Some things you just do not get enough of. Yesterday I had an opportunity to sit down once again with one of our nation's true living legends and American "sheroes," Mrs. Marian Wright Edelman. Beyond the fact that she has founded one of the most significant organizations in our nation's vaulted history, and continues to play a pivotal role today in the overall development in the lives (and public policy) of children and their families, she also played a part in civil rights history that most are unaware.
It was a young, passionate and equally committed Marian Wright Edelman that whispered into the ear of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement and said "the next movement is about money," eradicating poverty (for all people, and not just black people) in America. And so, you can imagine now, given my work with financial literacy empowerment, how and why Mrs. Marian Wright-Edelman is one of my evolving sheroes (the more I learn about her, the more I like and respect). I am also honored to say that Operation HOPE and the Children's Defense Fund are thinking hard about how to work and to partner together, to help and empower more children and families in distress. Giving children hope, dignity and respect is our shared mission.
If you look closely in the background of the photo of me and Mrs. Edelman, behind our heads, is a historic aerial map (compliments of the FBI) of the layout of the Poor People's Campaign first and only 1968 march, on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
One person can change the world. Just like Marian Wright-Edelman, be that one person.
Onward with HOPE
John Hope Bryant