When I speak of a ‘new movement,’ I am not talking about anything to ‘replace’ an old one. Not only does the world need civil rights, we would be no where without it.
But just like your iPhone needs to occasionally be plugged into the mainframe for a software upgrade, so does our strategy for opportunity, jobs and freedom. The world, needs a software upgrade, and my community is in desperate need of a strategy reset (to win). Today, we must be as focused on ‘what we are for,” as we have historically been forced to focus on ‘what we were against.’
Silver rights empowerment for all, is a ‘what we are for’ agenda for a new generation.
A historic movement of civil rights, by necessity must be joined by a new economic uplift movement of silver rights. A said differently, for a very long time the world needed civil rights attorneys, social justice experts and Ph.D’s in social sciences — leading to political power. These needs remain in place, but today the new urgent need has shifted from young people gaining degrees in social justice, to a generation of young college students getting degrees in business (the creation of jobs).
My mentor and hero, civil rights icon (and aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr) Ambassador Andrew Young once told me that he didn’t want to write one more letter of recommendation for a young person to get a degree to be, say an attorney. Civil rights attorneys comprised the base of the ‘team’ needed during the struggle of middle 20th century, when civil rights was the national call. What Ambassador Young wants to write letters of recommendations for today, are for young people going to college to get the full range of business degrees. I agree, totally.
“The last movement for civil rights, was waged and won in the streets. The next movement, for silver rights, will be waged and won in the suites.” John Hope Bryant
And this is why I continue to wear myself down and out, flying from one end of the country to the other — building a new constituency — curating a new constituency — for silver rights empowerment for all, in the suites of America. This includes, but is not limited to…
- Corporate suites
- Work offices and break rooms
- School rooms
- Government offices
- Hotel ballrooms
- Academic halls
- Church pews
- Community rooms
And so, I am calling on the new leaders of our world, to help us to create, and integrate, an entirely new constituency for an entirely new movement.
Change and empowerment in and through the suites, and not just the streets.
And then, after we seed this in America, we can inspire change internationally — throughout and for our world. You can begin by signing up for this Blog, and becoming a HOPE Corps volunteer. And by telling your friends. This will literally be — one person empowered, at a time.
Ambassador Andrew Young and John Hope Bryant Backstage in Atlanta
Okay, let’s go..
John Hope Bryant