Speech and Testimony
County Executive Leggett’s Remarks at the Kappa Alpha Psi Guide Right Program
A Wider Circle, 9159 Brookville Road, Silver Spring
As prepared
Good afternoon!
It’s so nice to see such a group here today focused on this very important goal of helping young African American men in our community Achieve Excellence and Help Others in Need.
I must say I’m very impressed by the energy and dedication of Kappa Alpha Psi in this endeavor.
I want to thank Paul Byus [pron: Bye-us], Polmarch of the College Park-Sandy Spring Chapter; Rodney Keller, the Fraternity’s Subcommittee chairman; and Wayne Young, Chairman of the Guide Right Committee for putting this together.
Dr. Mark Bergel and his “A Wider Circle” organization have done incredible work in fighting poverty. His goals are in line with Kappa’s Guide Right program and the County at large.
Dr. Bergel’s commendable efforts to end poverty have led to his selection as a 2014 CNN Hero. Among his many awards is the Dr. Augustus White III Award for Civic Engagement and Service. We can learn much from the standard he has set.
I’m sure you had a wide choice of speakers for today. There are Kappas who work on famous TV shows. Some have gone on to careers in professional sports.
For the next few minutes, though, you have me, my stories and some things I’ve learned along the way. Don’t worry. There won’t be a quiz on this just yet. There may be, in a few years though.
For the 8th graders going to high school next year, and the 9th through 12th graders here already in it, here’s the key to high school – the one thing you should have learned or will hopefully soon learn.
You are getting used to being graded and dealing with grades. Don’t forget that.
Some of you will go on to higher education. Some will go to work in the civilian sector. Some will join the military.
Whatever you do, wherever you go, there are grades. Think about it: You are graded by your teachers. Your teachers are graded by the principals.
The principals are graded by the Central Office staff. The Central Office staff is graded by the Superintendent.
The Superintendent is graded by the School Board. The School Board is graded by the County Council.
As County Executive, I’m graded every single day! I get calls, emails, snail mail. People come up to me to talk about what’s going on in their lives, to compliment or criticize.
But I digress. I want you all, as you leave here and go back to school Monday to keep an old saying in mind - “A journey of a thousand miles begins with single step.”
In the spirit of learning, which is the key to life, it raises more questions than it answers.
It sounds simple: A single step? What could be easier? Think about it for a minute. Which step to take? In which direction? For how long?
How do you make up your mind, which step to take? Whose advice do you listen to in deciding which way to go? These are tough choices. I’ve taken a lot of steps in my life.
I grew up with 12 brothers and sisters in Louisiana, in what’s called a “shotgun shack.” It’s called that because you can stand at the front door, and see clear through the house to the back. There’s a central hallway with rooms on either side.
Growing up in the segregated South, I was always told I couldn’t do things I wanted to do. I was told I couldn’t succeed at things I knew I could succeed at doing.
Yet I went to college, at Southern University in Baton Rouge and was president of my senior class. I went into the Army and eventually became a captain.
I went to law school, was a White House fellow, went into politics and was elected to the County Council. Now I’m the County Executive, and I live in a nicer house than I did before. Those shotgun shacks, however, are still there.
Those experiences are easy to talk about, not do easy to live through. But that was, and is, my journey, a journey I’m still traveling. I like public service, I’m good at it, and I like making a difference in people’s lives.
Those were my choices that I made. Now, you have to start making yours. As you do so, I thought I’d focus a bit on a question: Who do you listen to as you make decisions?
Advice is everywhere, even when you’re not looking for it.
You can find it in a lyric from a country song - “And the lessons you learn and you don't forget/ What makes you grow old is replacing hope with regret.” That’s from Patty Loveless – a little before your time.
Some of you may have been to the Nationals ballpark and seen the pictures of Hall of Fame baseball players around the stadium.
One of those is Satchel Paige. Like me, he grew up in the segregated south, but became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.
Most of that time was spent in what were then called the Negro Leagues. Black men couldn’t play in the majors for most of Satchel’s life.
He didn’t make the majors until he was 42 years old. His best years were behind him, but he still managed to win a few games. Besides his pitching, Satchel was known for giving out advice.
Two of his most favorite pieces of advice were:
“Avoid fried meats, which angry up the blood,” and "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."
All of that outside advice is well and good; but sometimes I imagine myself, waiting to graduate from Peabody Magnet High School, getting advice from someone who knows me all too well.
I wonder what it would be like to be able to send a letter – there was no email back then – from today’s version of myself back to the version of me who once sat in your position.
What advice would I pass along that would best guide my way through my future? I decided that some of the older people who tried to give me advice back then seem a lot smarter now than they did at the time, when I was younger.
And that I should pass along that observation to my younger self. Not surprisingly, the best advice came from family, from my mother.
Here are the three pieces of advice that I used to guide me. I realized much later that these were lessons. I absorbed them over time.
It would have been nice if it had been more obvious, pointed out to me at the time; but that’s not how God works.
In that letter to my earlier self, I would stress three things that I realized over time what my mother was trying to tell me.
First, value education. Education is the great equalizer. NEVER stop learning!
It’s not only formal education. I’m also talking about the lessons people can teach you, regardless of who they are.
Listen to what people have to say. People you may not have lots of formal education, but they do have wisdom and experience that is valuable. Don’t underestimate anyone.
The second one was to have a strong work ethic. This goes hand-in-hand with education. There are educated people who aren’t successful because they didn’t work hard to put their education to use. You need to implement and advance what you have learned.
The third lesson for my younger self is to have a strong moral and ethical compass.
You can have some very smart people, like some drug dealers. They set up their own radio networks; distribution networks; they finance their business and implement complex plans.
The part they have backward is the moral and ethical part. All of these things, I pulled together years later. She taught them so that I learned without understanding at the time what she was teaching. Now I understand them, and wish I could communicate them to my younger self.
Of course, I can’t do that. But I can communicate with you, and give you something to think about as you move forward. Sometimes, even with the best guidance, the path isn’t always straight.
You can start down one road, then shift when you realize things didn’t work out as you expected.
So I’m not going to tell you which step to take. That’s for you to decide. What I am going to tell you is how important it is to have guiding principles that will help you choose.
I wish you the best in choosing wisely.
Thank you!
Release ID: 16-057
October 15, 2016; 12:45 p.m.