Category: Diversity & Inclusion

Today marks the 30^th Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday—celebrated on the third Monday in January, close to his January 15^th birthday.

In 1963, on the 100^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation which freed millions of slaves, King observed that: “one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.”  Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly-improvised peroration on the theme “I have a dream.”  In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.  And with that single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who’ve shaped modern America.

Last year, I blogged about “10 Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.”

This year, I’d like to take a look at a 2004 book by Brenda Salter McNeil and Rick Richardson entitled The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change.

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Nearly 3 years ago, Michael and Amy Smalley came to our church for a Marriage Conference. Prior to the conference, I picked up the book Michael co-wrote with his father (Gary) and brother (Greg) in 2004 entitled, Men’s Relational Toolbox.

Since I have many women in my life—from home with a wife & daughter to work with a number of women colleagues—I found many of his insights and tips very helpful.

Since we just looked at the importance of Relational Skills in the life of a leader, I figured this was a good follow-up.

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