Fulfilling the Dream: Award Winners

Curt Bright Author

01/27/2021 Added

53 Plays

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Award winners Helen Fagan and Leo Yankton speak.

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[00:00:00.649](gentle music)
[00:00:10.050]Thank you Chancellor Green and the MLK Committee
[00:00:13.200]for this great honor.
[00:00:15.290]I was genuinely in shock when I was notified.
[00:00:18.590]Never in my wildest dreams did I think
[00:00:21.920]I would receive this award
[00:00:23.970]and especially during an event hosting Dr. Bernice King
[00:00:28.910]as the keynote speaker.
[00:00:30.800]I am humbled and grateful by the nomination
[00:00:33.720]and the selection mainly because
[00:00:36.790]I know the incredible individuals
[00:00:39.000]who've won this award in the past.
[00:00:41.430]Dear educators, leaders, whom I like to call my friends,
[00:00:46.060]Dr. Gwen Combs, Dr. Karen Kassebaum,
[00:00:49.690]Ms. Charlie Foster,
[00:00:51.570]and my dear friend, Ms. Charlene Maxey-Harris.
[00:00:55.280]They have each inspired me in their own way.
[00:00:59.280]When I entered this country, a 15-year-old student,
[00:01:02.840]to an international boarding school in Central Florida,
[00:01:06.420]I was a frightened young girl
[00:01:08.480]without any adult family members in this country.
[00:01:12.520]Little did I know that my fears would exponentially increase
[00:01:17.130]just two months later when 65 American citizens
[00:01:21.350]were taken hostage after the attack
[00:01:23.980]on the United States Embassy in Iran.
[00:01:27.470]Living through the hate thrust upon us Iranian students
[00:01:32.150]made me work hard to lose my foreign accent
[00:01:36.150]and do everything in my power to blend in
[00:01:39.480]and hide my identity as an Iranian.
[00:01:43.160]Every cell of my body felt the hate and anger of people
[00:01:48.680]who were judging me based on my national origin
[00:01:52.420]instead of the content of my character.
[00:01:56.070]It wasn't until decades later
[00:01:58.270]that I would realize the impact of those early years.
[00:02:01.840]It took a great deal of work on my part
[00:02:04.430]and the love and encouragement of so many people
[00:02:08.450]for me to be here and to be the person that I am today,
[00:02:13.320]realizing the dreams of my parents to attain a PhD
[00:02:18.450]when they sent me to go to this country for an education.
[00:02:24.670]I am indebted to my husband and my sons
[00:02:27.930]for their deep encouragement and support.
[00:02:31.460]In the nearly 30 years of doing diversity, equity,
[00:02:34.950]and inclusion work, I've come to firmly believe
[00:02:38.640]that we cannot expect our organizations,
[00:02:43.100]our schools, our communities, and even our places of worship
[00:02:48.480]to realize the dreams of Dr. King,
[00:02:51.760]until we take a look within ourselves
[00:02:55.300]and figure out our own biases
[00:02:57.710]and the ways those impact our words,
[00:03:01.890]our actions, and our decisions.
[00:03:04.880]My approach has been to challenge students and leaders
[00:03:09.380]with one question, "Who would you not want your child
[00:03:14.160]to bring home as their future spouse?"
[00:03:17.760]To my students I ask, "Who would you be most afraid
[00:03:21.430]to bring home as your future spouse?"
[00:03:25.000]I ask this because I believe most of us sincerely
[00:03:30.380]believe and agree with the words of Dr. King,
[00:03:34.760]while not recognizing our own biases
[00:03:38.450]until our biases show up at the door
[00:03:42.490]as the future spouse of our children or grandchildren.
[00:03:47.370]My challenge doesn't stop with the question.
[00:03:50.230]I want people to not only uncover the answer
[00:03:53.470]to that question, but to really understand the impact
[00:03:57.690]of that answer on their personal and professional life.
[00:04:02.900]Most students do the work because they know
[00:04:06.050]it's linked to their grade.
[00:04:07.920]Often leaders, who are humble and willing to grow,
[00:04:11.890]make time to do the work.
[00:04:14.460]Since I began asking the question nearly 20 years ago
[00:04:18.550]I've observed the transformative power
[00:04:21.200]of the work on individuals.
[00:04:23.810]I've had the privilege to come alongside students
[00:04:27.450]and leaders as they dedicate time and energy
[00:04:31.200]to become the kind of person
[00:04:33.510]who authentically strives to live out the tenants
[00:04:37.310]of Dr. King's dreams.
[00:04:39.580]Those who are willing to dig deep often uncover
[00:04:43.740]that the narrative
[00:04:44.730]that they've believed about a population
[00:04:47.600]comes from the fear caused by their own ego,
[00:04:50.990]or pain inflicted by a single person
[00:04:53.900]which they blanketed over a whole population,
[00:04:57.090]or misinformation shared by someone they love or admire.
[00:05:02.780]The truth is, the bricks of injustice
[00:05:06.040]lie in the heart and mind of each one of us.
[00:05:09.970]We will not realize the dreams of Dr. King
[00:05:13.290]until we do this internal work.
[00:05:15.660]We begin to take down the bricks of systemic racism,
[00:05:20.230]when we remove our ego, our fears, and biases
[00:05:24.660]as the barriers to someone else's success.
[00:05:28.140]Until we grapple with those bricks
[00:05:30.430]we will struggle to create a workplace, school,
[00:05:34.560]or community free of injustice.
[00:05:38.450]My life's purpose and my heart's passion
[00:05:42.190]has been, and will continue to be,
[00:05:44.950]to come alongside others on this journey
[00:05:48.870]while boldly challenging my own ego,
[00:05:52.920]my own fears, and my own biases.
[00:05:56.510]I implore you to look deep within,
[00:06:00.170]answer the question earnestly,
[00:06:02.430]then embark on the journey.
[00:06:04.710]A journey where the answers unfold within each one of us
[00:06:09.860]creating a collective move toward the fruition
[00:06:13.640]of Dr. King's dreams.
[00:06:15.610]Thank you very much.
[00:06:19.420]My name is Leo Yankton.
[00:06:21.780]I am Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Native Reservation
[00:06:28.400]in South Dakota.
[00:06:31.370]My tribe is commonly known as Sioux Indians.
[00:06:35.160]We're actually are the poorest reservation
[00:06:39.390]with the lowest life expectancy in America.
[00:06:43.200]And I have directed a lot of my efforts
[00:06:46.300]towards empowering my people back home,
[00:06:49.440]but also working to support local communities,
[00:06:52.550]as well as raising awareness
[00:06:57.350]about issues in our country
[00:07:01.260]and the world.
[00:07:03.270]And it has actually spread to me
[00:07:07.500]being an international speaker as well.
[00:07:10.920]So a lot of my efforts that I have done up to this point
[00:07:16.610]have basically given me personally,
[00:07:22.810]the feeling that I should be taken seriously now,
[00:07:27.890]but as far as deserving an award,
[00:07:33.090]I don't actually feel personally
[00:07:34.770]that I deserve any awards.
[00:07:37.540]And
[00:07:40.120]in all good conscience
[00:07:42.080]to accept an award
[00:07:46.290]of this magnitude,
[00:07:48.430]I have to think about people like Martin Luther King, Jr.
[00:07:54.100]and even more local heroes like
[00:08:01.060]Frank LaMere,
[00:08:03.400]Russell Means,
[00:08:06.760]Susan La Flesche Picotte,
[00:08:12.230]even Chief Standing Bear.
[00:08:15.620]And one thing I could think of is the fact
[00:08:18.080]that they were probably very humble
[00:08:20.230]and they probably didn't think
[00:08:21.850]that they needed to be given any accolades either.
[00:08:28.080]But in all good conscious, to accept an award like this,
[00:08:32.620]I would have to accept it, not thinking that I deserve it,
[00:08:37.650]but thinking that I will earn this.
[00:08:40.460]I will keep continuing to make efforts to earn this
[00:08:44.150]for the rest of my life,
[00:08:47.280]because when I think of Martin Luther King,
[00:08:50.940]I think of him as someone who would probably be humble
[00:08:54.080]and also think that he didn't need a bunch of accolades,
[00:08:59.040]but that he was doing the work he was doing
[00:09:04.140]because it needed to be done,
[00:09:06.520]and because it was the right thing to do.
[00:09:10.040]And so I will continue to do the right thing
[00:09:13.450]and I appreciate accepting this award.
[00:09:16.240]Thank you.

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Fulfilling the Dream: Award Winners

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