Could Obama’s Speech Be the Worst Ever?

As I was sitting in the airport getting ready to fly to California to speak to a group of educators and youth I was scrambling to get in front of a TV screen to watch the inauguration. Everything seemed to be not going the way I wanted. My flight was at 1pm which means I had to be in the airport for the big speech, the security line was long, and when I got to my gate the cnn.com live stream was so busy that I could not even log on. And when it finally did connect the live feed kept skipping. So far not the most ideal situation. Strike one.

Luckily in the terminal they had TVs playing the speech live but they had two TVs going in the same place with one having about a 5 second delay from the other so it was very distracting to focus in on what was saying. Strike two.

Finally I grabbed a rocking chair and placed myself right in front of the TV set to hear Obama speak. Here comes the third pitch and it was definitely NOT strike three. More like a home run. Was I disappointed? Absolutely NOT! I would be the biggest liar if I said this was one of the worst speeches ever, in fact this is probably going to go down in history as one of the most pivot and powerful public speeches of all time. Anyone who watched this speech knew that Obama kept true to his powerful and colorful language which helps paint a picture that all can see and believe.

I sat there focusing on what he was saying and as many of my fellow Americans probably felt Obama’s words were being spoken directly to me. His message was that of personal responsibility and forward movement to create the world and the life that we want. The underlying message seemed to be that we are a special people, a special nation that will allow its citizen’s to rise to the level of our individual ambition. We can build bonds amongst our brother abroad and fight those that want to destroy rather than build.

To imagine where we have come in just 60 years, from a place where someone like me could not be served in the same restaurant as my mother to becoming the president of this great nation is amazing. Think about how much can happen in such a short period of time, in as little as a year or just in one day.

What will you do to make the next phase of your life different then the last? No matter what your political post we all have one president and have witnessed history. What history will you make for yourself? What new level will you reach when you are feeling tired, upset, frustrated, feeling like hope is lost and you just don’t have what it takes to succeed. What will you choose to do? What action will you take to realize all is possible with the proper belief and the proper consistent action? What will you do to leave behind a legacy that is worth talking about. What proactive choices will you make to make your life what you feel it should be? Will you choose to look at the world with a clenched fist or an open hand?

If today proves nothing else, it is proof that anything is possible if you believe. Change will not come over night, but have resolve that it will come. Will you be a builder or a destroyer?

Do you want an amazing Black History Month Presentation for your students? Check our Arel's newest addition Will You Be Remembered?

Dreams Come True

I felt with the historical inauguration that is happening tomorrow, it would fitting to pay tribute to our past leaders of change. As I mention in my presentation on Leadership called "Will You Be Remembered?" You Can Either Excel At Making Things Happen or Making Excuses...Which One Will You Choose Today?

Watch The Video and Read Along, I think you owe it to yourself to be moved by this



I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

Countdown to Jan 20th

Do you want an amazing Black History Month Presentation for your students? Check our Arel's newest addition Will You Be Remembered?

Reflections on a historical night

As the phone calls and text messages came pouring in shouting in victory of what is truly an amazing night in history. I feel myself impacted in a way that is somewhat hard to explain. I'm sure just like you, there is a feeling coming over you right now. I feeling of hope, a feeling of what will be able to be accomplished and seen in our lifetimes.
Think about it, we were all alive before the Internet, text messages, cell phones, facebook, and many of the things that have become part of our daily activities that are now common place to so many.

Now we are all around to experience the first president of color take the most coveted position in America.

I have one important message to leave you with as you high-five your neighbors and do the running man cabbage patch victory dance (don't act like you didn't do a jig).

The worst thing about success is a little bit. My biggest fear is that too many people will feel like, yes we made it, we have succeeded and then think the real work is done. What is the worse thing for us to do right now as a people is to feel like "We made it". The truth is, now is the most important time for us to look deep within ourselves and start taking the action that we know we should be taking to better our lives and our country.

What do I mean the worst thing about success is a little bit? What I mean is that so many times when the first sign of success hits, we want to bask in all of its glory. We want to kick back and marvel at what has happened. Yes this has its time and place but when you rest too much, and get too lazy that is when you lose your edge and begin to live in a habit of failure. It's easy to fall back into old habits and it's hard to stay consistent with positive change when the old habits seem so appealing and "easy". It may be easy, but trust me it is not fulfilling.

One thing I bet, is that you won't see Obama letting up, he will move forward and keep his presence and his message strong. I ask that you do the same. If you are reading this right now, I believe it is for a reason, I believe that there is something great inside of you that you feel swelling up. Don't rest, don't ignore it, don't sit back too much and watch. Stand up, make this upcoming year, this upcoming month, this upcoming day the most important of your life so far. Live every day knowing that you have the power of unlimited potential in you.

So...how will you be remembered?

This inspired me...

So I was watching the Democratic National Convention last night (two quick side notes, I have never really cared about politics until this election, I think this election really is bringing younger people into politics and two the picture quality of the online stream from was insanely crystal clear, I was really amazed).

Okay I’m back from my digression. I was watching the convention to hear Michelle Obama. I was really interested to know what she had to say and more about her. As she finished her speech, which was very very good, I youtubed Barack Obama’s 2004 Convention Keynote. That speech really inspired me.

What I took away from it and what I want to share with you is the idea of what greatness means for you. We all have goals and things we want to achieve, but are they great? Are they worthy of us? It’s real easy to get blinded by the daily tasks that we have to do and forget about the bigger picture. What are our lives really about? That purpose, that driving force in you that will make you get up when you are down. That will make you walk over broken glass and then swim in a pool of alcohol. That drive. That feeling that will make you move ferociously toward your goals.

What are you doing? What are you waiting for? What are you letting stop you? If a “skinny boy with a funny name” can go from absolutely nowhere to the next possible president, what can you achieve?

And here’s a little insight for you to sit and think about. Do you want to know why people fail in life? It’s not because they aim to high and miss, it’s because they aim too low and hit it! (take a second to think about that line again). Think and act big. However here is my one caveat. This is the point that most people miss. Celebrate the journey.

The problem with big goals is that, at points the journey there will be hard. And you will fail a lot, it’s normal. But if you don’t celebrate the journey, if you don’t acknowledge what you have achieved, your goal will beat you down because “you’re not there yet”. You’ll always focus on what you don’t have and what your missing instead of realizing what you’ve already accomplished.
Set big goals, think big, take action, celebrate the journey. That’s It. You’re Awesome

Your Action Step:
Acknowledge where you were last year today to where you are this year today. Notice what you are proud that you’ve done and what you need to work harder doing. Enjoy the journey

My company delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We help students understand their life's biggest goals and how to obtain through the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college but most importantly find their purpose before graduating. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com