"The past is our heritage, the present is our responsibility and the future is our challenge."

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a NAACP breakfast. I did not know what to expect so I went with an open mind. After listening to a gentlemen sing the National Anthem and another song I could have left. He was absolutely amazing! I could have listened to him all day. But the guest speaker was a lady, Dr. Mildred Dalton Hampton-Henry who gave an absolutely eloquent talk. She spoke of her life as a child growing up in the south. And how when her parents wanted to move "into town" so that their children could go to a better school, the Realtor told them they just wouldn't be happy living there if she could even find them a home. Her parents did move them "into town" and they did receive a proper education. She explained that during that time in the south, the black children were perceived as stupid, because they did not know as much as the white kids. The black kids were not stupid, they just got four months less of schooling each year than the white kids because they would have to take 2 months off in the spring to plant cotton and 2 months off in the fall to pick the cotton. So by moving "into town", they did not have to take these months off of school. She told us how her mother went to back to school to become a school teacher. And that all of her siblings had graduated from college and 3 of the 4 of them had received Ph D's. From the four siblings they had something like 24 children. Now all 24 children have finished or are attending college. How many of us can say that about our family's? My brother is the only one in my immediate family that has finished college. What an inspiration her mother must have been to her and her siblings. What an inspiration Dr. Mildred Dalton Hampton-Henry is to me. But what struck me the most as she spoke was this. She said that "the past is our heritage, the present is our responsibility and the future is our challenge." Just think of that for a moment. It truly moved me! What she said had an impact on my life and how I perceive life. When someone asks me why I ran for City Council, this is what I would like to tell them. Because the present is our responsibility and do we want to leave our future in the hands of politicians who do not have our best interest at heart or do not think it is "their responsibility?" It is our responsibility and it is my turn to take responsibility and act on it! I know I cannot change the world, I don't even know if I can change Adelanto. But I definitely want to give it a shot. I cannot sit behind and whine and complain about things and do nothing to try and change it. So I pray that I may learn from my heritage, live up to my responsibility and face future challenges head on!