By Ashley Herndon
OCEANSIDE, Calif. | In my life, I have been fortunate to have many qualified mentors and am still meeting some here in my ninth decade.
Herndon
First, leaders of the boy: thank goodness one was Atlanta’s Police Chief Herbert Jenkins, my Sunday School teacher at Morningside Baptist in those teen years; several coaches, especially Chief Mike Castronis Sr. at the Athens YMCA Camp, and Jim “Coondog” Davis, coach at Columbus High) And also I must thank my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and large extended family for the lessons of life. One of which was “Get Involved.”
Willis “Bill” Robbins, my mentor in sales, used to say, “The fear of embarrassment is The curse of the human mind.” He always added, “Get out there and do something, rock the boat, boy, for the fruit is at the end of the limb.” Being associated with the automotive and insurance industries for over 55 years, I learned that nothing happens until “somebody sells something!” Paddle hard!
My Dad used to say, “Life is about choice. Do what you want, but remember life is lived in the (real) world. Every choice you make has a result. Some are pleasant and some not, so go ahead, rock the boat, but don’t complain about the overlap.”
Maybe some of you have noticed there are leaders (both positive and negative) currently and recently rocking our Nation’s and the free world’s boat?
For example: the January 6th blow back, Ukraine invasions, Gaza-Israeli Conflict, Red Sea attacks, threats to limit and decrease Medicare, White Supremacy, “shoot to kill” immigrants, threats to public office holders.
There are so many good people out there, some living a good life alone and others quite active. I believe that for change to take place, the boat needs to be rocked, not sunk. Shake the tree, paddle harder, enlist others, so that the few can ignite. The many create action.
As my Dad expressed it, living is making choices. Make one, then do something about it. Remembering there have been despotic leaders in the past: Alexander Stephens, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, Castro, Senator McCarthy, and several in our current situation. Some people chose to follow them. Some had a choice; others were forced into subservience. I tend toward Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, the two Roosevelts, Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, those that helped others, not just themselves.
Chief Jenkins, as powerful as he was, was a humble and good man, dedicated to following and enforcing the law by individual action. He took pleasure in helping shape young minds.
Imagine his reach. He was the only police officer President Johnson appointed to his National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. The environment he worked through covered getting rid of Jim Crow by teaching us to follow the law and to love, not hate, our neighbor and ourselves. And if there was a bad law, work to change it, however hard it may be. Thanks, Chief. Atlanta owes you a lot!
Find it. Ignite it. Do it. Resist…Reclaim…Rebuild!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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