Some people just don’t understand the word "no!"
Good thing.
For weeks a Ms. Dinah Tatman had been calling my office, asking, …no suggesting, …no compelling me to come and speak before their economic development symposium focused on the African-American community, and sponsored by Westside Missionary Baptist Church and Washington University. After my office "suggested" to her — several times — that my schedule did not look good (travel to two states that week were already a reality…), Ms. Tatman then said something that changed everything; "okay….I guess I will just have to PRAY on it!" My Lord. Why did she say that…
Needless to say, my schedule "miraculously" opened up, and I found myself speaking this Saturday, February 26th, 2005, in St. Louis, MO. at Washington University, before a fully engaged and passionate audience of African-American youth and adults alike — all focused on taking their lives back.
Introduced by Reverend Bobo, pastor of 1,000 plus member Westside Missionary Baptist Church, for more than an hour I walked and talked my way through the topic, "The Wealthless Power: African-Americans in the 20th Century — Where we go from Here" Download01_remarks_before_the_westside_missi.mp3.
Needless to say, I am glad that I accepted the invitation to speak. Pastor Bobo, Dinah Tatman and everyone else involved in St. Louis are doing an incredible job bringing "light" to this issue of financial literacy, economic education and economic empowerment, or what we at Operation HOPE call the "Silver Rights Movement."
It appears that my remarks culminated more than a month’s worth of workshops, and even Sunday sermons from the pulpit — all on this issue of "breaking the chains of financial slavery: African-American economic freedom." Amen.
Onward, with HOPE