A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of hearing the great Marian Wright Edelman speak. The founder and President of The Children’s Defense Fund recalled meeting the late Medgars Evers when he came to the airport and picked her up when she in the South working on behalf of the Civil Rights struggle. No pomp and circumstance just a man ready to do work. After dining with Evers and his family, Evers drove Wright Edelman to her destination and stayed with her. Those are the kind of stories we don’t get to hear anymore. Those of the kind of stories future generations need to hear
But at the heart of her story, it was about the children. For this woman, it will always be about the children. They were the heart of the Civil Rights movement and Wright Edelman believes that they need our hearts now.
In her latest book, The Sea is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small, Wright Edelman pens a series of letters to different facets of our community.
While the whole books is compelling, I particularly like some of the tings she has to say to young people. Here are a couple of her gems:
You are far more than any test can measure. No test can predict the quality and worth of your life or the contributions you can make.
Lives as if you like yourself. It might happen. Live as if you like others. It might happen. Nobody’s perfect. So don’t get hung up seeking perfection in yourself and in others.
Wright Edelman has been imparting her wisdom, and fighting the good fight for our children and other children in need for decades. But her clarion call to us is that it is time to join her. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch our children walk the path from the cradle to prison. It is time for us to act and stop talking.
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