“They don’t
have the bandwidth to dream because their reality is a nightmare.”
Dr. Jamal
Harrison Bryant made this remark to a room of 600 as the keynote speaker for
this week’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Community Commemorative Breakfast. The
room was a “who’s who” of Black leaders, including elected officials, business
leaders, and elders. The room was a celebration of Black Excellence in a way
that I rarely see in my life, on my campus, and in this country.
But Dr. Bryant
was not there to congratulate those in the room.
In essence, he
was asking how those present were going to step up and make a difference for
those whose reality was far different.
“So you’ve come
up. Now what? Who are you bringing up with you?” he asked. (my paraphrase)
It is a critical question for all of us.
For instance,
how we can do more to support our elders. Being a pastor, Dr. Bryant asked the
question of church leaders why there were not elder/senior ministries akin to
youth ministries, pointing out that senior citizens outnumber all other demographic groups in our country. He urged churches to talk about dementia and the complexities
that face elders, not to shy away from them.
“If Dr. King
were alive today, he would be 95 years old. Would he feel left out and forgotten,
an elder ignored and discarded?” asked Bryant (again, my paraphrase)
For myself, and
for all of us, let us spend some time with the question:
How can we take
our talents, experience, energy and resources to support those whose reality is
a nightmare? How can we take our success and translate and transfer it to those
who need it most?
Let us create
space to meditate on this question today.
In closing, I
will share a parallel quote that has been a foundation for my life from Dr.
King:
“Everybody can be great...because anybody can
serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make
your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A
soul generated by love.”
As Dr. Bryant spoke, our youngest daughter, Sihasin, drew this gem.
