S5:E134🎙️ Live with Dr. Ariel Rosita King, PhD (UK), PhD (France), DHTM

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So let's get into the consideration because you talk about President Nelson Mandela. What was that like meeting and the interaction there?

So, um, I even have it where I'm sitting now. I have, I have, uh, mandela. Um, all of my life, one way or another, South Africa has been a part of my life. Literally, uh, in New York, um, we had South Africans move in. The people that would visit them would say, but you mean you live here? You actually live here? They were shocked because here I was living in, as I said, my mother was a doctor, right? And my stepfather was a lawyer and I was an only child. But these people from South Africa with apartheid have never seen anybody like me live that way. So my life has always been in one way or another linked to South Africa. So before I learned about apartheid, I learned about, believe it or not, as a young person in my teens, the love of South Africa, the land, the people. And even when I was in high school reading Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, my view of South Africa was different. So when I was also in a university, we protest for apartheid to get them to divest. So once I finally got to South Africa and I'm working on my PhD, I have a very good friend who's a lawyer friend, just a friend. He's helping to work on the new constitution of South Africa. And we're talking and he actually asked me, so he said, "You know, would you like to go meet President Nelson Mandela?" Now this is before, by the way, he's president, but he's not sworn in yet. So I'm living literally two streets away from where he's sworn in in Pretoria. And I said, oh my goodness, I would love to. Like, really? Yes. Oh yeah, when? I'm there. Tell me. I'll get my stuff ready now. Is it next month? Right? So he plans it. We go together. We fly to Cape Town because it's in Kapstadt, into Cape Town. And we get there. And when we get there, there was an emergency meeting called at, I think, the parliament. There was something going on because remember, they're writing and they are looking at and trying to vote into a new constitution. So they're literally making and developing a country. While I am there, his brother, they call him Kit, and Kit Varta, I hope I'm saying his name right, who is a person of Indian descent that was actually part of the whole group that went to prison with Nelson Mandela. Basically, like, his brother decided that, okay, you're in good hands, he'll take care of you. And I sat there with him talking story, and he would tell me the stories about him and President Nelson Mandela and how they basically grew up together and how he felt that other people within the movement were really more like his family. And we waited for about an hour and a half, 2 hours, and then I was told, "I'm really sorry, but there was a message that he—" he won't be able to make the appointment and he's sorry, but he'll make another appointment. I was disappointed, but not really because I got to go into the president's office and I also was able to speak with the person that was with Nelson Mandela the entire time. And he himself is an icon, which I didn't know at the time. Once again, but just from his story, he's an amazing person. I go back to Pretoria and my very good friend who is a lawyer, who's working for the Constitution, you know, building the Constitution, writing the Constitution, constitutional lawyer, comes back with a signed picture. Um, dear Rosita— my mother calls me Rosita— Rosita King, uh, best wishes, Mandiba. And I'm shocked because I'm thinking I was just an appointment in a book, right? You don't know me. I'm not the daughter of anybody important. I'm not related to anybody important. I myself am not important. But let me understand this. You were building a country, so you couldn't have an appointment with me, and you feel bad about that, or you feel somehow that you owe me something, so you sign a photo with my name on it and give it to the lawyer to bring back to me and say that you're gonna make another appointment with me? Wow. Pardon? I didn't get this.

All right. Welcome to another episode of the Leadership and Success Podcast. We have a treat for you today. Quickly, as is our tradition, we like to spend just a moment for a moment of gratitude, but it's now past June 10th, right? Which was the day where the last slaves in the United States of of America were told that they were actually free, uh, because of the Emancipation, uh, Proclamation and later the, uh, 13th, 14th, 15th Amendment of the United States of America. So we are going to be celebrating freedom on the Leadership and Success Podcast all the way up to July 4th, right? From June 10th to July 4th. So today we are grateful for freedom. I really believe every single human being was made in the image and likeness of God, and we were meant to be free. Right? No human being was meant to be dominated by any other human. Absolutely not. So we celebrate freedom and America again, trying to live up to its aspirational goal and values, right? All men created equal. We are supposedly the home of the brave and the land of the free, and we need to see that manifested and realized for all of the citizens of America. And I actually believe around the world. So let us know where you are joining us from. What city, what state, and if outside of the US, which country. Let us know what you are grateful for. And also, if you have a question for my guest, type it in the comment and we will be answering live. So without any further ado, let me see if I can properly introduce our guest today. I am so, so, so excited. We're going to be talking today about leading with humanity, empowering others to discover the treasure within. Okay, I am really honored and so grateful to welcome my friend, a humanitarian leader, author, TEDx speaker, global advocate, educator, United Nations representative, and a person who has not just one, not just two, but three doctorates. We're talking about Dr. Ariel Rosita King to the Leadership Success Podcast. Because for more than 35 years, Dr. King has dedicated her life to empowering children, youth, and communities around the world. Originally from New York, she's the founder and president of Ariel Foundation International. Now she's based in Switzerland, and she has helped impact more than 150,000 young people across more than 30 countries through leadership development, entrepreneurship, human rights advocacy, and civic engagement. Her remarkable journey has taken her across more than 65 countries, working at the intersection of public health, diplomacy, international development, education, humanitarian service. She has advised organizations at the United Nations, collaborated with global leaders, and championed the belief that every person has the power to create positive change. She's also the author of the bestselling book, Humanity Unveiled, a collection of unexpected encounters that reveal the human spirit in us all. And in this powerful book, she shares lessons learned through encounters with extraordinary leaders and changemakers, including Dr. Maya Angelou, another one of my mentors, President Nelson Mandela, Dr. Nina Simone, Pope Francis, Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, and many, many, many others. So what we're gonna be learning today is how great leaders empower others to discover the treasure within themselves. And we are also going to learn about the powerful question every leader must ask, which is, if not now, then when? And if not me, than who. So without any further ado, please help me welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast, the one and only Dr. Ariel Rosita King. Good afternoon, Dr. King. How are you doing today, ma'am? All right. We can always get through technology. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I really love doing this live, but sometimes we do have some challenges. So I am glad this has worked. Believe it or not, a couple of times I had to do the entire live through the phone. But anyway, I'm glad this is working. So to get started, Dr. King, what are you grateful for today?

I am grateful to be alive. I'm grateful to look out and we're so lucky where our family's on vacation. So to see the ocean, to see the sunrise, I'm grateful to have another day, just to literally start another day. And I'm grateful for being on your live podcast. It's my first live stream and it's exciting. And I'm grateful for the people that took the time on Father's Day in many countries to actually listen to something that I have to say. Absolutely. There's so much. I think I can do the whole show with all my gratitude.

Actually, I think this is the first time we have someone watching us all the way from Uganda, Africa. And his name is Nampwera Frank. He says, I am Nampwera Frank. Thank you for this conversation. I am following all the way from Uganda. I don't think we've ever asked anybody follow us from Uganda before. So, uh, and Frank, thank you for letting us know where you are watching from. Let us know what you are grateful for. And also if you have a question for Dr. King, please type it in the comment. And some people will be watching from LinkedIn Live, I mean YouTube Live as well. And another question I'd like to ask Dr. King is, What is something about you that's kind of unique or special or something that most people may not know when they first meet you?

I love to learn.

Wow. Yeah, we know something. I'm curious about everything.

And I remember, not everything, but I remember almost everything. So if you tell me something 20 years before and then you tell me something 20 years later and it's a bit different, I will remember. Exactly what you've said.

So, um, that is really amazing. Yes, although I shouldn't have said that, but because you, you, you, you have, um, a doctorate, right? Uh, yes, in hotel and tourism management. I just figured out what—

no, no, no, my first doctorate— no, sir, my first doctorate is from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Looking at international health policy. That's the PhD, right? Yeah, that's the, that's the first PhD. I have two. Yes. And then I have a doctor in hygiene and tropical medicine from the same London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. And then I have a PhD in sociology working with children in trauma from the University of Besançon in France.

That's incredible. Wow, overeducated. I love it. I love it. So, uh, I guess what I would like to know, just to kind of get started here, you have accomplished so much and done so much. I think you've really already left a huge impact on the world. You come from a very long line of strong women, educators and community builders. How did that family legacy shape the leader you became?

Thank you so much. Well, first of all, my family is Gullah Geechee. We come from Saint Helena Island, South Carolina.

And actually, my wife also, by the way.

Ah, I have actually books on our history, and I have two family members that we can track from, uh, 16— no, 8— sorry, 1862. Wow. And we were the— our family was the first to help to educate freed slaves and there today. My family actually started long ago. Although I've accomplished some, my family and my, my heritage have accomplished so much more. Wow. So I think that having a heritage like that where you see that, that people have gone from very little to build— literally, the buildings are still there. Yes. To the first physicians, the first nurses. Wow. The first architects. That, that have come from there. I think that what I do— that's amazing— quite easy compared to what they've done. And then my mother, Dr. Marga G. King, was someone who always worked in the community. She loves the community, and volunteering in the community, being a part of the community, and giving what she could was a very normal part of our lives. I didn't even realize that was something unusual. I just thought that every family did that. That's amazing.

I grew up in it. So what is one of the greatest lessons you learned from your mom, Dr. Margot King?

Well, I think one of the greatest lessons is spiritual, actually. My mother would say, listen to the Holy Spirit. And what my mother always tries to teach me is, as you think that you are so important and you think that you are everything, please understand that there's so much more than you. And that you can tap into whatever that is for other people, but you can, you can tap into and listen to not just your intuition, but what is correct. And you understand that and then behave in that way. So my mother was quite clear that no matter what you accomplish, no matter who you are, no matter what you do, there's always a higher power. And more importantly, you should be humble and understand that you don't know everything and you don't need to know everything.

That is really quite remarkable, and you've had quite a huge impact on the youth all around the world. Was there a moment, a defining moment, when you realized your life mission would be centered on children, youth, and human rights?

I mean, that's such a great question because I was maternal from age 9. Wow. Yes, you know, I think that some people literally just born with that, and I was I was always trying to help or to fix or to help someone to feel better. And as a teenager, we had something called Ronald McDonald's. So I used to have Ronald McDonald's carnivals in order to make money for muscular dystrophy. So as I said, it was just a part of life. And it wasn't seen as exceptional or interesting. It was only seen as part of what you need to do to give back to the community, that this is part of how we live. So I would say that— Wow, that is amazing. Yeah, I would say there was never a moment per se. I just think that my whole life is intertwined into working with children and youth. And even today I saw two adorable children. Yes. And I get excited. I really have a love and a passion for children. I have a respect for them. And I really believe that they're a gift to the world. And as we get older, unfortunately, that gift sometimes is shaded, but it's still there. And so I believe that children and youth are— you know, people talk about they're our future, but they don't really understand, I believe, because children and youth are our gift today. It reminds us of where we should be and what could be and how the world can be different if we would just listen.

Wow, that is really amazing. Now, like I say, you were born in New York and you can trace your family all the way back to the Gullah people of South Carolina, which my wife also, that's where, especially on your mother's side, they are all from there.

But, uh, wow, pardon me, we might be related. Yeah, we go all the way back to—

might be—

we go all the way back to the first slave, believe it or not. We actually have the history back to the first slave. That is really amazing. Yeah, she actually had a baby with the slave master, and he gave her and that baby their freedom. And that's where my family starts. So it's like we were related.

It's really, really amazing. Yeah, my wife needs to study that history more. And I know for me, I was born in Africa, but I know in 1619, August 20th, the first slaves that came, they came from Angola, the Congo Kingdom. I'm a direct descendant of Queen Nzinga. So it was Where are my kin ancestors? So that's how I relate to the struggle of African American and slavery and all of that in this country of freedom. So, but yeah, it's just interesting how everything works itself out. But eventually I think the entire world is absolutely related in my belief. Now, if you believe in the Bible, Adam and Eve being the first people. Oh, absolutely. It all started in Africa. Exactly. Uh, but I mean, we talk about—

by what we talk about race, I was just thinking about someone was talking about race and they said race is a social construct, it's not, it's not a biological construct. So when they ask me the race, I say human.

Yes, yes, yes, indeed. Out of one blood, the, the Bible says. Yeah, it's, it is, it is quite fascinating. But the next question I, I wanted to ask, because we lived in Alabama, I was there for maybe 15 years before I moved to California. And I met some people in the Deep South who were actually proud to have never traveled. And I was like, that doesn't make any sense. Like, they probably didn't even get out of the county they were born in. And I think it kind of limits the way you see the world. Again, you're born in New York and now you've been all around the world and now you are based in Switzerland. I guess a question I have for you is, you've lived in multiple countries, right? And traveled extensively around the world. What have different cultures taught you about leadership? And unlike most Americans, you speak several languages too. We barely speak English in this country, so it's quite fascinating. Yes, thank you.

I think that I've right now been to over 80 countries. I've stopped counting, but I think I should go back again. I've lived in over 12 countries, so I'm not talking about visited for a month. I've actually lived, had to put on electricity, you know, try to deal with neighbors, and try to understand the systems. And— Wow. I think in general, I realize that we're so much closer than we understand to each other, and that there are differences in foods and in dance and in arts and so on and so forth, but the basis of humanity, the basis of who we are is the same. Wow. You know, we want to feel like we've accomplished something. We want to feel needed and wanted. We all want to help our children to develop. We want to leave some kind of legacy. We all don't want to be forgotten. And this is through multiple cultures. I've been, of course, to many countries in Asia, in Africa, in Europe, in the Middle East. Wow. And it's the same. You would really— and by the way, youth, Youth, they blow my mind because youth, they are a culture in themselves. You know this idea, "Oh, well, this young person comes from this country and that country." What I've learned and I didn't realize is that the youth of the world literally have their own culture. Wow. That's fascinating. It doesn't matter the language. They have their own culture and they do a lot of it online and they're doing a lot of understanding each other and learning from each other in spite of us. Rather than because of us.

That is really amazing. So, um, can you cite some, some of the countries you've, you've lived in, some of the, the 12?

Oh, lived in? Okay, so, um, I'll start. Oh, Canada, that's easy. Lived in Canada. Yeah. Uh, lived in, um, France, Germany, United Kingdom. I'm just attaching them so I can remember. Yes. Netherlands. Really? Spain. Portugal. Wow. And then once we go to Africa, I've lived in South Africa. I've lived in Zimbabwe. Wow. I lived in Zambia.

That's amazing.

Oh, wait.

Yeah, it's so many countries. And how many languages do you understand?

Oh, understand or speak? Well, both. So I think I can speak about 4 languages. That's amazing. Although my mind clicks. So for example, we were speaking French. Yes. Before. So what happens to me is that if I'm in France or somebody starts speaking French, I click and they start speaking French. Yes. I can be somewhere where they're speaking Spanish or German, but I forget to change the language. And then when they start speaking, then click, I start speaking in that language.

That's amazing. Amazing. Wow.

Well, that comes natural. It didn't come natural before, but it comes natural now. But I think language is so important. And the reason why I think language is important is because it gives you a clue into the culture. Let me give you an example. Once I heard someone saying, "Kinder," which means child in German, to someone who was in his 60s. And I thought, did I hear that right? And then I understood that in the— in not all— I'm not talking about German, German culture, not German Swiss, because German Australians, they're different cultures, we can be clear about that. Um, but in the German, Germany, German culture, Kinder, you are always a child to your parents. You can be 80 and your parents are 100, and you will always be Kinder. So come here, Kinder. Come here, Kinder. Come here, children. Yes. And so what I've learned is that parents, the culture always has this idea that you are always my child. We do the same, but it's a, it's a, yes, I'm your parent and I'm always there for you. And you are always a child, but not in a negative way. It's a positive, not a negative. You know, many of us speak to all the child like negative, but this is said in a positive way. So language. Wow, that's powerful. Culture.

Yeah, because I used to do translation, and I think so much is lost in translation, a lot of the meaning and nuances that people get from the culture. So let's talk about your global impact. You founded AYOL Foundation International, a great nonprofit, no, more than 20 years ago. What problems were you trying to solve that others weren't addressing?

Yes, 25 years ago. It was— we started the foundation for two reasons. One, out of frustration. And two, out of a mentor that told me I can do it, Alphonso Lernhardt. And I should say His Excellency Alphonso Lernhardt, who became the ambassador to Tanzania, was a mentor of mine. And we went to lunch, and he's taken me lunch several times. We were in Washington, D.C., and he said to me— we were just talking, and he said something about his daughter, who's a lawyer, having a foundation. And it just stopped me in my tracks, and I said, excuse me?

Which, by the way, you are trying to get a law degree now, which is incredible. Yes, I am. Really a lifelong learner.

Yeah, I'm doing an LLM actually looking at children's rights. I think it's really important to, to understand the law so then you can actually use it to help children. So fascinating. So he told me about his daughter having a foundation, and it opened up the possibility for me. It's like, oh, she did that? Well, I guess I can do that. But it was only in the back of my mind, and I asked him if he thought I could do it, and he said, "Of course, but you know, you have to work." And I put it away, and then I was speaking to one of our ambassadors, Ambassador Mololeke Rapolaki from the Kingdom of Lesotho, and we were talking about the frustration of the funding that goes to various countries for various incentives or various programs. And if you started, for example, let's just say with $100, if you were lucky, perhaps $15 of the $100 would actually get to the people that you're trying to impact. And we found that so frustrating. And we especially found it frustrating because usually part of that $15 of the $100 would not be going in outside of the city where it's really needed. And, um, when that happened, we decided that, uh, the foundation would start to take on a different form, which is fully volunteer. No one gets paid. All donations go directly to, um, to our programs. And as a result, because we had, I think, 6 active ambassadors on the board of directors— wow— we had a policy that money had to go in and out within 6 months and could be tracked. So there was no scandal, because scandal is very easy. Yes. So we were so lucky because, or so fortunate because instead of setting up a foundation where there's brick and mortar and people have to get paid and you have to do this and that and all of our focus is on paying people rather than doing for people, it changed the whole scope of the foundation.

That's never been done before. That's amazing.

I don't know. I don't know. It's 25 years now, by the way. We're 25 years old. We have economic and social status with the United Nations. We have been working with the United Nations now for 15 years, and we are the first to actually accredit children and youth to the United Nations as delegates. They were shocked. That's amazing.

Wow, that is just unbelievable. I don't know what to say. Wow.

We've done a lot, but I also want to say, I just want to make it clear that children and youth actually run our organization. So in some ways it's so positive because we change all the time, and in other ways it's difficult because we change all the time. Yes, man.

So the AYOL Foundation International, AFI, has impacted over 150,000 youth across more than 30 countries. It is just amazing. What are some lessons that you have learned about empowering young people?

Oh, I think the first lesson is that they already have the power. I think The first lesson actually starts at home, right? If not at home, love your name, love your culture, know that you are an integral part of your community, your family, your community, and the world. And once they understand that they have everything that they need in order to contribute, then they're amazing. But I think the biggest issue for a lot of young people is to feel like, well, you know, I'm not sure I could do it, I don't have the experience. But we don't need the experience from young people. What we need is that optimism, that energy, that spirit, that knowing of who they are and what they can do before we tell them that they can't.

So powerful, so powerful. Yeah, sometimes I wonder with all of the wisdom and knowledge I've had now in my mid-40s, I wish I could have that while I was younger, when I was still No, you had it. You had it.

The biggest thing is that people needed to reinforce that and let you know that you had it, and then you would use it. So we don't— in our foundation, we don't do anything special. The biggest thing that we do is allow people to know who they are. Let me give you an example. We had 20 to 30 Chinese students from various Chinese universities working with our foundation, and many of them would give them names like Tony and Ann and so on and so forth. And I would say to them, what's your name? And they'd always difficult to pronounce. And I said, but you don't understand. Your parents gave you your name. Yes. Because your name has meaning. And that meaning is in your culture. Your name and your culture is a part of who you are. You can't go forward without your name and your culture. So we had to, I won't say empower, but I think allow them to understand that who they are, including their name, whether I can pronounce it or not. Yes, yes. Is really an integral part of who they are. And then once they realize that, this is a part of who they are, then they can go forward and say, well, wait a minute, everything that I need I have. And they do. It's just a matter of also encouraging them and saying, I know you can lead and I'm waiting for you to do it. Maybe let me just give one example. I think it was about 12— no, wait a minute, it's 10, 11 years ago because one of the mothers called me. Her son is now 18. He was 8 when he went to the United Nations. When they went as delegates, they had to dress correctly. There's no t-shirt, there's no trainers. I don't think you call them trainers, or sports shoes, excuse me, no sports shoes. Yes. No fooling around. I was very clear with them. You are delegates to the United Nations. You are representing children all over the world. I expect you to do well. I expect you to give your presentations. Yes. When it's time for a break, we'll have a break. When it's time to play, we will play. But you are representing. Yeah, this is some of the— Yeah. That's amazing. You are representing children of the world and you must. Do it. They did great, and the security were shocked because they've never had children as delegates. Yes, working with the UN in various ways for 30-plus years, I realized that the rules didn't say anything about age for delegates. True. So through the foundation, we were actually able to accredit these children to the United Nations Human Rights Council as delegates.

That is amazing because not Again, you've helped make history by accrediting those children and youth as delegates in the UN to participate in United Nations activities. Never been done before. Why is it so important that young people have a seat at the table?

It's imperative. It's not important, it's an imperative. It's a necessity. And it's an imperative and necessity because you are— we, even we are making decisions that we're asking them to implement without their input. Impossible. None of us want that. You know, even when you talk about leadership and work culture, it's like, well, you have to get the buy-in, you have to understand them. You want to work with them. You want them to know that what they have to give is so important to the success. Yet we don't do that with children and youth. Instead, we say, you know what, in 5 to 10 years, we'd like you to implement what we put out, okay? And of course it's not okay. And they don't feel like they have any attachment to it. So if they have no attachment to it, why would they do it?

We are setting ourselves up. So much respect. Wow. Because many leaders, you're right, they focus on speaking for people, but you focus on helping them speak for themselves. Right. Why does that respect matter? We don't do that at all.

We have, by the way, we have 70 publications, and all of these publications are written by young people and put together by young people. Wow. All the photos, all the presentations. And during this time, we only had one presentation that was written by a parent who pretended to be a child, and you could tell because it was the most juvenile presentation. It was terrible. The presentation was horrendous because it was a parent trying to be a child. Yeah. Um, wow. In these publications, these young people have their own voice, and these publications have ISBNs. These young people become authors, and then these authors are able to then have these documents go back to the UN to inform the United Nations what young people really think and what's important.

Wow, I'm just showing the front page of your foundation website. I mean, you guys really do a lot. Of course, people can go, and I have a link there, aolfoundation.org. So can the people listening now, if they wanted to go to that website and make a donation to your foundation? And again, like any other— unlike any other nonprofit, you don't even take a salary. 100% of what they give goes straight to work.

No, no, I don't. I don't. Not to be rude, but I have consulting and I do speaking engagements and I do other things, and none of us take a salary. And that's the— for us, this is the way we've set up this foundation. And I'm so grateful that it has been able to go for 25 years. Wow. And we show that every Every, every donation, all the money that we get, even for some of the activities that we do, go back into doing our programs. And that's what we do best. Wow. And now we'd like to do programs for— we call it resiliency camps, or camps for children that had trauma. We've done it in Botswana, we've done it in Morocco, and we've done it in Liberia for different reasons. Oh, there are the publications. Thank you.

Wow. And the kids are the one— all the different publications. That's amazing. Yes. Wow.

All these publications are made by the young people themselves. And I can't believe it. Yes. And they're published authors. And by the way, the one thing that I think is important is it's not just in English. Let's say they come from Ghana or another. They can do it in Twi. We insist that they do it in their first language or second language, whatever you want to call it, and then their native tongue. Because we also want their family members and people around them to be able to read what they're talking about, what they think. Wow. So it's not just intellectual separation. That is amazing. So we have it in Arabic, of course. We have it in Russian. We have it in Spanish. These are the UN languages. We have it in French and English. But we also have it in what they say, quote unquote, minor languages. Mm-hmm. So, and that would include Lithuanian, of course, Russian. But African languages that aren't usually written. Yes. Yes. I'm so proud of young people. So I talk with such passion about because I'm so proud of them. But they need to be encouraged and pushed. Oh, Dr. King, I really don't know. I said, well, go back to your grandma. I'm sure your grandma knows. Wow. Go back to your auntie. So I do a lot of pushing. That is amazing. You know, I'm not easy. Yes. That's powerful. It's difficult. We don't take mediocrity. They have a very hard time with that because some young people are quite smart. Smart, and they— many of them are used to doing things very quickly and very fast and just putting it out there. And we don't accept that. We say, excuse me, but we don't do mediocrity. It's important that you do well, and it's important that you give your best, because this is something that's for posterity. This is something for— to go into history, into the future.

Yeah, children to be able to read this.

So that's whatever you need to do.

Wow, amazing. Because I mean, there's no, no telling, right? What's going to happen to the kids? Because they're going to go, they're going to be responsible, they're going to be adding so much more value to the world. And not just in the US, not just in Africa, but like all around the world from China to—

Yes, yes. And they do and they can. And what I really love about what I do, what I have the privilege to do for this foundation, is that you see young people remembering who they are. Yes. And the power that they have. And not just the power to do a TikTok or the power to do a certain dance, but literally the power to come up with solutions to some of the issues that they see before them every day.

Yes, yes.

And they have a voice and they can use that voice. And this is what we do and this is what I love.

No, I really, really love that because I think I've seen that in some African American families, in some African countries too, where children are expected to shut up and listen, but not to speak in front of adults. And yeah. They do have a voice. So let's talk now about resilience, adversity, and persistence. Because, you know, we look at you now, you're extremely successful, but it hasn't always been rosy, right? Your journey hasn't always been easy. You've spoken about professional setbacks and being denied opportunity despite your extreme qualifications. So how did you remain resilient during those times?

Yes, I still do now because I also learned that the more you're online or the more people get to know you, the bigger target that you are for whatever reason because some people just feel bad about themselves and just don't like what they see or for whatever reason. So I've even told my children, Ms. Leans, to be like a bouncing ball, to go down and come back up again. Going down and failing or not meeting your mark or having difficulties is not the issue. We all do. I mean, it's a wave. This is the way it goes. It ebbs and flows. This is life. And we know we're living because we have this. If we don't have this, there's something very wrong. So then the question is not do you have adversity, is it difficult? No. The question is how do you meet those difficulties? So there are times I give myself at the most a 1-day pity party. If I'm really upset, I let myself cry. I get upset and I say, okay, you've had your day. Let's go. Yes. And I'm even strict with myself because I think that getting stuck in feeling bad or feeling as if people are doing things against you— sometimes people are doing things, it hurts you, but it has nothing to do with you. It has to do with them. And you can't change them. So then why get stuck in what they're doing to you as a result of who they are? I don't have the time or energy. You know, there's so much more I have to do in life. So I've learned to look at it, feel it, sometimes feel like this is not fair. Yeah, it's like, okay, I'll go around it. And I've learned to go over, around, under. You can't tell me there's not a way. If I'm alive and I'm breathing, there's a way.

Wow. But something you, you mentioned, I want to say that for, for just a second. All of this hate from people, racism and all of that, and I think in my opinion, nothing more horrible and evil than slavery. There is just nothing more good texts than that. And like I said in my introduction, I believe in Bible. God made man and he says, Adam, you will have dominion. So a man is not created in the image and likeness of God, was not created to be dominated, but yet slavery endured in this country for a very long time. And we talked even about the Gala people being one of the first slaves in America. Where do you think that hatred, that evil comes from, the desire for someone to want to enslave another human being and treat them like property? Where does that animosity— I think it comes from inadequacy.

Because I think if people really believed that they can do the work that was needed and do what they needed, they wouldn't have to enslave people. They wouldn't have to go catch them to do the work that they can't do. It takes a lot of time, energy, a lot of mental focus. It takes so much to capture people to hold them and then to make them do what you wanna do. So I think it comes from a feeling of inadequacy. Why? Because if you thought that you were adequate enough to do the work and to make the progress that you needed without those people, you would do it.

Yeah, yeah.

So it doesn't come from, in my opinion, from a feeling of superiority. It's the opposite. Hmm. It's the opposite. So then you say, well, where does this come from? People not knowing who they are. People being lost. You know, that's one reason also. I mean, we'll get into the book, but I wrote the book because there's so much language about violence and so much more language about artificial this and artificial that. We've— we forgot who we are as people. Wow. We forgot what we have inside of ourselves in order to make life happen. We have everything we need in order to meet the goals that we have, but we just don't realize it.

And like I said throughout the introduction, you come from a very, very long line of very strong people, uh, especially women who your entire tree. But where do you think that resilience comes from? Where you are going to go through it no matter what, you're not gonna give up, you're not gonna die, you are just going to make it. Like even now, right? We were talking, you were saying you have this obstacle, it's like, no, I'm gonna go around it, above it, under it, I'm gonna find a way. Right, whatever I need, through it, whatever I need to do. Where does that come from?

I think it comes from—

Because many people, they go through what you're going through and they're gonna die, they're gonna crumble. But then people like me, you just bounce back. Like, why?

This is a good question because I found that all over the world, and I do mean all over the world, young people are having a difficulty with this idea of resiliency. Yes. You know, this idea of I'm going to get through it. And I do mean all over the world. And we're actually doing some research on that. We've done some research in Malaysia in business schools. I went to talk at a business school and I thought we were going to talk about, you know, business and how to do international business because that's also one of my specialties. And instead, they wanted to talk about, we have young people who are graduating from business school, they apply to one job and they're quitting. What's going on? So then you think, well, I'm not sure that it's the young people's fault, or it's something that the young people are doing, because we're seeing this all over the world. We're not just seeing this in one place. So what we're seeing is this idea that everything comes easy.

Hmm. Microwave generation.

You know, and it's not— I won't say it's not their fault, but they've been set up that way. Yeah. Everything looks easy. I'm going to, you know, put a filter on. I'm gonna do a TikTok. Look at this person's life. They have a, you know, or this person is an influencer. They make millions of dollars or millions of euros. Life is easy. And what we've— unfortunately, the mediums that have the attention of our young people are making them think that everything is so easy, and they're failing because they're not doing what they're seeing. Yeah. But what they're seeing is false.

It's not real. Yes.

We're not showing struggle. We don't say that struggle is— to struggle is important. I was even saying to somebody, I was thinking about this. When you go through birth, when you're going through the birth canal, or even if you have a C-section, you don't just pop out. Yeah. When you go through that, when the water breaks, it could be 24 hours. And there's strain and there's pushing of muscles and there's, you know, it's a struggle. Birth is a struggle. And we forget that part of our lives needs to be a struggle. We need to figure out how to get around and to get out and get through difficult times. That's also what helps us It's our fuel. Yes, it helps. It helps us to keep going. And young people today have been sold the bill of goods all over the world that to struggle is a problem, and if it's easy, that's good. And as a result of that, they don't have something called resiliency because they don't understand that when you go down, you can go back up again. Yes, this whole concept is gone, man.

That is so powerful. Yeah, I think, uh, I guess we've come to a microwave generation, everything is almost instant. And yeah, there is definitely value in going through the struggle and overcoming. So what advice would you then give to leaders listening right now who feel overwhelmed, underestimated, or undervalued?

Right. I would say, I mean, honestly, what I do for myself, because there are times that I feel the same. And I think that's a part of life. But I also think that We all need to figure out who are we and what do we want to leave to our families first, the people around us. Yes. What do we— what if we die tomorrow and people say, oh no, but this is true, we could easily die tomorrow. What do we— what do we want to leave with our families? Not just what do you want on your tombstone or what do you want them to say at your funeral? What do you want them to think when they're having a difficult time? What do you— what— how do you want them to react when life seems to knock them down and they don't know which way to go. That's your legacy. So then you start there, you do that for your community, you do that for the world. What would I like? I would like my children and people that I love and care about to understand that life is beautiful. And no matter how difficult it is, it's life.

Mm, powerful. And that's more important than anything. Yes. Wow. So What role has faith, purpose, or conviction played in helping you navigate those difficulties in your life?

Yeah, I'm just smiling because I don't know anything else.

Yes, because you said even as a child your mother was telling you to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to the Holy Spirit, right? It's so, um, faith is everything, you know, but faith is a is an action word. It's a verb. It's not a description. Oh yes, I have faith. No, it's active. What does that mean? So faith is every time I breathe in air, I have faith that that air is going to be there in order that I connect to be in the air. My lungs are going to fill and I'm going to be able to keep going, right? Faith is being able to believe in something that you can't necessarily sometimes you can't feel, but you know is there. It's a part of— I believe that it's a part of our inner, inner being. It's a part of our— oh, I don't even want to use— but our chi, our energy, our— yes, uh, some people call it our soul. I mean, we have different names and different cultures for what this is. Yes, um, it's the same thing with different names. It's that light, it's that spark that makes us who we are. Not the body, but the person, the person that transcends the body in order to—

You're talking about the spirit. So there is this unquestioned triumph of the human spirit that just would not quit. I guess the question I have about that is, how do you think people can tap into their spirit man, their their spirit person, which is much stronger than the adversity they might be facing right now. Because it seems to me like that makes all the difference. Like, you've talked to some of the most famous people in the world, including Nelson Mandela. He was in jail for 27 years. Can you imagine? Yet he didn't give up. He didn't break. And yet, when he had the chance to become president of his country, he didn't go about doing to the white Africans what they did to his people. Can you imagine? Exactly. That's transformational.

You want to do to others what you had them do to you? He didn't do that. He went above that and beyond that.

How do we tap into that part of ourselves, you think?

Well, I'm going to say things that I think people aren't going to be too happy about, but I think we need to remember who we are in our humanity. I think we've lost our humanity. We talk about robots and we talk about cars and we talk about AI and we talk about this. All these things are supposed to help us, or all these things are supposed to replace us. But this is the world and this is the Earth and we're human. And we forget that there's value in our humanity. Wow. And this is extremely important that we actually have value within our humanity. Yes. And I think that we don't have that. I think it's important, but we don't have that. We don't have the value that's needed within our humanity.

Actually, this is a great segue to get into your best-selling book. But before, uh, I get there. The last question I wanted to ask in this segment is, how do you stay hopeful while working on some of the world's most challenging humanitarian issues, especially working with kids? And some of them have gone through a lot, and you see sometimes the worst of humankind, what some people are able to do to a child. How do you stay hopeful?

That's such a good question because I think that I have such deep feelings and I am so sensitive to what happens to children and how children are treated in various parts of the world, or even in my part of the world, you know, people, people that I know. And I realized that, um, you know how they say get back to basics and fundamentals? Yes. I realized that children are the light that we all need. If you want to know, you know, what's that secret sauce, what's the things that we need, remembering who you were and who they are as children, because They're not the hope of tomorrow. They are the answer, the way, and the hope of today. And I think that understanding that, even when they're going through adversity, helps me to realize that anything and everything I can do to bring out the voice, to give those children opportunities to understand themselves, who they are. Nice. You know, many of the movements all over the world weren't led by 50 or 60-year-olds. It was led by 8-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 15-year-olds. And this is the history of the world. And for some reason, there's a disconnect between the changes that, that have come through, and I mean various movements all over the world, through youth, through children.

And so true, even the civil rights movement in the US, people Never forget when Martin Luther King was in Birmingham, Alabama. I used to live in Alabama. They weren't going anywhere. And then they made the decision children have to get involved. And it's when America saw what those racists did to those Black kids, young, young kids.

Yes, because it was their lives. It was their lives.

This is not acceptable. This is not the country we want to be. And then we got the Civil Rights Act and then the Voting Rights Act. Children had to get involved for that to change. Otherwise, most of white Americans were just fine with the way they were treating adult Black, but when it came to kids, they were like, no, we cannot do that.

I think that all of us remember what it's like to be a child, and we remember the wonder, we remember some of the positive, but if you can get through life without trauma, you haven't lived. So all of us had trauma, all of us has experienced some trauma, and I think that that connection, and, you know, And America is so difficult anyway because they have this race thing. And as I said, race is a social construct. It's made up. It's not real. What race are you? White, Black, Hispanic, Hispanic? Human. I'm human. Yes. If you're asking me about my culture, okay. If you're asking me, you know, where do my— where's my ancestry, okay. But if you're asking me my race, it's the most bizarre question I've ever heard. Yes. And there are people all over the world that still do this race thing. I think that once we understand that it's social and it's not part of who we are as human beings, I think that that changes. I really do. I think that that changes when we realize who we are as people and human beings.

Powerful. We have another user from Saudi Arabia, uh, and, uh, for all of us watching live on YouTube and LinkedIn, uh, if you have any question for Dr. King, please go ahead and type a question in the comment. We will be answering your question live. Now let's talk about your bestselling book. We're gonna spend some time here. Humanity Unveiled: A Collection of Unexpected Encounters That Reveal the Human Spirit in Us All. I really, really love that. Why did this book have to be written, Dr. King?

It was quite interesting. I was going through a time where I felt a lack of hope. And a lack of hope around me. And I couldn't understand what was going on. And little by little, through talking with people, I started to understand that we've lost our humanity. And more importantly, I realized that I've lost the language of humanity. I literally didn't understand the language. You know, there's a language, just like you speak a language of a culture, there's a language of humanity. And I didn't see it there. And sometimes on LinkedIn, I would see a picture, I would see a movie, and I'd say, "Well, humanity is a friendship," or "Humanity is choosing family," or "Humanity is love." And it was helping me to remember the language of humanity because we don't do that anymore. We have every language you can think of, right? We know how to do all kinds of things on the computer. We know all kinds of apps. We know so much, but we forgot the language of being a human being. What does it mean to be a human being? How does it feel? How does it bring us forward? And because I myself forgot that language, and I was seeking that language, I was seeking to remember the language of what it is to be human. I started to realize that there were people within my life that showed me humanity, and who showed me through their actions what humanity meant. And that's why I wrote this book. And I put people that are kind of famous in this book, not because— and by the way, I had nothing to offer, didn't have money, didn't have fame, literally nothing. And these people gave me their time, their energy. They gave me encouragement. They were there for me. And these are people that have position and money, and they didn't need to do that. Amazing. That's also why I wrote about these people because I wanted to show that these people that have nothing to gain gave me understanding and humanity.

Wow. So in the book itself, Humanity Unveiled, what, what does that mean to you? Humanity Unveiled.

It means that these days humanity seems to be covered. We can't, we don't see it. We see a lot of inhuman, inhumane. Yes. Doing things doing things to others and forgetting that they are people. They have a soul. They have people that love them. They have a past. They have a future. And we forget that. So unveiled for me means that it's there, but somehow it's just been covered. And it's been covered by all this other muck, you know, making— nothing wrong with making money. I come from an upper middle class family, you know. There's nothing wrong with any of that. But when you try to replace who we are with everything but who we are. This is when we all get confused. You have young people that don't have resiliency. You have children that don't know who they are. You have parents. You have people who are committing suicide because they can't see the values in themselves anymore. I mean, you have young people, lots of men unfortunately, young men committing suicide because they don't see the value. The value is not just in making money and being a caretaker and so on and so forth. Their value is in being a man. That is their value, and we've forgotten that. So unveiled means to pull away, to pull away that what's amazing, to show who we really are as people through stories.

And like you just mentioned, you've shared encounters with extraordinary individuals, my angel, Nelson Mandela, Nina Simone, Pope Francis, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, on and on and on. What common thread connected these remarkable people?

Humility and love. You know, love, love, love is not just romantic, and love is not just with parents. Love is showing, I see you. Yes. You are important and your time in the world means something. And these people showed me love.

You are so right. We have so much in common, and that's really human no matter where you go— in Africa, in Europe, in America. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

I've lived all over. I've been all over.

It's amazing. It doesn't matter. Because you met Maya Angelou, who was the mentor of Oprah Winfrey, and one of her shows was extremely popular. Number one across the country. She used to interview some of the best, including Mandela, Barack Obama, and all of those people. But she said even them, when they came on her show, at the end they just wanted to know from her, did I do okay? Was like Nelson Mandela. Yeah, because everybody wants— Exactly. Did I, did I do okay?

Was— did you see me? Was I seen? Um, was I understood? Was I seen? Was I understood? Did we connect? Because our connection is everything.

Amazing. Yeah.

The other person that I met that was really amazing is former President de Klerk from South Africa. And he's very important for me because he was the last president during the apartheid period. Yes. And I got to know South Africans even within apartheid and so on and so forth. And I— it's just so interesting because I expected him to be a huge monster. Yes. I was, what I was looking for was so different. I'm a Rotarian for I think 30-plus years now. And we were actually in South Africa with the Rotary president, international president. He went to South Africa to Cape Town, University of Cape Town. So he went there to speak. And I'm sitting in the front and I'm looking at someone who I've read about all my life.

Mm-hmm.

And he had humility. So I said, humanity is humility. He said, I was wrong. That's amazing. What I did shouldn't have happened. I'm now living my life in order to pay restitution to humanity, not, not to the particular people, because I was a president. And he had humility.

Wow, that's amazing.

And he's also in the book because of that. So not because of what he did, but because of who he decided to be. He turned towards humanity. As the president, he was basically told to be inhumane— not just told, but required to be inhumane. And then in the end, he worked also with Nelson Mandela, and they decided that they were going to choose something different. Yes, yes. And so he's in the book because he taught me humility and also the fact that you can actually make restitution. That is so powerful.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about the bestselling book Humanity Unveiled, available everywhere books are sold. And I want all of you guys to get a copy of the book. So in addition to Duclercq, was there somebody else that you met, you talk about in the book, of all of the stories that impacted you most personally?

Oh goodness, I have to be honest. I mean, all of them impacted me, but I would say Ambassador Alfonso Lernhardt, because he acted as a mentor to me and was always so positive. I think without him, the foundation wouldn't exist. So I would say that he's extremely important because with him taking me to lunch and mentoring me, although I didn't realize that was— that was— and being there for me. And I would say it was only a few times, but it changed the way I saw myself. It changed the possibilities of what could be. And as a result, the Foundation is now 25 years old. So I would say him because he put a ripple and it had far and wide.

Wow. What do you think is the importance of mentorship? Why is that so critical?

It's imperative. It's a foundation of life. Even for young people, for teenagers, Many of us are wired not to necessarily listen to our parents because we have to push away. This is part of the breaking out of the shell, breaking out. Yes, doing what we're supposed to do. Difficult for parents, but this is something that's done. But mentors, people who are older, who have, who have already gone through it, that can guide— if not guide, just be there and to listen and to support— makes all the difference because we as human beings We need that connection. We all need— we all need someone who's for us, who believes in us, who's not necessarily in our family. And I know that sometimes we also pay for mentorship, and I understand that, or coaching, and I'm not against that. I think that everybody needs some kind of coaching or mentorship. But I think that if you can find at least one mentor that is doing something that you do. And sometimes they don't even know you— they don't even know that they are your mentor. Yes. You are following them, you are understanding them, you're learning from them, and they have no idea that they even have that role. So the mentor doesn't have to be this formal, will you be my mentor? Yes. It has to be like a disciple, someone to follow, right? Wow. Someone to follow. Yes.

And that's what I see mentorship as. That's really, really powerful. So what, uh, leadership lesson did you learn from Nelson Mandela? What, what is one thing that you learned from this example every leader should understand?

Yes, I think I learned from him that each person is important, no matter their title, no matter their age, no matter what they can give you, and to recognize each person as being within themselves the most important person at that time. Is everything. I can't imagine that a president of a country who was literally trying to put a country together had time for me. Yes. And then had time to have his best friend and the person that was with him in prison to sit with me, to talk with me. Yes. I'm waiting for him to come out of parliament while they're literally constructing, you know, they're literally constructing— that's amazing— laws for South Africa. And then for him to signed a picture. I have the picture now. It says, um, you know, best wishes, Mandiba. I've never saw that photo, by the way. Yes. Then I took one of my children to the Smithsonian. We went on vacation to America, and we went into the Smithsonian. It was the first time in 25 years, 30 years, because it was 1989, that I saw the same picture he signed. And I was like, oh, that's amazing. This— okay, this is the real picture because I saw it in the Smithsonian and I've never seen it it off. So it was his official picture.

Wow, that's amazing.

He made space for me to say, you know what, you're important. Yes, I have an entire country to run. Yes, I'm actually putting laws and rules for the entire country, but that time that I said I was going to spend with you, that 30 minutes that we had that was in my calendar, that's— you're important.

I thought, oh my goodness, integrity, character, honor, humility. Wow, what a powerful example. What about Maya? Angela, what did she teach you? Dr.

Maya Angelou was so unusual. She came to speak in Hawaiʻi, and she was so powerful. I don't sit still very often, and I sat still for an hour and a half on the stage. I didn't want to be on the stage, but there was no other place to sit. And she took me on a journey. But afterwards, even more importantly, afterwards, I missed the reception. And so I had to go back to class. I was going to the University of Hawaiʻi. I had to go to class. You know. So I came back and I missed the reception. She was leaving in the car and I was on my moped and she saw me. She rolled down the window, she said, 'Can I help you, baby?' And I was just like, 'No, that's just like that.' I just said, 'Thank you, you gave me everything.' And as a result of that, I wanted to give her something. I used to write music and record music and sell it in Europe, um, and that's how I used to travel throughout Europe and make money.

What was your artist name?

Oh, Ariel. Wow. I might even actually put it out again, but original songs. I play the guitar and I used to— this is how I used to make money in the summer.

Is there anything that you do not do? My goodness, you do everything. Amazing.

You're gonna make my head so big. I wanted to give her something back. She gave me so much that I just wanted to give her something back. I wanted to give something to her. So I called a friend of a friend and said, do you know where she is? "Um, do you know I can give this to someone?" And they said, "Yes." They said, "Go to this address in Waikiki at this time." And I thought I was just going to go to the address and give it to someone. A woman came down and she said, "Would you like to come up?" And I said, "Well, okay." And I still, you know, I'm in my 20s. I think I'm literally 20 or 19. I'm young. And I go up and it's Dr. Maya Angelou. Wow. And I'm in shock. And she invites me into her— it's an apartment, it's not like a— but it's a holiday apartment on the outskirts of Waikiki, but still in Waikiki. And she takes me to the terrace. Where would you like to sit? Would you like to eat something?

And would you like to— Wow, that's amazing.

I gave her a letter. I didn't say it. I'm from the South, so we have respect. But it said, Dear Maya. She looked at me, she said, baby. I could be Auntie Maya, I could be Dr. Angelou, but we're not friends. You don't call me by my first name. I said, ma'am, I'm so sorry, I didn't call you by your first name. Yes, you, you wrote it. I thought, okay. Anyway, she gave me an hour of her time. I was no one interesting, no one special. She wanted to know what did I want to do with my life, um, what was important to me. Can you imagine?

Yes. Isn't that just unbelievable? Absolutely unbelievable.

And I had nothing to give her. I just wanted to give her my music. And by the way, it was so long ago, it was on cassette tape.

That's amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Wow, man. I don't know if maybe I can find some of your music on YouTube or something.

I think I'll start to put on the opening song for my Business of Life podcast. I wrote that song. Really? Wow, that is amazing.

Okay, okay. I will definitely listen to that. Now I want to mention one more person, Pope Francis. I think he was a little bit different because even this Pope now, Leo XIV, the first African-American Pope, they are good, but they are really excellent the way they go about showing empathy and just leading with honor. I guess Pope John Paul was pretty remarkable as well. My mom did have the opportunity to meet with Pope John Paul II. But can you tell me about Pope Francis? What did you learn from His Excellency the Pope?

Yes, well, first of all, when I went, we were working with something called Road to Change, which was trying to change the laws for when someone can report child sexual abuse. And to harmonize it, and also to harmonize the laws of what's the age of consent. So some people say the age of consent is 12 years old with a 67-year-old, but that's okay anyway. The age of consent is very different all throughout the world. So our foundation actually helped to sponsor Road to Change, and I sponsored so much that I was driving a caravan with the person who was walking all over Europe, Dr. Matthew McVarish, and we helped to sponsor that financially and also physically by one month driving through and helping with meeting ambassadors and so on and so forth, and also bringing him to the United Nations to speak. Well, we were invited to go to meet the Pope. There were 4 of us, and we went to Rome. Our foundation also sponsored the cost of that because everything has a cost. And when we got there, I was really shocked because we went in the first 2 rows. So there's the first 2 rows There's 2 or 3 rows of people who have been married, so couples. And then in the back, there are about 2,000 to 3,000 people. And this was a small church in Rome. And what really surprised me about him, and it had nothing to do with the religion, is that when I was the third person I think he spoke to, I have photos of that. I showed my oldest daughter, who at the time was having an illness. And I was praying and doing everything I could to make sure that she survived. She survived, by the way. And I gave him the picture. And even though this wasn't about the foundation, I hope every other child would think, well, why not my child? Yes. And they pulled him away and said, you have to go. And he said no. Mm-hmm. It's a picture. And decided to pray over it. And people were pushing. Wow. And he basically said, no, I'm staying here.

That's amazing.

And giving me that recognition. Now remember, he's not— he's only seeing the people in the first row, not even the second row, not the third, fourth, or fifth row, and not the 2,000 people in back of us. Wow. So I'm one of maybe 12 people that he comes to see and shake my hand and to— and to give me a prayer. And for me, prayer is powerful. I don't care what language it's in, I don't care what culture it is, I don't care what country it is. For me, prayer, that tapping into that energy, that positive energy, is so important. And so that's why I put him in Humanity Unveiled, because he basically went against the hurry up, hurry up, hurry up and said, no, no, no, I'm stopping, man.

The most powerful man in Christendom took time for you.

Can you imagine? Me, and I don't think it matters, but I'm not Catholic. That's sweet. That's even more amazing. Yes.

No, but all of these great, great people, really the best of humanity, one thread I see in common is just their humility, their humanity, their character and integrity. Just respect and dignity for human life. It's amazing.

No matter who you are, even if you have nothing to give them, It's not this, "Well, what have you done for me lately?" Yes. "What will you give me if I give to you?" There was nothing in all these people. There was nothing like that. It was, "I see you." That's amazing. "I recognize you. You have value because you are you." Wow.

Which leads me to my next question, because many people, they really pursue success, but your book seems to really emphasize that humanity. What is the relationship between success and humanity?

Well, you know, without being too much exaggerating, you can't have success without humanity. Because humanity— to be human, to be human is everything. But to be human also means to have that energy, that chi, that life force, that soul. When you don't have that, you might have something that looks like success, it might feel like success, but it's empty. How many people do we know are successful are committing suicide? Yes, because that success that they're going over isn't success. It's disguised as success, and that's what we call unveiled, pulling back. What is humanity and how does it affect our lives? Yes, like humanity, life is empty. It's really empty.

Yeah, Robin Williams was one of the biggest examples. He made so many people laugh. He was so successful, you know. If you look at how much money and fame and all of that, but yeah, he wasn't happy at all. Hmm.

He was, you know, he was— yes, not to say that he— I don't think the issue was him not being humane. I think that he was quite humane. I think for him the issue was that he didn't see and receive a lot of that around him. And when you're unfortunately in environments where your success means everybody else's success, especially financially, They forget that you're a human being first, and you're just— you become a commodity, a thing, a chattel, something to be bought and sold. And I think that that's where some people have a very difficult time. Even though it looks like they're successful, they don't feel that because they don't feel that people recognize them.

Wow, that is amazing. And, uh, by the way, our friend from Saudi Arabia says that your name Ariel means the city where King David settled. Isaiah 29:1. That's very, very nice. Um, wow, thank you. So the, the last question I have for, for this segment: if readers could take only one lesson from your book Humanity Undone, what would you hope it would be?

I, I think that the lesson is that if you have to rely on anything, rely on your humanity, rely on you being human. Rely on you treating other people as if the most important aspect of them is that they are human beings. Yes. That simple.

Wow. Now I want to take just a moment to talk about your very viral and famous TEDx talk. So, so powerful. In your talk, you expanded on Hillel's famous quote, right, by adding, "If not me, then who?" Why is that question so important today?

I think that so many of us think that it's somebody else's responsibility to make life better for us, for others. And we've been taught to rely on other people. I mean, we're always connected and you can always connect with other people and be with other people, but that's very, very different from saying everything that I need is outside of me, you do it. And saying It's you. You are the answer. You are the answer. Yes. You know, I mean, even in the TEDx talk, we talked about the poem being built in the image of God, right? Whatever God is for you. That what you already have everything that you need, but you have to find it within yourself. You know, it's amazing to go around the world. I've gone around the world and you look for life and you come back to yourself and realize that everything that you were looking for you have. That's amazing.

Wow, powerful. Yeah, another verse in the Bible that says, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Sometimes we spend our entire life looking for something outside of us when it's within. Wow, powerful, powerful. Because you do tell the story of a beggar, right, sitting on a treasure chest without realizing it. Uh, what does that story teach us about leadership and potential?

I think this is another— there are times that we have what we need, but we aren't looking. We don't need to look. I don't need to go there. I don't need that because I already know what to do. And I'm going to look where I think. And there are times that even myself, I'm starting to think, okay, I'm going to start to take yoga. Why? Because I think it's important to quiet my mind and start to figure out some of the things that I need within myself. For my, you know, some people, well, I'm gonna go to a therapist. Well, you're doing the same thing. You're talking out loud to someone to try to figure out who you are and what you need to do next. Listen to the Holy Spirit. That's what you're doing when you go to a therapist.

That's what your mother told you.

Yes. Unless, of course, you have an illness, which is like any other illness, then that's different. If you have a mental illness, which is like any other physical illness, and you're going to, then that's different. But I'm talking about those who try to work out their lives by going to a therapist. And I'm thinking, well, you know, if you tap into who you are and try to figure out what's important to you and remember who you are as a human being, I think that you could do well. And I'm doing it for myself. I talk about it, but I also remind myself that I have to do it.

Wow. So for people listening right now, like the beggar on the treasure chest, what treasure do you think most people fail to recognize within themselves?

I think that we are more powerful and more capable and more loving and more healing, that we have powers to heal ourselves and others, and that we really have forgotten that. Yes. Wow.

So powerful. Okay. For those who are listening right now, How can they unlock their own potential?

I think it starts with understanding that everything begins with you. You know, it's difficult because we're taught to look outside of ourselves for everything. All right, go to this person, go read this book. And yes, I learn from other people and I read books, but it's also starting with me, understanding that I have the capability and I have the possibility to not just help myself but also to be there for others, you know. So I believe that many leaders, if you can start with you— and I'm not talking about in a selfish way, but honestly try to figure out who you are and what you want for your life and how you want to be remembered. Yeah, you die tomorrow, you die today, who do you want to be? And actively be who you want that person to be. Most people don't say, yeah, well, I want them to say, you know, when they die, oh, well, he made $3 million or, you know, $50 million. And most people would say, yes, okay, you literally can't put in the coffin with you. Yes. But then if somebody actually says, well, this person affected this person's life and this person went on to, you know, to find, if not a cure for a particular disease, or this person helped sponsor this person to go to the university, And then this person then gave this to other people. What we're really looking for, I believe, in our lives is legacy of effect. That one person influenced another and another and another and another. And then that's a life well lived. I think that's what we're looking for in quote unquote leadership.

Powerful. Okay. I've already taken too much of your time. I'm so, so grateful you've been talking to us today. So we're going to be, I guess, landing this plane very soon. But before I do, for this last segment, segment, one question I really wanted to ask is, why— first, what is one of the greatest lessons you have ever learned throughout your entire life? Maybe in life, in leadership, just in general. One of the lessons.

I think, um, without being too mushy, that love is the answer.

Love is the answer. I like that.

It doesn't sound real, and people like, but I don't know you, I don't want to love you. No, love of humanity, love of self. Love of nature. Love your neighbor like yourself. Love. I mean, I really would say love. I know it seems a bit mushy for people. I don't like that word. I mean, hate is such an easy word for people. I hate you. It's so easy for us to roll off our tongue. But as soon as you say love, people go, "Huh?" Yes. Wow. There's a— and why? Why is that? Why do we— I was startled at love. See, that's why we're having difficulties with humanity.

Wouldn't the world be such a much better place? We don't have a problem with hate.

We could talk about hate. We don't have a problem with inhumanity. We're good at that. Why? What happened? Why are we now against love and loving ourselves and loving others? But I mean, really and truly, I think for me it's love.

Yeah, because reading your book, we have so much more in common than seperate us. And if we could just love our neighbor, our humanity, the world would be such a better place. Right.

And love ourselves. And that means not always blame ourselves for everything that happens outside of us and blame ourselves for things that sometimes we have nothing to do with. I mean, sometimes we think we're more powerful than we are. And things happen and it's okay. You have to flow with it. You have to You have to move with the flow of the water. You have to, you know, you have to go with it. It's difficult. It's difficult.

Wow. Because you're through life. That is amazing because your story is quite remarkable, being born in New York City and now all of the works that you are doing and the impact you have all around the world. Why do you think you are so successful? What's the secret of your success, you think? Other people.

Absolutely. People that give me time and energy, people that help me to see myself, children that show me that the way to go is what we're doing, which is to believe in them and to know that they have what's needed. People. People are everything to me. My success is a result of others. I am because they are. Yes, I, I cannot be who I am without people. That's tough.

Like, I know in Africa we say, no, it takes a village to raise a child. That is so true because our success, we didn't do it all on ourselves.

We didn't do it alone. No, I, I'm standing on— when people say they stand on the shoulders of giants, yes, I am definitely. Even the history of the people in my family, um, and my— even my great-great-grandmother, grandmother, mother Um, and not to say that patriarchy isn't important. I mean, the fathers, of course they're important. Without fathers, it's difficult to have that stability. Yes. So, but as a, as a young lady, as, as a female, it was really important for me to also see females contribute to society.

So powerful. So powerful. Wow. So, uh, I know that leaders are learners. What are you learning these days, even though you're already extremely educated with 3 doctorates, but what are you learning this day, Dr. King?

I would say that I'm going to do yoga again because I need to learn how to be still.

Yes, literally be still. I like that. And then of course you are also working on a law degree. It's like you never stop learning, which is fantastic. What do you think of— taking too long—

an LLM? I'm doing an LLM in human rights for children's rights, but I still think it's taking too long.

That's incredible.

You think so, but I think that I could be doing better.

What do you think about this artificial intelligence? It looks like it's just changing every single industry around the world.

There's always a new thing, isn't there? There's always a new toy. There's always a new thing. Yeah. And in some ways, I like it. I went to the hotel last week and we went on a family vacation and there was a robot that was cleaning, you know, that was vacuuming, and the robot had little eyes just to make me feel better. I would stand in front of it because I'm— that's just me. Yeah, even at this age. Um, so I stand in front of it and see what it does, and I also was taking dishes back and forth to the kitchen, but on its own. I thought, well, this is amazing. It's amazing.

Yeah, it's a thing.

It's a thing. Yeah, we live in a living, breathing, soulful world. Artificial, artificial. All of us want the real thing. We want the real food. We want the real meat. We want the real music. We want the real, don't we? Artificial is nice if we have artificial flowers are great up to a point, but there's times you want to smell it. You want to have the fragrance. You want to— if you can touch the petals, there are times that you want the real thing. So yeah, artificial intelligence is there, but it's artificial. I love human intelligence.

Wow, so artificial intelligence will never replace our humanity. How? Powerful. How is it possible? Artificial, it says it in its name. Yes. Wow. And also, for most people, we always focus on their great successes, and you've had a lot, but what about failure? How has failure shaped your life?

You know, at every turn, there's failure. At every turn I've had failure. Even now dealing with different quote-unquote failures, but I don't see them as failures. I see them as a part of life, a part of living. I mean, sometimes even wondering if we're using the wrong language. Why do we call it failure when something doesn't go the way we think it should have gone, or somehow someone has done something to try to harm us, to to harm our reputation, to harm our family. Why is it our failure? Do you know, even the way we look at failure is a bit strange. I mean, you have yin, you have yang, you have success, you have failure, but I see it as a continuum. I don't feel successful and I don't feel like I'm a failure either. I feel like I'm a human being on this journey for as long as I am, and I'm grateful to be on this journey. I'm grateful to have this day. I would be so grateful if I have tomorrow. But I don't judge it on my success. For example, you say, well, you know, I'm successful. People think I'm successful, but I don't see my life as successful. I see my life as purposeful.

Yes.

But within that purpose, you're going to have times of positive, and you're going to have times that are negative or not so positive. You're going to have quote-unquote successes or goals that you meet, and you're going to have goals that you don't meet. You're gonna have people assist and help, and you're gonna have people that get in the way and close the door. So I don't really see failure and success. I see a continuum of a purpose.

That's powerful. That's, that's, that is a great insight. Thank you. So if you could choose 3 people to have dinner with, no, they could be alive, dead, or even fictitious character, who would you choose and why?

Um, I would probably choose my great-great-great-grandmother. Wow. Um, because she was the first to go from slavery to not being a slave. And what's interesting to me is her mindset, the change of her mindset, because it's not just a matter of what you do if you're born a slave and you become free. Being free is not a physical thing, it's a mental thing. I would love to understand that process that she went through, to understand who she was and how she was going to raise her son, who in those days would be called a mulatto, right? Mulatto, which is not a very nice word. Basically just saying that you have European with African and the two had a baby, and that baby is the result which just— yes. So that's one. Hmm. Two more? It's difficult because I don't know that I would choose famous because Ijen will have to teach us. And there's so much wisdom in most people that you never know their names. Yes. True. So I would say, um, maybe one of the last kings of one of the last kingdoms in Africa. And I'm not just talking about the ones today, I mean the ones that— yes, while it was still running. Or actually queen, maybe last queen of Africa.

Yeah, I know I'd like to meet my ancestor Queen Nzinga sometime. She was quite different. Wow, wow.

Yeah, and I, I want to meet— not because of her not because of the power, but because of looking after the people, learning to help the people develop. And maybe the third one, which is a little bit unusual, is, um, the founder of Singapore. I went to Singapore in the 1980s when I was very, very young, and I just went again, um, a year or two ago with my children. And what, what Singapore changed into is not just about technology or about building. It was a leader who decided that people were more— was, was the focus.

That's amazing.

The people were the focus. And as a result of the people, Singapore is where it is today. Wow. I would love to have dinner with this person. And not to say, how did you do it? But to find out more about who they are as a person.

Mm-hmm. You know, wow. Very fun to do for fun.

You know, wow, when you're not sure, where do you turn? Yes. How do you get visions? Is it by dreaming? Is it by sleeping? Is it at night? I would ask these types of questions, which is not how did you build a nation. No, that nation is built on those smaller things.

That's really powerful. Now talking, uh, we do read a lot here. Why, uh, should our audience read this book? You mentioned that in the Green Room before we started. Sheila Johnson, Walk Through Fire.

Yes, well, I, I read this, um, I actually met her in Vienna, Austria, uh, at a United Nations event, and, um, she was showing a movie about HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC. Also, she's the founder of BET, right? Right, she's one of the founders, and, um, also Salamander Hotels, which she, she went through a lot. Wow. And what I loved about her when I met her personally was that she was unassuming. Amazing. And a multimillionaire at the time. And this was— so this was— I think she's a billionaire.

She's a billionaire now.

Right now. But not just unassuming, but someone who talked with me, someone who was interesting and someone who used her pulpit to try to make life better for those who wouldn't have it, which is those who had HIV and AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, within Washington, D.C., and trying to tell the real story. Wow. Not for, you know, for some kind of glory, but to tell the real story in order to aid the people that were going through it. So that was the first time I met her in Vienna, Austria, at a United Nations event. Wow. And then when I read the book, what I really realized about her is that she's like everybody else. How is that? She has difficulties. There are people that have formed walls to try to stop her from meeting the goals that she wanted, um, to me, and what she wanted to do. I love the fact that she believed in herself even though she's never opened up a hotel before. She was going to do it, and she was going to do one of the best, and now it's one one of the best within— I mean, now of course she has a bouquet, a boutique, excuse me, of hotels in various countries. I love her energy, her self-confidence, her love of family, and her willingness to go through the difficulties and not always be right and not always be wrong, but to go through it. Amazing.

So powerful. And just what you talk about, love, she says a memoir of Love, loss, but also triumph. So powerful. So what about this, this book? Why should our audience read this? Lily's Promise.

Lily's Promise is so important. Her grandson, Dov Foreman, who lives in the UK, helped her to write this book. And the whole family didn't know what she went through. But basically, she went through the Holocaust. And she was one of, as a child, and what, what her mother and she was able to do was to have this locket with, as you can see in the picture, with the family. And she teaches me about resilience and about love. And, you know, even up until her 90s, she was on TikTok. I don't do TikTok. I'm thinking, that's amazing, how does she do this, man? She, she, instead of being accusatory, you 'Look what you've done to me. Look what you've done to others. You've killed my family.' Her, her air was, 'Isn't my grandson— these young people are amazing. Let's see what we can do to help them keep going forward.' And that spirit and that generosity, yes, is what really influenced me in reading this book. And the book is fantastic. The triumph of the human spirit.

That's so wonderful. Wow. Is there maybe a song, a book, or a movie that would be your life's theme or anthem?

Oh wow, um, what a good question. I haven't thought about, um, yes, my own song, which is Teach Me to Live One Day at a Time with Courage, Love, and a Sense of Pride, Giving Me the Ability to Love and Accept Myself so I Can Go and Give It to Someone Else.

That's so powerful. You, you really need to produce that song again. It needs to be available on Apple Music and everywhere. Thank you.

Actually, I'm going to do that now. That's wow. Powerful. But I'll do that.

Powerful. Okay. We are coming towards the end again. I'm very, very grateful for your time today. Sorry we had a little bit of technical difficulties.

No, I'm grateful for yours, but that's life. And I think that you see, that's the way people need to see life. Not this, oh, this is shiny and it's perfect. But you go with the flow. You still meet wherever you are and you make it happen. And this was important. I'm happy that we had that difficulty.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. So as we come to the end, let me ask you this. If you had one and only one day to live, what would you have liked your final contribution to be?

Oh, I would like to have a resiliency camp for children, like I've had, to have them learn the values of whatever culture they're in. And to let them know that they're everything and that they're so important in the world. So I would like to be a part of a resiliency camp, be there, help to the people that are in that culture running that camp, and more importantly, be with the children and let them understand and see that they are the most important people in the world and that they have so much to give just in being themselves. Just that would stop so much So much mental health issues, so many drug issues, so many other issues. If, if we could just allow children to really understand who they are and how much we care and love them and trust them to help lead us.

So powerful, so powerful. And, um, if you had a magic wand and you could solve any problem in the world, what is the first problem you'd like to solve first thing tomorrow?

That's a really good question, but I think that it's a bit strange, but I think that the first problem I would like to solve is older people remembering who they were as children and then doing everything they can to bring children to the forefront to actually help to solve many of the problems that we have today.

Wow, that is so, so, so powerful. Okay, as we come to an end, what can we do to add value back to you, Dr. King? How can we add value to you? Thank you.

So I, I would be very grateful if you, um, link with me on LinkedIn. That would be great. And also, I'm doing speaking engagements all over the world for 2026-2027, so please invite me to your, um, to your event. And I also do workshops. I do it in Asia, Africa, Africa, all over Europe. And please, if you feel that you have a young person, and we go up to 35, that can actually do things with the foundation, please contact us. I'm here for all of these opportunities.

Fantastic. Now, is there a question I should have asked you I didn't get a chance to ask? Anything else you wanted to talk about today?

No, I think the only thing is that to tell people that I am a representative at the United Nations in New York, Vienna, uh, Rome, and Geneva. And the United Nations can seem a bit difficult and non-functioning, but I think it's always important to talk and to be in front of the person that you think that you want to eliminate or somehow feel is not the same as you. And I think that the one thing that the United Nations brings is bringing people together to see each other. As people first. Maybe we don't have to agree, but at least we see you as a person. Yes. And I think that in today's world where everything is by, um, virtual, it's important to be in the same place with the person, and it's important for to forge relationships that don't have to do with the country, but from person to person. And that's how I think we'll get through a lot of the difficulties that we have all over the world.

So powerful. We have our first question from the people watching online from LinkedIn. Daniel from Orlando says, Dr. King, when you talk about, uh, helping young people discover the treasure within, what is one practical practice leaders can use to move from speaking for youth to truly sharing power with them in decision-making?

Oh, thank you for that. One, any, any, any place where you sit at a table, uh, it doesn't matter if it's a religious place, it doesn't matter if it's a community organization, it doesn't matter it's a voluntary organization, please advocate for youth being a part of it. I've done that. I've done that even in spaces where we work with children, and I've had to advocate for children being a part of us working with children. So including at the United Nations, I've done it, um, as we've talked about. That's amazing. If, if you have any space anywhere Invite a child. What does that mean? Someone under 18. Don't think that they don't get it. Um, they do. And just a note on that, my, my youngest child, I took her to the UN when she was 7 to do children's rights, and I thought she wouldn't understand it. I was, I was convinced that she didn't know what was going on and that she was just with me. Later, someone asked her a question, I think 2, 3 years later, and she said, oh no, I went to the United Nations and I was helping with Children's rights. And she—

wow.

Because even I that work with it didn't realize that she understood. It doesn't mean that they use the language we use, but they understand. So to answer the question, take 1, 2, 3 people within each place that you sit at a table and get those young people involved. Yes. And you'll be so surprised how it'll change everything for the better.

That is really amazing. And if you could go back and give a piece of advice to your 17-year-old self, let's say 19, that's when you met the great Maya Angelou, Waikiki, Hawaii. If you go back to that time, standing at the edge of this incredible career and impact you've had, what would you say to 19-year-old Ariel?

I think I would say, "It's okay, be who you are." Be who you are. You know, I mean, in Hawaii at the time, I was quite unusual. I didn't play basketball, I played tennis. I played classical music. Wow. I was in the honors program when they asked me if I needed remedial math and reading. Absolutely. I'm just laughing now because— Yes. And I spent a lot of time in hospitals because I was working with children with terminal illnesses. And I did a lot of research. I was a strange and unusual 19-year-old. Instead of going to the beach, I did do that, but not as much. So I would say to myself, it's okay. Be who you are and share it if you can.

Wow, fantastic. Powerful, powerful. So, Dr. King, imagine every young person in the world could hear one final message from you. What would you want them to know about their worth, their voice, and their ability to change the world?

Thank you. I want children and young people to know that you are the answer that we're looking for. Please understand that no matter what people tell you, that you don't have the experience or you don't have the ability, you have something that us older people don't have. Wow. And that is usually you have the possibility of change, you have the possibility of hope, and you have a spark that some of us still maintain, but it'll never be as bright as your spark.

Yeah. So we need you. So powerful. Wow. I'm going to have both my daughters watch this podcast today. This is so wonderful. Thank you. So after meeting world leaders, Nobel laureates, artists, activists, and changemakers across more than 65 countries, what have you learned about humanity that most people still don't understand?

It's the foundation of who we are. I mean, once we tap into our humanity, that's our power source. You wanna figure out how to make life better? You wanna figure out how to do better? You want to get that boost that you need? Humanity is it. Figure out who you are as a human being. What does it mean to be a human being? What does it look like? What does it smell like? When you see it, do you know it? Can you replicate it? For me, that's everything. So powerful.

So when your daughters and future generation look back on your life, what do you hope they say mattered most?

That I love people, especially children and youth.

Powerful. Okay, and this is the very last question: If not now, then when? If not me, then who? How can someone listening today begin living those words before the day is over?

That's a very, very good question. I think that all of us need to give ourselves some grace. So we don't need to be perfect and we don't need to know everything. And that's part of humanity. I think many of us are stressed out trying to know everything, learn everything, do everything, be everything to everyone. But whatever happened to grace?

Yes. Wow. I would say start with grace. Powerful. Well, I am so humble, so privileged, and, uh, so very happy that you made the time to talk to my audience today. And hopefully we're going to be adding more value to you. I am just, just so, so, so full. Thank you so much, Dr. Eeyore Ozieta King. Uh, it's, it's been such a great privilege.

And thank you, sir. It's a privilege for me. This is my first, uh, live podcast, and I'm so grateful. So thank you, and thank you for all the questions. I love thinking. Yes.

And the last question I always ask is, uh, one word that represents our shared experience on this podcast today.

One word? Extraordinary.

Well, I am so, so, so grateful. Thank you, Dr. King. Really appreciate that. Thank you, sir. Bye-bye. All right, everybody, this is one for the book. We just talked to Dr. King, and I am just so grateful for the opportunity. And again, everyone get a copy of the book. It's available everywhere books are sold. Humanity Unveiled. You need to read that book. And of course, follow Dr. King on LinkedIn, and it's on linkedin.com in Dr.-Ariel-Rosita-King. And her foundation, arielfoundation.org, please make a deductible donation. And also, DrArielRositaKing.com in order to book her to be a speaker at your event. As we are going to end today, we are going to be talking about Black History Year, right? For those who know, we celebrate Black History Year every single day in 2026 because we felt like doing Black history for like, what, 28 days is just not long enough. And today I want to talk about an extraordinary man. He's the first 4-star general, African-American 4-star general. His name Daniel Chappie James, uh, just, uh, amazing person. In 1975, General James shattered barriers that many believed could never be broken. Yet his promotion was not symbolic, it really was earned through decades of extraordinary service, sacrifice, and combat leadership. His record is just unbelievable, unmatched, right? He trained Black military aviators during World War II. He flew more than 101 combat missions during the Korean War, more than 78 combat missions during the Vietnam War. He helped plan and execute Operation Bolo, one of the most successful aerial deception operations in US Air Force history, period, right? He commanded the major Air Force organizations around the world. He became the commander-in-chief for NORAD. I mean, on and on and on, just an extraordinary man. And that's the person we want to celebrate today for our Profile in Courage. So I'm gonna play a couple of quick videos about who who this gentleman was, Four-Star General Daniel "Chucky" James.

Born in Pensacola, Florida in 1920, Daniel James Jr. was one of the 17 children of Lillian A. Brown James. Instilled with the spirit of achievement, James enrolled at Tuskegee Institute in 1930 1937, where eventually he became one of the illustrious Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Very successful. We did not succeed in eliminating the total vestige of racism from the American military system. We didn't really begin to do it until Harry Truman took that very courageous step in 1948 to integrate the armed forces, and then our men went to Korea and all over and became the heroes that we they now know they are, and the Chappie James of the world, General Chappie James, who was the first Black full general, is the one who carried that torch forth. General Daniel Chappie James, a Tuskegee graduate and member of the 477th Bombardment Group, was the first Black to receive the rank of 4-star general in military history. Years later, he would reflect on his Tuskegee training.

Now, it was in 1943 that I completed flight training at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. We've come a long way since then. In the early days at Tuskegee, in addition to the already difficult job of flying, we trained under the additional pressures of segregation. But we had no time for self-pity or despair. We were too busy preparing ourselves for career service to our nation. The state of our fully integrated Air Force today is a pretty good indication that we did a good job. But that doesn't mean that the future will be a rose garden or that there will not be other obstacles to overcome. Freedom must be repurchased by every new generation. I tried a black one, but I couldn't find one that's qualified. So I think that we need to get out of that mold of being a black leader and opt for the whole piece of the pie because it's out there. The main key to success therein is preparation in a given discipline or the versatility to be able to be a master or well-informed over a certain field of disciplines. So they have more— find it more and more difficult to say, "I wanted one, but I can't find one that qualifies." I wanted one, but I can't find one that's qualified. I want one, but I can't find one that's qualified. Unfortunately, too often today that's true, because the people that are qualified and that are ready, they'll find that those doors open. Another quote from my mother, she said, "Don't stand there banging on that door of opportunity, yelling, 'Let me in, let me in, let me in,' and all of a sudden somebody snatches open the door and you say, 'Wait a minute, I got to go get my bags.'" She said, "You stand there armed with your bags of knowledge, your bags of understanding, and your bags of desire, and when they crack that door, step in and take charge. Well, you can do that now. Yellin', "Let me in, let me in, let me in," and all of a sudden somebody snatches open the door and you say, "Wait a minute, I gotta go get my bags." He said, "You stand there armed with your bags of knowledge, your bags of understanding, and your bags of desire, and when they crack that door, step in and take charge." Well, you can do that now, but you gotta prepare yourself first.

Born in Pensacola, Florida in 1920, Daniel—

You know, one of the most insulting questions that gets asked me sometimes is, did they give you your 4-star just because it's the bicentennial year coming up and they wanted to say we got a black general? In one word, one question, this guy has wiped out all the blood and sweat and tears and preparation and effort that it took me to prepare myself to fill the to fight the wars, to go to the schools, to go to Air University, and to study deep into the night, to hone my skills as a fighter pilot, and to get out there over way north in skies much less friendly than those of the United, and fight my way back home in the name of the foreign policy of my country. No, they didn't give me anything, and they don't give away stars in my service. You gotta earn them. Learn 'em. Generals are made, then.

Thank you for tuning in to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach Beezy. If today's episode added value to your leadership journey, be sure to subscribe, share, and join us again for more wisdom nuggets on how to lead better and achieve achieve greater success. Remember, leadership is the most critical skill of our time. The world will always need leaders to inspire others, drive innovation, and execute meaningful strategy. So why not count yourself among the bold leaders shaping the 21st century? Until next time, stay inspired, stay committed, and keep leading with excellence.