Pete Kunk, a dear friend and fellow BTL builder, was born 59 years ago, yesterday, in Clark County, Ohio.
That same year, Harry Moore, a black school principal in Lake County, Florida would say enough is enough. His action of documenting and investigating every lynching that took place in his county was the beginning of his battle against injustice.
He didn’t stop there.
He would also lead the charge for equal pay for school teachers, regardless their race. His final stand would come in taking on the most powerful man in Lake County, Sheriff McCall. Harry was calling for an investigation on the Sheriff who had shot and killed two black prisoners that were handcuffed together. The killing looked highly suspect. Harry would not live long enough to see any justice here.
59 years ago, while sleeping with his wife of 25 years, Harry and Harriette Moore were bombed to bits by members of the Klan, according to an FBI investigation. Nobody, however, was ever charged or spent a day in jail for their murder. These two were considered the first casualties of the modern civil rights movement.
AND, about this same time we had America’s top psychologist, Stanley Milgram, do an extensive study to try to determine if the German people had a genetic pre-disposition toward evil. How else, our top government officials exclaimed, could such a catastrophe have occurred right under their noses. The height of arrogance is found when we are abhorred by the acts of others, overly focused on bringing them to justice, and unwilling to even glance in the mirror of our own lives. There is a reason that history repeats itself. AND, we are it…
We are prone to prejudice and we are prone to miss it.
Look in the mirror and find yours. Ask your truth tellers for where you tend to deeply bias. AND, start rooting it out before it becomes a part of your identity.
What are you doing to root out injustice where you work?
What are you doing to stand up for those that haven’t got a voice?
What baby step do you want to take this week to close your own integrity gaps?
Tell me more, my friend.
Tell me more…
BUILT TO LEAD 