Continue reading "In Loving Memory of a Leader who Gives" »

August 09, 2010 in In Loving Memory | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: first american corporation, john hope bryant, landon taylor, pink ladder, stacey bryant memorial tribute, tawnia taylor, ucla

August 08, 2010

Elder Bernice King Brings the Word of a New Day at Ebenezer Church

I was honored this morning to join my friend Elder Bernice King at Ebenezer Church, as she spoke on "A New World" in Christ, waiting to be born. As she spoke for the first time in 15 years at her childhood church, Ebenezer, home to her late mother and father Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and her mother Coretta Scott King, you could see that THIS person is truly living her truth. It is also obvious that she is a powerful, authentic and inspired agent of God Almighty. "It's not you and me," or "being comfortable," but it's about being an agent for the Lord. This morning, with her brother Martin L. King, III, his wife Arndrea King, and their daughter, her niece, present -- Elder Bernice King brought home a message that may have made many "uncomfortable." a radical Christianity is what she came to preach, and that is the message we all needed to hear. Me too. So proud of you friend. Elder Bernice King, you are living your truth, and in so doing, helping to change our world -- tilting it back towards a spirit, an energy, a culture of "the greater good." In HOPE, and with so much pride, John Hope Bryant

August 08, 2010 in Friends Making a Difference in the World, Living their Passion | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

John Hope Bryant Mission Statement

"There is a difference between broke and being poor. Being broke is a temporary economic condition, but being poor is a disabling frame of mind and a depressed condition of your spirit, and you must vow to never, ever be poor again."
My vision for the poor, the under-served, and the wealthless of the world is to help them see themselves -- differently. We can do this by helping to expose, to educate, to empower, and ultimately to inspire them. To help them become "dreamers, with shovels in their own hands," quoting my friend Dr. Dorothy Height.
To see themselves for what and who they truly already are; rich in spirit. Assets, and not liabilities on the world's global balance sheet.
Because, I have seen, time and again, that given an informed choice, the poor do not want a hand out, but simply a hand up. They want the dignity that comes from doing for self.
That education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool, and when you know better, you tend to do better.
Moving from civil rights to silver rights. From integrating the lunch counter, to integrating the dollar too.
That low-wealth communities, the world over, represent future emerging markets waiting to be born. That one person can make a diference, and we are that one person. That we are all accountable and responsible for the world we live in, because it is literally the world we create. A little hope can make the difference.