With the help of Mr. Ken Berry, Portland, and his vision for integrating education and the arts, we produce, through the good offices of World Arts Foundation, Inc., one of the largest tributes to a great American hero, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  That single event, presented in a variety of forms, for 25 consecutive years, coupled with forty years of  striving in the classroom, the boardroom , and the cutting room floor, propelled me into an incredible spotlight.

It was easily the biggest award I’ve ever received.  The H. Trent Councill Memorial Award for Human and Civil Rights was presented in New Orleans, July 2, 2010.  It was a full-blown “Oscar night” type banquet and production and placed me among other award winners whose contributions to human and civil rights dwarf my achievements.  Ed Hamilton, for example, is a major sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky.  Look him up.  In fact, please visit the www.nea.org website and see the entire program.

Here is the video they put together to introduce me during the program:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysHqnZdLDfU

And here are my acceptance comments:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q_EFTMdycw

May God grant us the good sense to make good use of such a distinguished honor and work together to improve the conditions of urban, public education.

Call me:  415.722.4348

Be well.

His simple statement on leadership complements the way he lived it.  Thank you for giving a moment to Gus Hawkins’ memory.

Chappie Grice

415.722.4348

“The leadership belongs not to the loudest, not to those who beat the drums or blow the trumpets, but to those who day in and day out, in all seasons, work for the practical realization of a better world – those who have the stamina to persist and to remain dedicated. To those belong the leadership.”

Augustus F. Hawkins

2. “Effective Schools” research is a reliable and powerful intervention. It is especially powerful when implemented in urban schools by people who understand, thoroughly, diverse cultures.

3. All teachers want to see their students succeed, but don’t always know how. The “Cure” strives to equip teachers with better tools rather than correct the teacher based on mistaken assumptions about teacher ability.

4. “We can, whenever and wherever choose, successfully teach all children whose education is of interest to us. We already know more than we need in order to do this. Whether we do it or not, Must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.” – Dr. Ron Edmonds

5. We are savvy enough to design curriculum, build environments, and heighten the quality of teacher-student relationships to effectively educate all our children and garner the active support of the stakeholders in our school communities.

1. Never, again, will I pity or belittle myself.
2. I will begin every day with thanksgiving and a plan for the day.
3. I will bathe my days in the golden glow of enthusiasm.
4. Never, again, will I be disagreeable with another human being.
5. I will seek to find the opportunity in every adversity.
6. I will always do my best.
7. I will devote myself to the task at hand.
8. I will no longer wait for opportunity to come and embrace me.
9. At the end of each day, I will reflect on the events of the day.
10. I will always maintain contact with my creator through prayer.

I recently learned about a little girl in Charlotte, North Carolina whose name was Hope; Hope Stout. She was twelve years old and terminally ill. The Make-A-Wish Foundation went to her bedside and said, “Hope, if you could have any wish, any wish at all, what would it be?” Hope answered, curiously, “Well, why do you ask?”

“Well,” the exec said, “We’re the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and this is what we do. We go around to visit children like yourself and try to make their last days happy.”

“That’s nice.” Hope Stout was still curious. She asked, “Well, about how many kids are in the same fix as me?”

“Well, at last count,” said the exec, “In North Carolina, there are about 188 kids in your situation.”

Hope didn’t hesitate, after glancing at her mom and dad, who had brought the tall gentleman to her bedside, “Well… my wish is that each of those kids gets their wish.” The exec was a little startled at the un-childlike and unselfish answer. “How much do think that will cost?” Hope said.

“Well,” said the man, rather comfortably, “I’d say about a million dollars.”

Hope looking at her parents with an innocent smile replied, “Well… you’d better get busy.”

The tall, seasoned exec left the room appearing a little dazed by the lucid candor of a twelve year old, but definitely inspired just the same. He delivered the idea to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and they set out to mount a fundraiser to achieve the objective: a million dollars and a collective and simultaneous gift of wishes. Inadvertently, they would be making as many families happy as they might make children. Moreover, all at once! Creating such a great vibration might well do a lot more healing than all the doctors and clinics in the world today.

Six months later, on January 14, the fundraiser hit the floor in a great and grande downtown venue, with a smokin’ hot band, and enough donated food and first class chefs to feed the army of King Solomon.

They raised $1.2 million dollars. On January 4th, ten days earlier, and we remember and shall never forget because its my best friend’s birthday, Hope Stout died. Seems sad that she never got to see, or hear tell, of her vision coming to pass, but the power of her personality and the grandeur of her vision for her friends unknown fueled the marketing in the final days to fever pitch to meet the goal. Hope asked. God delivered. We witnessed.

The next year, they used the same model, did the same thing except they raised $1.5 million dollars. All the advertising execs, meeting and conference planners, and marketing gurus could barely have done as well.

It has inspired the whole organization and scores of others to re-think “What is actually possible?” Even Nike borrowed God’s promise with its campaign “Impossible is nothing.”

It has inspired a pair of film-makers to go to work and create a new movie called, “Not Without Hope.” And, in that moment, it inspired me to remember the most wonderful Serenity Prayer:

O God, Grant me…

The serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

The courage to change the things I can… and

The wisdom to know the difference.

So, we don’t tamper with the Scriptures. But, now, sometimes I feel these words in my throat: “Abide now in these three – Faith, Hope, and Love; and the greatest of these is Hope.”

May God bless you and keep you. Amen.

Michael “Chappie” Grice

Adapted from a true story as told by Mike Rutherford

This my first blog, ever.  Thanks, Jomo.   Thanking God.