As an old boy and leader of an organization that prides itself in its investment in youth and promises of tomorrow, I am constantly measuring our progress and assessing our benchmarks to see if we’ve delivered on our lofty goals. Special dates like New Years, Christmas, Independence Day, etc beckon us to make ambitious proclamations and exhort the membership to find new vigor and commitment to propel us towards new levels of benevolence.
This New Year is no different, although with some candor I must admit the battle on the road to excellence has left my soul weary and my vision less magnificent. On the road we’ve taken some bruises and have encountered some intransigence that makes one wonder “can we as a people ever get to the promise land.” It seems we expend so much energy trying to get our people to work together only to be derailed by myopic do-gooders who simply are unable to see the big picture or are caught up in moments of ego indulgence. The train, once derailed takes an inordinate amount of time to be put back on track, thus it takes us as a people an eternity to achieve what it takes others a definable moment to achieve.
In his great “Mountaintop” speech, Dr King felt we would get there, one wonders if he were Jamaican perusing the calamity that is ours, if he would today express that degree of optimism. We as a people seem to be locked in a colossal fight of good versus evil, and as a Christian nation we are led to believe good will ultimately win, but when you’re mired in the trenches of struggle after struggle, your only response is “when, if ever is good going to win?”
One tries to be patient and toil quietly towards the moderate goals that must be reached for the organization and even our homeland to appear as if we are making reasonable progress, but time is not our friend and the timelines we established two years ago are evaporating daily with the harsh realization that those who are desperately depending on us are passing through the quagmire that is our society without reaping the benefits of our efforts. And lest you should doubt the cruelness of time, reflect with me that the preeminent Thespian Mr Charles Hyatt had promised to be the Master of Ceremony at our 2007 annual banquet after scheduling difficulties prevented him from doing the same for us last year, but time has dictated that it shall not happen, because Uncle Charlie has passed. So it is with our dreams and desires for the land we love and more distinctly the institution we embrace; we can’t wait indefinitely for them to understand the need to elevate their practices, acquire a sense of urgency and adopt proven methods of success that may not have originated in their immediate circle, but is vital to their development.
The paramount challenge facing our organization is not fund raising, as I believe we will do well in that arena and we will achieve pre-established targets with more refined processes. The task is to define more efficient ways of utilizing the funds collected and engaging in methods established as “best practices” to maximize the use of the garnered funds. With existing limitations preventing us from directly taking on projects that are near and dear to our hearts we must find a way to work with organizations that are intricately tied to the school, are responsive and demands fiscal accountability. If that sounds like the KCDTF then so be it. We simply cannot throw the money over the fence and let them do what they feel is best, we must constructively engage in defining critical projects with appropriate starting and end dates. This I am told is the year of completion, let’s strive towards achieving a reasonable level of completion for our many projects and exercises that our country and our people so desperately need us to deliver for them.
If Dr King is looking down on our efforts, he must know we are keeping the dream alive, hoping to someday get to the mountaintop. We as a people deserve it and our children shouldn’t be deprived during another lifetime, simply because we lack vision.
