John Perkins is in town for an event hosted by the New Beginnings Outreach.     For those of you who don’t know Dr. Perkins, he is a famous Christian veteran   of the Civil Rights Movement and the author of the famous book, “Let Justice  Roll Down.”  He is widely considered to be an expert in the realm of racial  reconciliation and urban communities.  He was born in 1930 and grew up on a plantation as a sharecropper in Mississippi.  The man is inspiring.  He is humble and most of all, he is wise.

He talked about Durham’s great past…a past he implored us all to derive inspiration from and to work hard to resurrect.  I asked him what he thought it would take to restore the level of civic pride that Durham once had.  His answer surprised me in its simplicity and in its delivery, as he replied without hesitation.  

He said that the return of civic pride, particularly from economic resurgence would come from a work ethic instilled in Durham’s youth from a very early age.  Just so that we got the point, he quoted a famous nursery rhyme and did so in a way that only a 78 year old man can really pull off.  In his deep, resonant voice with a distinctive Mississippi accent weathered by a life time of struggle and conquest, he said, “Early to Bed, Early to Rise.  Makes a Person Healthy, Happy and Wise”

That’s not all that John said on the subject.  He also commented on the responsibility we have of teaching principles within the community from the pulpit and outside of church and the importance of home ownership.  But, it was his simple message of hard work that resounded.  We need to work hard to instill the value of hard work in our young, but just as importantly we need to nurture it and encourage it.  On one hand, we need to model that behavior ourselves, on the other we need to make investments in basic job skills, vocational training and entrepreneurial development so that we can make it rewarding for our young folks to enjoy the fruits of “the hard work” that John espouses.   With these programs in place, and with a general shift back to the work ethic that was embodied in the success of the Duke, Carr, Watts AND Merrick, Moore and Spaulding, we will be much, much closer to the time when Durham was an economic juggernaut and when all aspects of community life flourished.  

Can it be as simple as “hard work”?  Maybe not, but it’s a great start.

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