THE POWER WITHIN - An Open Letter to the United Negro College Fund

I was recently humbled to be honored by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) “In recognition and appreciation of outstanding service toward financial literacy of young people in New Jersey and beyond.”

Proud to receive the award, and in a room filled with family, friends and colleagues, I was touched by the introduction by Michael Cox, the Director of Development for UNCF.  Michael is an inspirational human being.  He could have any job in corporate America – naming his own salary.  Instead, Michael, who also happens to be a clergyman, has chosen to make a real difference working for UNCF. In his introduction, Michael told of our first meeting and that after a few minutes we were finishing each others' sentences about empowering the next generation to give them the tools to build their future.  I was choked up listening to one of my heroes telling me that he was thankful to have me in his life.    Being acknowledged in this way is reaffirming.

When it was asked to speak, I wanted to talk about Hurricane Sandy.  The awards ceremony would be in New Jersey, and we had just experienced the most powerful natural disaster of most of our lifetimes – certainly mine.  I knew that Michael Cox, religious leader, would ask me “What have we learned?”

We learned that this disastrous natural weather event was indiscriminate -  saw no color or socio-economic status.  It was power and power can be positive or negative.

Just because most of us have our power back on – do we really?  We need to reflect upon our collective power and whether it is working for the greater good.  Out of the devastation came a positive power of people to care, to share and to give.  It reminded us that together we must rebuild our personal and collective infrastructures – our collective future.

This is what UNCF does for our youth of color.  It helps young people to prepare for the future by giving them the economic infrastructure that society has not afforded them.  The nation's largest and most effective minority education organization, for more than 67 years, UNCF has raised more than $3.3 billion to help more than 400,000 students attend college and graduate from college.  UNCF has distributed more funds to help minorities attend school than any  entity outside of the U.S. government.

Children of color were shut out from our higher educational network.  This wasn't a natural disaster, this was a man-made disaster.  We all know that poverty limits access to a future of choices.

UNCF cares, shares, gives and advocates by opening the shut door for our youth.  It gives kids the tools to build their future. They award 10,000 students each year through scholarships and internship programs so that underserved kids can afford college, but they need more help.

Hurricane Sandy taught me that I didn't lose my power – I lost my conveniences.  My power lies in my blessings: my kids, my grandkids, my friends and my colleagues.

I have been blessed via my work to have been able to follow my passion which is to give kids and their families the tools to build a healthy financial life. A life they will design, not a life that they are a victim to.  A life of choice.

I serve over 500,000 children through my programs: 200,000 youth of active military people, 100,000 kids in the National Urban League, 10,000 kids in Jersey City, NJ 5,000 kids in Newark, NJ, 135,000 in FCCLA and DECA, kids in the YWCA, Girl Scouts and ASPIRA.

I am also committed to working with UNCF – Michael Cox and I are designing what that will look like.  The vision is to empower those minds of younger children and their families so that the economic road to college is easier.  Michael and I share our approach to life, in fact when he came to my home, I showed him a small plaque hanging in my kitchen, which reads “There are two ways to life life: as though nothing is a miracle OR as though everything is a miracle.”

“A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste.”  Hurricane Sandy taught us that heart and soul are also terrible things to waste.

Thank you – United Negro College Fund – for the collective power that you foster.  Thank you for not wasting minds, hearts and souls - thank you for giving us all the true power for a better future.