Jan 21
MLK’s Waking Dream of an Optimistic Future Reality
This is a post that I shared internally at Pariveda Solutions. The thoughts and opinions in the post are my own.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. laid out a vision where he simultaneously saw America for what it was at the time and what it could be. It wasn’t a future rooted in fear, uncertainty, and victimhood. Instead, it was a future based on optimism but clear in the understanding that that optimistic future would not just magically appear. In the last 60 years since his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech America, and the world has seen enormous progress, socially, economically, and scientifically, with the racial integration of schools, businesses, and communities, we are as close to the world’s “melting pot” as we’ve ever been.
Dr. King, his worldview, and the Civil Rights Movement were products of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment thinkers viewed the Enlightenment not as a historical period but a process of social, scientific, and philosophical development through knowledge and better explanations of the world. Dr. King continued this tradition by explaining that all forms of evil, including intolerance and bigotry, stem from bad ideas and lack of knowledge. In this perspective, Dr. King condemned the evils of racism with his far better ideas of tolerance, equality of opportunity, and judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
The Pariveda model is also a product of the Enlightenment, providing a framework for every Fin to grow to their fullest potential and use the tools and techniques to create new ideas and knowledge to solve our client’s toughest challenges. Over the last year, many Fins led and contributed to a few initiatives to spread this model beyond our walls to teach and coach our approach to defeating bad ideas with good ones. One of these initiatives was led by College Recruiting (Olivia and Kendall) with support from the Black Fins Circle and every Geo to establish relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). As a result, the firm added eleven new fabulous Fins from this work. The second initiative was the launch of the Pariveda Career Accelerator Program, led by Olivia and Michelle, and an outstanding board of advisors from every cohort (including myself). With the first pilot planned for the summer of 2022, this program will provide mentoring and coaching to empower black freshmen and sophomores from core and non-core schools as they navigate their formal development and career trajectory.
Progress is being made. Yet, we know we are not at the finish line. Opponents of civil rights in the 1960s asked the movement’s leaders, “When will you be satisfied?” Dr. King responded, “when justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” His reply perfectly captured the idea that “all problems are solvable, and each particular evil is a problem to be solved,” to improve the lives of every human being and our ability to pursue happiness and self-actualization. Today we celebrate his enduring contribution to America, the world, and future generations of a progressively optimistic future that we can never take for granted and must stay vigilant to protect and move forward.
As we kick off 2022, let us remember Dr. King for more than just his “I Have a Dream” speech. Let us remember him for his legacy of sacrifice, leadership, unwavering rebuke of bad ideas, optimism, and constant drive to put forward his vision of a better future for all of us.
As we kick off 2022, let us remember Dr. King for more than just his “I Have a Dream” speech. Let us remember him for his legacy of sacrifice, leadership, unwavering rebuke of bad ideas, optimism, and constant drive to put forward his vision of a better future for all of us.
