Tomorrow will be my last day as the Executive Director of Boys & Girls Harbor and as the Head of School for the Emily N. Carey High School(which I founded). I will be joined by the Director of Development, the Assistant Director of Development, and the Deputy Director/CFO, who have also submitted their resignations in protest. With responsibility for children in college and private school, and a school that I started and support for poor girls in India, I will definitely miss my six-figure salary. I will not miss the false bonhomie, the air kisses, or the careful commitment to mediocrity from so many members of the Harbor’s board of directors.
I will be able to breathe easier now that I will no longer be surrounded by the collective wisdom of Masters of the Universe who packaged mortgages for Bear Stearns, counseled Lehman Brothers and the Boys Choir of Harlem into failure, invested with Bernie Madoff and Marc Dreier,and who had the leadership insight to promote people like E. Stanley O’Neil to positions where they could work their “magic.” These were people who were confident in providing me with their opinions on human capital and business efficiency.
These are the people who expected me to remain silent while they planned their “investments” in the youth of my community-the community where I have spent over half a century. We were supposed to be happy with the crumbs that fell from their table and to compliment them on their generosity. They talked up the value of Midnight Basketball and dance programs and rejected a school that was positively effecting dozens of teens who had dropped out of their public high schools. The lives of all those young people from the high school who are now in college or serving their country, give lie to the value that others placed on their lives.
Well, I have turned my back on the “bread and circus” initiatives. It will be a tough financial go but I know whatever happens, my children will not be embarrassed by my path. I have learned a lot about friendship and people of action and the quicksand of “process.” I will continue to speak out about entitlement from wealth and the conveyor belt of education that poor children are relegated to by people in positions of power and wealth. My anger comes from a familial place of faith and history.
I thank all those individuals and foundations who really “got it.” I hope to work with you in the future.
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King
In the end, I am left with pity for those who will never feel the pull of that conscience.
The forum will be different but the discussion will continue.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
God bless you Hans. You are a man of dignity and respect. I’m sure that God will lead you to the place he wants you to be in life. Upward and onward. Peace be with you on your journey. Lis.
Congrats Hans, you have always been one to stand your ground and go with what you have felt is right. I have faith in your ability to do great things and as you move forward I know that you’re always helping people along the way.
It is a loss to the students (both current and future) that will be impacted the most. I hope to support the students and staff that remain in anyway possible. I am also willing to assist you with not “going gently into the night”
The students who stand solidly behind you need the mechanism to maintain their ties.
“Education is the new global economy” and we must provide our students this path to economic power. We can not allow them to become fodder for the prison economy
FPrioleau
I really appreciate that. Thank you for your words of support. I am excited about the next adventure.
I appreciate the congratulations! I am happy to be off the “plantation” and on to the next big thing. It’s people like you who help me to remember why I do this work.
That “fodder” is exactly what they will become. If people in power don’t care, then we need to get their attention by making them uncomfortable. I’ll be around and look forward to staying in touch.
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