To: the future, a letter to my grandchildren.

A LETTER TO MY GRANDCHILDREN 

Dear Erika, Kristin, Earl III, Veronica and Theodore,

This letter will not mean very much to you today, but my hope is that one day it will. The five of you--ranging in age from 7 months to 5 years--are the very essence of joy for your Gramma and me. We spend a great deal of time with you because you represent the completion of one of the concentric circles of our life: our grandparents, parents and us; our parents, us and our children; us, our children and now you, our grandchildren. When we think of you--and that is often--we smile contentedly, knowing how blessed we are.

When I started BLACK ENTERPRISE 25 years ago, your fathers, Butch and Johnny, were eight and seven, and your Uncle Mike (who just got married) was only three. It was August 1970 when the first issue was printed, and the world was a very different place. The `60s had been a decade of turbulence and tragedy that left the entire nation shaken. The devastating assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Muslim leader Malcolm X, civil rights icon Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Senator Robert Kennedy rocked the world, and bore a deeply personal resonance for me. I was fortunate enough to have met them all, and to have worked closely with Robert Kennedy for three years. His untimely death brought that relationship to an abrupt end, and my professional future became one big question mark as I wrestled with whether to pursue a career in public service or private business.

In a sense, I did both by launching BE. For while the magazine has brought me, and our family, a measure of prominence and financial security of which I am quite proud, I am far more gratified by what BE has contributed to the economic development of African Americans in--and beyond--this country. The years brought innumerable staff changes, new locations and shifts in the political and social tenor of the environment we has to operate in. But BE has never wavered from its original mission: To educate, inspire and uplift its readers, and to show them how to thrive professionally, economically and even, spiritually.

Equally as important has been the enlighten BE articles have brought to the white community--much of which remains ignorant about the full scope of black contributions to business and to our society in general. Where the dominant media profile of African Americans has been a negative one. BE brings to the world a truer depiction of what our community holds: strivers, leaders, believers in the tenets of hard work, integrity and determination; people who are not swayed from their positive purpose by naysayers and ne'er-do-wells; people who refuse to be blocked by the barriers to black progress that this country's bigots--many of whom appear on the surface to be well-meaning and upstanding--continue to erect. These achievers are the people who drive, nor just black America's economy, but all America's economy. I hope you will always be cognizant of the fact that our family's achievements are inextricably linked to the achievements of all black families. And BE has served as a crucial link between us.

Over the last 25 years as BE has matured, so have your fathers and uncle, who prepared themselves for success in their chosen professions. You can imagine how proud we were when Butch, then Johnny, decided to join us at BE, and when Uncle Mike began his career at our Pepsi-Cola company in Washington, D.C. To have three wonderful and very capable sons, all fit to pursue any career they desired, choose to be a part of our dream of having a thriving family-owned business--and then raising that business to new heights--has been both thrilling and humbling.

Now, my darling grandchildren (those here and yet to come), what do Poppa and Gramma want to you? Good health, a thirst for education, hearts of compassion that insist on service to--and a helping hand for--those less fortunate. Wa want you to be single-minded, courageous and determined in opposing oppression, denigration and racism in all its forms--and to know the difference between doing the right thing and giving lip service to what is expedient. We want you to know and understand the sacrifices and contributions of people of your heritage who helped build this country. We believe that you can add to this awesome history through your own scholarship and accomplishments. And I, personally, wish that you someday are blessed enough to have spouses who mean as much to you as your Gramma means to me. You must know that while I get all the glory, without Gramma there would be no BE She has been the glue of our business, she is the heart of our family and the love of my life

It's tall order, I know But chief among my hopes for you is that you will always strengthen and nurture the family foundation of love and support that Gramma and I have built As we warned our sons, we warn you: The world is full of tantalizing distractions. Follow the teachings of your home and church and don't be swayed by those who would have you believe that traditional values (God, family and work) are antiquated and out of place in the modern world.

Love, respect and community are what the black family was built on, stemming back to the roots of our African ancestry. Celebrate it. Live it. Teach it. Believe in it--for that alone has the power to take you far.

There's a framed quotation hanging in the hall of our house. I don't know its origin, but I have long been guided buy its simple wisdom: "Do not follow where the path my lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." As long as we are able, your parents and Gramma and I will walk beside you, every step of the way.

Love, Poppa