FOR OUR CHILDREN

LEGENDARY ACTOR, ACTIVIST AND A NEW WAY FORWARD BRAINTRUST MEMBER HARRY BELAFONTE TELLS US WHERE REAL POWER CAN BE FOUND


For a quarter of a century, I have served the needs of children all over the world as an ambassador for UNICEF, and I have seen children at all levels of the human condition. Whenever I am asked to consider the spiritual and emotional well-being of our children, I do so from a place of concern. Our children have been and continue to be the victims of our greed and, most often our indifference. We will never be able to fix what most affects them until we finally fix what most affects us. If we stay on the path we are currently traveling, we will not leave our children the sort of legacy given us by people who committed their lives to making this world a more joyous place.

The creating of a legacy that honors our children begins with each of us having the courage to make a change. It is only when we have realized the imperative and have gathered the collective will to truly know our history, to understand why we’ve been oppressed, and to understand what our own role in our oppression has been-it is only then that we can begin to carve out a future of equality and justice.

Dr. King is not a holiday.

But despite all the hardships, the disappointment, the failures, I wake up each morning with hope. Rewarded with another day of living, I know I am given, once more, the opportunity to fix the things I have found so difficult to correct. That I am given that chance with each new day is a gift. And it's not only my gift. It’s everyone’s: No matter what came before, we have the choice to shape what comes next.

The power to heal our children lies entirely with us.