Exec. Director Meets Dem. Leader Brazile

WASHINGTON – The auditorium in the Blackburn Center was at full capacity on Thursday January 28th, 2010 as expected when the first African-American woman to run a major presidential campaign visits Howard University. The third annual Charles W. Harris Lecture brought the esteemed political strategist Donna Brazile to campus before attentive students, faculty and staff. As dozens of people arrived hoping for seats for this highly anticipated event, crowds gathered in the doorway of the auditorium while others lingered in the hallway. Security directed the those who could not find seating in the auditorium towards an overflow room where speakers carried the veteran campaigner’s passionate and inspirational message.

Executive Director Chris Bradshaw with Donna Brazile

The hour-long lecture titled the “Fierce Urgency of Now,” cast an air of a fireside chat in such an intimate setting. Drawing from Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy, Ms. Brazile – with her usual candor and good humor – summoned students to answer the call to action. “As the President said in last night’s State of the Union address, this is not the time ‘to run for the hills,’” Brazile said. “…You will not get a letter of invitation to serve. Don’t try to find a title. It is not about you, but it is about us, our nation and our world.”

Her accomplishments as an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, television political commentator, Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee, and former chair of the DNCs Voting Rights Institute provide an insight into American political life that can be matched by few, if any. From her vantage point, the exigent circumstances presented today would have moved Dr. King with a unrelenting determination. “He would remind us of the fierce urgency of now,” said Brazile of the slain Civil Rights icon. “Long before the ink on the stimulus bill was dry, he would demand that the funds get to the communities in greatest need.”

The veteran Democratic political strategist’s clarion invocation to service sounded much like a reverberation of Dreaming Out Loud’s very own mission and vision, as team members from the organization sat listening intently in the overflow room. As she fielded questions from the audience, one particular query about the possibilities for change in the recession hit home as she responded, “Even without a job, I still had a cause and a mission.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 1:12 am. It is filed under Education and tagged with bison, bradshaw, brazile, democrat, donna, howard, university. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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local_god says:

March 10, 2010 at 8:04 pm

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Administrator says:

March 15, 2010 at 4:15 am

What Ms. Brazile meant — and that we were attempting to convey — is that even though there is a recession and many of us may be unemployed, we can still employ our talents and passions to further a greater cause. “Even without a job, I still had a cause and a mission” means that even when she faced hard times, that did not dissuade her from pursing, with purpose and conviction, that which she considered just. This is great advice for our times, as many folks have time on their hands due to the poor economy. It would be greatly rewarding, for both society and individuals, if people were to dedicate some of that extra time to a cause — whether it is the homeless, people with special needs, or whatever. It would be transformative!

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June 9, 2010 at 6:20 pm

Hey! The theme was actually purchased through http://www.graphpaperpress.com. It is called Modularity. It has a number of great features which you can fully customize to add video, additional columns and much more. Feel free to mention the post in one of your blogs. We will have a lot of content coming up this summer as we launch a new program called Project Dream Green with young people ages 14-21 producing much of the content.

Best,
The Dreaming Out Loud Team