As part of our 2006 annual national board retreat for Operation HOPE I decided to give a special message around Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and what I believe it means for our nation going forward.
The speech given at the retreat, entitled "No More Katrinas" Economic Levees Breaking Across America," is my effort to awaken America out of her state of near indifference to a catastrophic event never before witnessed by or in America in our history. In the end it is a passionate call for America to break the back of indifference that increasingly separates the haves, from the have nots in the richest country in the world.
A special thank you goes out to one of my all time heroes, friends and mentors, the spokesman for HOPE, and the chief aide to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ambassador Andrew Young, who recorded the introduction, and my sweetie, the first lady of HOPE, Mrs. Sheila Kennedy Bryant, who recorded a holiday greeting and a 2006 "call to action" for us all. Of course, none of this would be possible without the invaluable help and support of HOPE national director Kraig Kitchin, president and CEO of Premiere Radio Network, who along with his crack team of professionals produced and edited No More Katrinas until late in the evening last week -- all donated, towards our good work. Thank you friend. Thank you all there within the Premiere Radio Network family.
Listen here and let me know what you think, and feel free to pass it along to family, friends, colleagues, and leaders that you know from government, community and the private sector.
Finally, let me thank my team within the HOPE family, without which this project simply would not have happened; my chief of staff Rachael Doff, or "Doffinator" as we call her, her right arm Ilya Monroe, and HOPE's own Craig York, who really produced the end product.
Together we can make a difference in the world. Together, we can still make a difference in the lives of the victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. For them, the pain is not only not over, economically it may have just begun.
As you sit down in your own homes, with your families, over this precious holiday season, please remember all those Katrina victims and families with no homes.
Onward, with HOPE
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