Black History Month: Lessons from My Family #2

Today, I'm shining a light on my father's journey as a young leader. In the late '60s as a middle school student, he served in a New Orleans chapter of the NAACP Youth Council. 

Around 1968, the council’s initiative was a movement where students sought summer employment and took bold steps to dismantle discriminatory hiring practices. They would apply for jobs in places that only considered white applicants. Managers assumed he was white, so he would get hired. His employment allowed for legal action to be taken against the businesses who didn’t hire the other Black students, creating greater opportunities for those denied access to jobs and economic stability needed to help meet their family’s basic needs. 

My father’s courage and the courage of so many young people inspires me. Their lives serve as a reminder that the fight for equality is a collective effort. I honor them today, as well as others who paved the way.

You can learn more about my family's history of activism, the oldest continuously active chapter of the NAACP in The South and other social justice leadership lessons if you join me on my Level Up Leadership Lab New Orleans Leadership Retreat.