Perception Changes With Age

I was recently in Atlanta for the National Urban League Conference. I have to bring you up to speed on the happenings of the ATL but for now let’s just visit the conference.

First getting there was a chore. A flight coming in was late and I could not get a decent flight to Atlanta. So I had to end up driving I-75 to get there.

On my way there I was stopped at about 2am by a State Trooper for speeding. Now I know I wasn’t speeding because I was listening to talk radio on XM. Who speeds and listens to the latest World News. Nevertheless, when the officer invited me to exit the vehicle to check the legitimacy of his radar – I politely declined. I was in Southern Georgia in the middle of the night and I was not about to be wandering around on the side of the road in the dark contesting a ticket. No thank you. I gladly accepted the citation and quietly resolved to fight it later.

I was excited about going to Atlanta for the Urban League conference. It had been such a long time since I had attended the conference.

Most of the success that I have enjoyed has been attributed in a better part by the Urban League movement. In fact, I was the first National Chair of the National Urban League Youth Summit. The Urban League had helped to cultivate young minds and expose the possibilities that opportunity provides. I stepped gladly into the door. I met a great deal of friends that first conference. It was NYC 1990. The first official conference was held on the next year on the campus of Spellman College – yes in Atlanta. So it was quite fitting after such a long absence from my Urban League roots to be back in Atlanta where it all began.

Walking into the World Congress Center at the event that “raised me”, was like a kid coming home for the family reunion. I was home. The moment I walked into the door I saw people I knew. Some were past youth conferees like Jesse Stephens from Orlando or others like Renita Carter and Rose Jefferson- Frazer from the National Staff. Seeing them made me recall some of the others who had helped me but moved forward to other careers like former CEO John Jacob, Gasby Greely, Milton Little and Mildred Love who were once Vice-Presidents and even Anne Hill and Gina Davis- Watkins. I had my experiences with them all and even though the names may not ring with familiarity – they are names that inspire nostalgia from my youth.

As I looked around, the thing that struck me the most was that the conference seemed so small. The Youth Summit was only about 350 strong and I could walk easily through out the halls of the conference. I thought to myself that maybe all of the people were in workshops but I was sadly mistaken. I entered the exhibit hall to see maybe a hundred companies there instead of the hundreds I usually saw. Even the career fair that was notorious for brining in top executives from around the country and hiring candidates on the spot was weak. They were directing job candidates to websites.

Finally the straw that broke the camels back was when I had intimate conversations with friends and found out the some of the Urban League affiliates from around the country had closed or were on the verge of closing. To say the least I was mortified. Could the mammoth that was the Urban League be in decline?

Then I thought, maybe it is not the organization – maybe it was me. Sure some of the affiliates were closing and the conference in someway seemed smaller – but was what I saw the true picture of reality?

The more I thought about it I realized that truly perception changes with age. The elementary school that in kindergarten seems so massive was actually a very small place. Relatives that seemed to be tall had somehow shrunk. They were now my height. What seemed like a great deal of money to me at one time was now mediocre. See all of these things were the same – it is just my perception of them that made it different. The experiences that had shaped my beliefs and values had also helped to morph my perception.

It meant I was simply getting older.

I still cherish the Urban League and its mission. I am a financial and equity contributor to its projects. I know that I have been touched in no small way by the organization. From speaking to small groups of people to delivering a keynote address to thousands – I thank God for the opportunities that the Urban League has given to me.

Nevertheless, I see it as it was and as it is and I choose to remember the “glory days” of the Urban League. It is now my responsibility to do my best to restore the Urban League and its mission to the place where it belongs.