On April 27th, 2013, the King Center unveiled the Coretta Scott King commemorative rose, and I was honored and pleasantly surprised to return home from one of my many trips to find two of the beautiful roses at my home.
The roses were a gift from my friend and HOPE board member Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of the King Center (a post once held by her mother), and destined for a special planting location in my private park here in Atlanta, Georgia. But as I reflected on the Coretta Scott King commemorative Rose, I also began to reflect on the woman. The woman, as leader, mother, wife, keeper of the King legacy flame. I decided I had to write something in honor of her, on this special day.
Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur
I just returned from an inspring, and in parts equally frustrating trip to South Africa, supporting my on-the-ground team working for Operation HOPE, South Africa.
Inspiring because, well who would not be inspired by all that is South Africa. The cultural richness, the spirit of the people, and the energy present wherever you go. Or the natural beauty of the place, all the untapped resources, and the incredible opportunity to create real, even transformational change throughout the country. And all the stories...
The young boys and girls we spoke with me in a local school, who once exposed to the concept of entrepreneurship, vowed to keep both their heads and their grades high until graduation. They wanted very to become their own job in the future (owning their own business). Imagine looking out over a sea of young 16 year-olds, witnessing for yourself a new generation of committed entrepreneurs, job creators and leaders being born. Inspiring indeed.
Or the elderly women whom we met at a cheetah observation park who proudly announced to us that she had achieved an 'NQ4 financial business management designation' from the local Cape Technical College, allowing her to become (her description here) an "advanced and better skilled" small business owner. This wonderful lady was selling handmade South African products under a covered tent at the cheetah park, but for her this might as well have been a ritzy brick and mortar facility in downtown Cape Town. She was anowner of her own destiny, and she even made me feel this immense sense of pride she had, in doing for herself. An pride of creating her own job.
I am honored to be spending
the week in South Africa this week, focused on our silver rights empowerment
work at Operation HOPE, South Africa, being done in more than six provinces in
the country.
While here I will be
encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship, small business ownership and what I
call individual job creation (self-employment projects) amongst the generation
of young people coming up today in the country.
These young people have
benefited from the incredible and life-changing civil rights justice work done by the likes of former President
Nelson Mandela, and my friend Archbishop-Emeritus Desmond Tutu, but all too
often these same young people are not seeing that history and tradition translate into what I would call silver rights
empowerment opportunities for all, today. And that means they are then less
interested in school, less interested in their families, less interested in
"doing right," and less hope for themselves. And the most
dangerous person in the world, is the person with no hope.
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013, not only is the date for the HOPE Forum discussion on the future of silver rights empowerment for all, at Dr. King and Daddy King's historic church, and the HOPE Financial Dignity Center Ebenezer now attached to it, it is also the very important 50th anniversary of Dr. King's famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
Support one anniversary event or the other, but in no case, should we decide to do nothing.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail was for me, arguably the best and important of Dr. King's writings. Possibly even more powerful than his better known I Have A Dream speech in Washington, D.C. That said, the work continues. The work to empower and uplift the least of these God's children, even continues on the 50th anniversary of this great work, and Dr. King's great sacrifice.
Let's go.
John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author ofLOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass),the only African-American bestselling business author in America, and is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Under-Served and Community Empowerment for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, for President Barack Obama. Mr. Bryant is the co-founder of theGallup-HOPE Index, the only national research poll on youth financial dignity and youth economic energy in the U.S. He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Global Dignity is affiliated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the World Economic Forum. Mr. Bryant is a thought leader represented by the Bright Sight Group for public speaking. Mr. Bryant serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE), a specialty finance company that is managed by an affiliate of Ares Management LLC, a global alternative asset manager with approximately $59 billion in committed capital under management as of December 31, 2012.
"Thank you for helping me to conquer the wealth of money, and the fear of death."
Aide in the civil rights movement to Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., as told to John Hope Bryant by Ambassador Andrew Young
John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author of LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass), the only African-American bestselling business author in America, and is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Under-Served and Community Empowerment for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, for President Barack Obama. Mr. Bryant is the co-founder of the Gallup-HOPE Index, the only national research poll on youth financial dignity and youth economic energy in the U.S. He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Global Dignity is affiliated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the World Economic Forum. Mr. Bryant is a thought leader represented by the Bright Sight Group for public speaking. Mr. Bryant serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE), a specialty finance company that is managed by an affiliate of Ares Management LLC, a global alternative asset manager with approximately $59 billion in committed capital under management as of December 31, 2012.
ATLANTA – March 20, 2013 – Financial empowerment nonprofit Operation HOPE today announced that Thomas Curry, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, will join HOPE Global Spokesman and Civil Rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young in Atlanta, to discuss America on Reset: The Future of Banking and What Comes Next for You, at the Operation HOPE Financial Dignity Center at Ebenezer (HOPE Center) on Tuesday, April 16.
Curry and Ambassador Young will lead a dynamic forum around the important role the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plays to ensure that America’s Federal Banking System remains safe and sound. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions of U.S. Comptroller Curry.
This event follows the February forum where FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg provided remarks and had a dialogue with the Mary Beth Walker, Dean Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. This open event will become the second HOPE Forum for the center this year.
This Podcast speech starts off in mid-sentence (which is funny, given the topic and location), but you will catch on and catch up quick, I promise (smile). Download Podcast audio below:
Also honored that this is the same church that my friend Archbishop-Emeritus Desmond Tutu calls his spiritual home, whenever he visits Atlanta, Georgia.
John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author ofLOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass),the only African-American bestselling business author in America, and is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Under-Served and Community Empowerment for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, for President Barack Obama. Mr. Bryant is the co-founder of theGallup-HOPE Index, the only national research poll on youth financial dignity and youth economic energy in the U.S. He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Global Dignity is affiliated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the World Economic Forum. Mr. Bryant is a thought leader represented by the Bright Sight Group for public speaking. Mr. Bryant serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE), a specialty finance company that is managed by an affiliate of Ares Management LLC, a global alternative asset manager with approximately $59 billion in committed capital under management as of December 31, 2012.
