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1899

A Message to Garcia

By Elbert Hubbard

In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain & the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.

What to do!

Some one said to the President, "There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can."

Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How "the fellow by the name of Rowan" took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, & in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia, are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail.

The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, "Where is he at?" By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing- "Carry a message to Garcia!"

General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias.

No man, who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man- the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. Slip-shod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, & half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, & sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant. You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office- six clerks are within call.

Summon any one and make this request: "Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio".

Will the clerk quietly say, "Yes, sir," and go do the task?

On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions:

Who was he?

Which encyclopedia?

Where is the encyclopedia?

Was I hired for that?

Don’t you mean Bismarck?

What’s the matter with Charlie doing it?

Is he dead?

Is there any hurry?

Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?

What do you want to know for?

And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him try to find Garcia- and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not.

Now if you are wise you will not bother to explain to your "assistant" that Correggio is indexed under the C’s, not in the K’s, but you will smile sweetly and say, "Never mind," and go look it up yourself.

And this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity, this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and lift, are the things that put pure Socialism so far into the future. If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all? A first-mate with knotted club seems necessary; and the dread of getting "the bounce" Saturday night, holds many a worker to his place.

Advertise for a stenographer, and nine out of ten who apply, can neither spell nor punctuate- and do not think it necessary to.

Can such a one write a letter to Garcia?

"You see that bookkeeper," said the foreman to me in a large factory.

"Yes, what about him?"

"Well he’s a fine accountant, but if I’d send him up town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street, would forget what he had been sent for."

Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?

We have recently been hearing much maudlin sympathy expressed for the "downtrodden denizen of the sweat-shop" and the "homeless wanderer searching for honest employment," & with it all often go many hard words for the men in power.

Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’er-do-wells to do intelligent work; and his long patient striving with "help" that does nothing but loaf when his back is turned. In every store and factory there is a constant weeding-out process going on. The employer is constantly sending away "help" that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues, only if times are hard and work is scarce, the sorting is done finer- but out and forever out, the incompetent and unworthy go.

It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best- those who can carry a message to Garcia.

I know one man of really brilliant parts who has not the ability to manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to any one else, because he carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppress him. He cannot give orders; and he will not receive them. Should a message be given him to take to Garcia, his answer would probably be, "Take it yourself."

Tonight this man walks the streets looking for work, the wind whistling through his threadbare coat. No one who knows him dare employ him, for he is a regular fire-brand of discontent. He is impervious to reason, and the only thing that can impress him is the toe of a thick-soled No. 9 boot.

Of course I know that one so morally deformed is no less to be pitied than a physical cripple; but in our pitying, let us drop a tear, too, for the men who are striving to carry on a great enterprise, whose working hours are not limited by the whistle, and whose hair is fast turning white through the struggle to hold in line dowdy indifference, slip-shod imbecility, and the heartless ingratitude, which, but for their enterprise, would be both hungry & homeless.

Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when all the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds- the man who, against great odds has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded, finds there’s nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes.

I have carried a dinner pail & worked for day’s wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; & all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous.

My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the "boss" is away, as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly take the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets "laid off," nor has to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village- in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia.

THE END-

Back on Track...

So, it's been a while since I last posted and many things have changed since July. I've begun my new job in Corporate America and have faced an internal battle since my start date. While the money is good, very good, I cannot help but feel as though I am moving further from my dream of helping to strengthen the educational opportunities for blacks in America. JFK once said, that "Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education;" the same holds true for my race. So, while I am in my new position I will do everything in my power to ensure that I am furthering the progress of our race. As of late, I have strengthened my ties with the LEAD program (www.leadprogram.org) in hopes of finding that balance between corporate life and my perceived duty. About a week ago, I presented the program to some execs at my company with hopes of receiving a donation for the program and I am proud to say that I was successful. However, I realize that a monetary donation will not suffice. I must continue to work towards strenghtening this program and increasing the participation of the young black students in America who truly need the opportunity to see the possibilities that lie ahead of them if they continue to strive for excellence. This is my goal for the relatively short time that I will spend in corporate america: to utilize the knowledge gained and resources at my disposal to promote the program that afforded me my only college visit and chance to see what life truly had to offer. 

Who the kids gon listen to? I guess it's me if it isn't you...

To my LEAD class of 2008:

I'd like to first start out by saying congratulations, you all have made it. Five years ago, I too arrived at LEAD Northwestern and was pleasantly greeted by a long list of rules and punishments which made me question my decision to leave home for a month. I'm sure that many of you felt the same way after our first meeting. However, I hope that you can now understand the method to our madness: punctuality, proper attire, and etiquette are no strangers to success. While I admit that the counselors did receive some pleasure in making lights out at 9 pm, it was solely done for your benefit. As you enter the next phase in your life, it will be up to you to apply everything you have learned during this intensive four-week program. Every individual that you have encountered is more than willing to contribute to the success story that you all are constantly crafting. Reach out to professors, counselors, mentors, corporations, and each other following your departure tomorrow: We are all anxious to hear about what path you choose to take upon graduation from high school.
I'll be the first to tell you that college is an amazing experience, perhaps only second to the time you spend at LEAD. I encourage you all to aim high and choose wisely. The world is filled with opportunity and disappointment and it is up to you to decide which you will have more of in your life. Please do not limit yourself when submitting college applications: though you may not think you qualify for a certain institution, you might be just what they are looking for at the time. Once on campus, make your presence known. You've worked hard during your pre-college years and you deserve to shine. However, you must not rest on your laurels: college is a challenging as it is rewarding.
This challenge comes not only in the academic arena, but in being sure to uplift others as you rise. To do so, you must also make your presence known in your neighborhoods: you all did not get to this point on your own and neither will the youth at home. Though you all are still relatively young, there is already another generation in need of positive role models who look like them. I'm sure you all have heard this many times before, but to whom much is given, much is expected. You all have been afforded many opportunities and you now carry the noble burden of ensuring that the next generation is given the same. I strongly believe that it is the duty of older generations to pave a smoother path for the oncoming generation. When the newer generation has reached the end of this paved road, it is their responsibility to pick up the tools and continue paving until they can no longer march onward and upward. This is progress.
Dr. King understood the importance of progress and the necessity of accountability. As a true visionary would, King left us with a solution to ensure that his dreams would be made into realities long after he was gone. In one of his many powerful speeches King stated,
"In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."
In closing, I challenge you all to ensure that every affect you have on another person is a positive one. I would like to thank you for allowing me to spend these four weeks with you. I have enjoyed watching you all learn and grow into businessmen and women. I am extremely proud of each of you and I wish you the best of luck.

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

So, this isn't how I wanted to start my commentary on education, but an issue arose today that I need to sort through...This past year there was the highest volume of male applicants for a summer business program designed for minority students. Not only was the number higher than ever, but the qualifications of these gentlemen were more impressive than any applicant pool in the last ten years. After hearing this news I was extremely pleased to find out that black men were finally reaching their full potential and beginning to close the widening gap between themselves and black women. However, my feelings quickly changed after discovering that the recruitment of these students had been done at events where only a selected portion of the black population were chosen to attend. While I am still pleased with the performance of my fellow black men, I worry for those young gentlemen who are not being exposed to the opportunity because of the selective recruitment efforts. Though I cannot say for certain, I do believe that the admitted gentlemen would receive exposure to college and business irregardless of their participation in the program. These young men should not be denied the opportunity to partake in the experience, but more of a focus must be placed on the underprivileged black male youths who have little to no hope of exposure to collegiate and business opportunities. As in slavery, education is the key to the door of freedom and we must equip as many of your black male youth as possible with this key. If not, the number of black male success stories will remain stagnant in each generation: showing none of the progress Du Bois spoke of. So, while some are prospering, doors are still being slammed and locked in the faces of others who may never possess a key....Does a rising tide truly lift all boats?

Of The Meaning of Progress

George Orwell once stated, “An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats.” (The Complete Works of George Orwell) Traditionally, autobiographies are written about individuals to tell the story of their existence; an existence heavily influenced by their surroundings, families, and friends. These first-hand experiences are often taken for granted because no one knows the author’s life better than the author. What is to be thought of the life accounts of non-humans, such as a country like the United States. Textbooks offer a view of American history that comments on, but does not place proper emphasis on the disgraceful section of American history known as slavery. Though the institution took millions of Africans from their home and reduced them to mere chattel, it is only given a small blurb in most American History books. The disproportionate representation of slavery in texts must make readers question the trustworthiness of the American autobiography, a story written by its people. However, those in the majority are not the only children of America. Those enslaved men and women were as responsible if not more so than the white men and women for the success of America. Their voices, however, were silenced by violence, abuse, and illiteracy. This silencing was meant to paint a perfect picture of equality and democracy for those in the majority. Most whites did not want to acknowledge the fact that it was the labor of “chattel” that created the wealth of a nation. The voices of this disenfranchised group would not be kept quiet forever, their story was necessary to deliver a truthful version of America’s story. The personal anecdotes of black men, only made possible by the ability to read and write, started during slavery and have continued over the course of some two hundred years. Inherent in every autobiography written by a member of this strong group is a commentary on education. This is my commentary...

No Erasers

During my junior year of college I came up with a story about my time in elementary school to set the stage for what people should expect of me. Whenever someone would question whether or not I was right about a certain issue or if I had done something correctly, I would tell them that in in elementary school I would tear the erasers off all my pencils and sharpen both ends. Not only did this stop me from making mistakes, but it allowed me to write quicker because of the newly formed aerodynamic shape of the pencil. As far as they were concerned I hadn't made a mistake in 20 years. Though this started out as a joke, it quickly grew into an interesting tid bit that I share with people shortly after meeting them.......So I've chosen to share it here. I obviously have not lived a flawless life, but I believe that people should constantly push themselves towards perfection and shrink the margin for error. Life doesn't have erasers. How will you use your pencil?

-KC