Policy Integrity Matters
For those who know me and still
wonder why I really am the way that I am… I will tell you.
When I grew up in Paschall in
Southwest Philadelphia, a few blocks from the “projects”, my parents were
leaders in the neighborhood church, community group, and home & school
association. They were also leaders in the independent Black political movement
citywide. It was the 1960’s and 1970’s. My family was part of a larger struggle
for racial equality. That’s how I was raised.
Fortunately, I had educational opportunities,
procured by my parents, to attend elite public schools from the 5th
to 12th grades – Masterman and Central… and then I graduated from
the University of Pennsylvania the day before my 21st birthday.
I graduated from Penn, after having
been threatened with expulsion in the second semester of my senior year and
being brought up on student disciplinary charges in university court for my
anti-apartheid activism (I organized a major sit-in in the University President’s
office in 1986).
I represented myself in university
court. Although I had pro-bono private
representation available if I lost - I did not lose. It was a defining moment
in my life.
Many people told me back then that
my student activism had already killed any mainstream professional future for
me, at age 20. But I went to work on Wall Street and Capitol Hill in my early
20’s, opportunities procured through Black business and political alliances.
And I ran for City Council at age 25, winning eight years later at age 33.
My personal, political, and
professional lives have been full of many pivotal moments that always remind me
of that victory in university court. That’s when I permanently decided that
policy integrity matters!
Apartheid was wrong. I stood up
in my space against it. And almost 35 years later, I didn’t lose anything that
I would trade for what I have.
I am thankful.
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