The
Oprah South African Leadership Project provides cross-cultural
immersion and international exposure through travel
and study in South Africa for Morehouse College students.
In the future, it will involve an exchange of students
between Morehouse and South Africa, and will encompass
ethical leadership training and community service
in both Atlanta and South Africa.
June
8, 2005
Dear
Oprah,
At the 2004 annual Morehouse College Gala, I shared
with you my dream of an International Leadership Program.
My dream was to reach out to South Africa in partnership
to fulfill a larger vision of placing Morehouse students
in a vibrant context to study global leadership issues
and challenges.
 I
am delighted to say that your generosity has helped
make this dream possible. The Oprah South African
Leadership Project provides cross-cultural immersion
and international exposure through travel and study
in South Africa for Morehouse College students. In
the future, it will involve an exchange of students
between Morehouse and South Africa, and it will encompass
ethical leadership training and community service
in both Atlanta, Ga., and South Africa.
With additional support from the Alcoa Foundation,
nine students have made this first journey to South
Africa representing the very best of a long and hallowed
tradition of ethical leaders who are spiritually disciplined,
intellectually astute, and morally anchored. In fact,
these young men represent what Howard Thurman, a Morehouse
alumnus from the class of 1923, called, "the
first robins of spring."
I recently told these emerging leaders that the Oprah
South Africa Leadership Project is like the initial
flight of "the first robins of spring"--a
new generation of leaders who, like reconnoitering
birds, are exploring new mindscapes of imagination
and possibility. Certainly, their outstanding class
work, community service and experience in South Africa
attest to the strength of their character, the depth
of their resolve, and their indomitable commitment
to serve humanity. Witness their journals written
since May 18, our day of arrival. These journal entries
speak volumes about the future of leadership.
One of the strategic goals of Morehouse College is
to produce emerging leaders who are globally connected
and ethically centered. At the Leadership
Center, we take this mission seriously. For more than
138 years, we have a proud tradition of creating world-class
leaders such as Mordecai Wyatt Johnson '11, the former
president of Howard University, Martin Luther King
Jr. '48, Nobel Peace Prize winner, David Satcher '63,
former U.S. Surgeon General, Julian Bond '71, civil
rights leader, Spike Lee '79, filmmaker, and Maynard
H. Jackson '56, a politician and entrepreneur who
broke all kinds of barriers.
Embracing the vision of President Walter E. Massey
'58, to create "the World House at Morehouse,"
this new initiative demanded that we come as learners
supported by our proud tradition. Our primary mission,
therefore, is to learn how to serve. One
way we envision our service is to learn more about
HIV/AIDS and poverty and ways in which these two issues
have an impact on leadership in South Africa.
I often tell my students that ethical leaders
look, listen and learn. Cultivating
the practice of looking, listening and learning requires
humility, respect and empathy. The greatest challenge
in creating and sustaining a democratic global culture
is the ability of leaders to look deeply, to listen
intently, and to learn from others whose opinions
and ways of life differ from their own. Much of our
time has been spent in dialogue with local leaders
and students involved with the challenges of HIV/AIDS,
poverty and the concomitant issues that they face
daily.
We have learned that the future of South Africa will
depend largely on how leaders connect with other leaders
in strategic alliances across public and private sectors.
We also learned that our presents and futures are
interrelated: What happens in South Africa affects
the economic, political and social life of all of
Africa and the world.
Moreover, as emerging ethical leaders, these men of
Morehouse have learned that they must never assume
that they can live in a global community without being
aware that we are all intimately and strategically
connected.
We also have come as ambassadors of good will.
Our mission is an opportunity to demonstrate that,
as citizens of the United States, our vision of the
world is large and inclusive. The future of global
civil society rests on our ability and willingness
to provide ethical and moral leadership.
Our world has not been kind to Africa. The continent
is ravaged by disease, poverty, unfair international
trade policies and a largely apathetic Western world
that witnesses its carnage with a calloused indifference.
Yet, South Africa represents the extreme irony of
Africa's history and an emerging vision for the future
of world history. After a decade of democracy, South
Africa has taught the world how to seek peace without
sacrificing memory and how to promote a diversity
of cultures and ideologies without giving in to the
temptation of anarchy and violence. South Africa is
also poised to play an even greater role in the definition
of moral, ethical and democratic leadership on the
African continent. President Thabo Mbeki's conversations
with President George Bush regarding the Blair Commission
Report's call for the doubling of support to African
nations is a case in point. It is my hope and prayer
that in the years ahead, what has been experienced
here will serve as a living memorial to these young
leaders as to what is possible for those who dare
to dream beyond parochial visions of nationhood and
armed violence as the normative equation for leadership.
 Our
principal objective as ethical leaders is to strengthen
civil society through acts of character, civility
and a sense of community. Last July, my son,
Clinton, and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet
Mr. Taddy Blecher of CIDA College in Johannesburg.
We shared with him our vision of bringing Morehouse
students to the CIDA campus and to lay the groundwork
for CIDA students to come to the Morehouse College
in the summer of 2006.
His gracious invitation and hospitality resulted in
this initial step toward the fulfillment of our mission.
Our visit to the CIDA City Campus was an outstanding
example of our connectedness and need to come to others
in goodwill. The instantaneous, almost combustible
exchange of energy and thought between the students
from Morehouse and CIDA is a sign of hope and promise
for the future of leadership that is globally
connected and ethically centered.
In sum, I have personally learned that the spirit
of "ubuntu"--a Zulu word meaning humanity
through others--lies in every one of us. Ubuntu is
the spirit of giving, togetherness and community.
It is the willingness to belong, contribute
and share resources not only in one's own
community, but in a productive initiative that reaches
beyond narrow visions of humanity. Acknowledging that
spirit and expressing it to our fullest potential
are what truly build bridges between others and ourselves.
The short time that we have spent in South Africa
will live on in the hearts and minds of these new
leaders and, like the "first robins of spring,"
they now return home to teach other students about
what they have seen and felt here in the cradle of
civilization.
Your gift has already allowed us to connect in ways
that will continue for years to come, and we are forever
grateful. The handwork on this memoir is an
expression of our deep, abiding respect for you.
We Love You Oprah, thanks for making dreams come true!
Siyabonga!
Sincerely,
Dr. Walter Earl Fluker
Executive Director of the Leadership Center
|
