- 3 months ago
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00:00We're going to move on now to our next guest.
00:04Dr. McMorris is a nationally recognized leader at the intersection of business, justice, and social impact.
00:11He's the author of a new book, and it's been on the bestsellers list across the country,
00:15The Power to Persist, Eight Simple Habits to Build Lifelong Resilience.
00:20Now, he comes from the south side of Chicago initially, and of course he's moved to the national stage.
00:29He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Society from Morehouse College, a Morehouse man.
00:34Now, you all know what they say about a Morehouse man.
00:36You can tell a Morehouse man, but you can't tell him much.
00:39He has a Master of Divinity in Social Ethics and Public Policy from Princeton Theological Seminary
00:45and a Doctorate of Law and Policy from Northeastern University.
00:51Dr. McMorris, the Mildred Gadda Show, welcomes you to the airwaves.
00:54How are you this morning?
00:55I am just great and very honored to be with you this morning, Ms. Gadda.
01:02And it's really an honor because I celebrate your long career of telling it like it is,
01:09giving good information to our community, and being a beacon of light and hope for our people.
01:15So thank you very much for your voice.
01:17I thank you.
01:18I want you to know that I was scrolling last Saturday over the airwaves,
01:24and I caught you in New York at the National Action Network speaking.
01:29And I said, we've got to track this brother down and have a little chat with him.
01:32So thank you for accepting our invitation.
01:37How are you feeling about your America these days?
01:42You know, I remain hopeful in spite of the tumultuous times that we face.
01:53You know, I believe that we have been a resilient people, a resilient nation, and a resilient community.
02:05We're clearly in a time of uncertainty and change socially, economically, politically.
02:13But my goal is for people from young students to seniors to adopt a resilient mindset,
02:18not just in the hard times, but also in the good times, too.
02:21You know, I believe that resilience isn't an option.
02:25It's actually essential.
02:27And it's easy to coast when things are going well, but real resilience is built when we stay grounded,
02:33we stay grateful and prepared no matter what life brings, no matter what headwinds come to us right now in this country.
02:42You know, there are some who say we've been here before,
02:45that we've been at a place in America when things looked extremely dim and unbearable,
02:56but somehow we track through it all.
03:01What is it from your perspective that have an unacceptable number of members of our society and of our race
03:11who feel that the game is over, it's almost over, that it's time to go and hide or do whatever?
03:20So, resilience, you know, for me, you know, has been a constant in my own journey.
03:29As you mentioned, I grew up on the south side of Chicago, working alongside leaders from across the nation.
03:37And the challenges that I've faced along the way taught me that resilience is not something you call upon only when life gets hard.
03:45It's a habit to be built early, a mindset actually to be carried daily.
03:51I've had doors closed, plans fall apart, I've been fired, I've lost businesses,
03:57and have moments that frankly tested my faith as we are facing now.
04:02But every setback shaped my perspective, and that is that persistence is the bridge between where you are and where we're meant to be.
04:13You know, it was Henry David Thoreau who talked about man's, that many men live lives of quiet desperation.
04:31And that's, you know, hopelessness.
04:35They're just hopeful.
04:37And some of that I think we have to own.
04:40I think we have to own those, some of those who are here now, specifically those, the baby boomer generation,
04:47who stopped telling the story.
04:49We're the first generation of black Americans to have some level of access to opportunity in this country.
04:55And we became so intoxicated, if you will, with our achievements and the fact that we had a limited level of access,
05:05that we stopped telling the story because the thing about knowing your own history energizes you to continue to move forward.
05:16And for those folk who are in that state, because they're at a different level,
05:21if you process what I'm talking about here,
05:25they need some hope.
05:27They need some reason to believe again.
05:29They need to know that we come from people who are the creators of entrepreneurship
05:35at a time, at a time when we had limited access to anything in America.
05:43One habit I talk about often, you know, as, as you may, as you mentioned earlier,
05:49I wrote this book, The Power to Persist.
05:52I have a podcast and it lifts up eight habits that help us on our resilient journey.
05:59But one habit I talk about often is attitude.
06:03It's actually the foundation for everything else.
06:06I talk about attitude, work ethic, agility, vulnerability, network, focus, dogged determination and faith.
06:13But attitude, you can't always control your circumstances, but you can control your mindset.
06:21Every challenge is an invitation to grow, to learn, and to show up differently.
06:27That's where resilience starts.
06:29One of the habits that means the most to me right now in this moment,
06:33as I talk to you, actually speaking to you this morning from Atlanta, Georgia,
06:37I always tell people that your network is your network.
06:41This weekend, I'm here at Morehouse Homecoming.
06:47This is our homecoming weekend.
06:48And yesterday, as I was on the yard, I can't tell you how much gratitude I have for my alma mater
06:55and my fellow alumni.
06:57Everyone I ran into, classmates, friends, mentors, congratulated me on the successes of the book
07:03and immediately asked how they could help move this resilience movement forward.
07:08Some offered to host book signings and made introductions.
07:12And this is what we have to do for each other.
07:14And I try to do the same for them because resilience isn't just an individual strength.
07:20It's something that we have to build together.
07:22When you're networked, when the people around you in your community believe in you
07:26and you believe in them, you're reminded that persistence is never a solo act.
07:32We've got to move again, as you state, as a community.
07:35You talk to a lot of college students.
07:43Where are they today?
07:45And I ask that question.
07:47We tend not to know where they are because there's so much talk about a whole lot of other things.
07:52And some people are operating from the mindset that they just don't care anymore,
07:57that they're a group of selfish, privileged beings.
08:03What are you hearing from them?
08:04Yeah, I had.
08:06So this weekend I was here for homecoming in Morehouse,
08:09but I had the privilege to sit before 1,500 young black men who are students at Morehouse College last week.
08:19So I've been here twice in the last couple of weeks.
08:23And I'll tell you, you know, it's one thing to talk to you this morning and your listeners,
08:27but it's another thing to sit in front of that young demographic that you just mentioned,
08:33where people think they don't care, they're not concerned.
08:36They were so interested in this notion of resilience and wanted to know how they can become.
08:44It was one of the most moving experiences I've had on this journey.
08:50And my goal is for people from young students to seniors to adopt a resilient mindset,
08:57again, not just in the hard times, but in the good times too.
09:03What is a clarion call?
09:05The clarion call is that anyone and everyone can join this movement.
09:14It doesn't matter your age, your background, or your profession.
09:17Resilience belongs to all of us.
09:20It starts with a simple choice to keep showing up, to keep believing,
09:25and to keep building even when the odds feel heavy.
09:28One of those eight habits from your resilience code is faith.
09:40Faith.
09:41And I see faith here at the bottom.
09:45You know, it's not a popular thing to talk about faith publicly,
09:51and I know you know that some institutions and some corporations will ask you not to mention God in your presentation.
10:02I don't know if you've had that experience, but I know that it exists.
10:08What, for those who believe they know, I know they know,
10:13but for those who don't, tell them the story, why it's necessary.
10:19So, you know, I deliberately, and I'm glad you called that out,
10:25intentionally list faith as the last habit I talk about among the eight resilient habits
10:33that I talk about in The Power to Persist.
10:37As I look at my journey, as I look at our people's journey,
10:41as I look at the journey of this nation,
10:43it's undergirded, whether we like it or not, by faith.
10:49Not necessarily in the religious,
10:53although for me, faith is defined as the substance of things hoped for
11:00and the evidence of things not seen.
11:05Ms. Gattis, what I'm trying to suggest to folks
11:07by making this an essential habit on the road to resilience
11:11is that when you and I determine that we are the substance of things hoped for
11:18and the evidence of things not seen,
11:20not that this is just some concept out there,
11:23but that we are the walking, living embodiment of things
11:27that our ancestors never could have dreamed,
11:29and that gives us an attitude that emboldens and the confidence
11:34to help us move through the headwinds and the challenges of this world.
11:40The book, ladies and gentlemen,
11:42is The Power to Persist and Simple Habits to Building Lifelong Resilience.
11:49And as Dr. McMorris has shared with us,
11:54this is a mission.
11:56And he contends that we're not going to get there
11:59unless we understand this mission
12:03and we adopt these particular,
12:05I think it's much more than habits,
12:07to call them habits.
12:10I really do, but I can't think of another word right now.
12:13Okay?
12:16That's part two.
12:17To be continued, we'll come back on that.
12:19Okay.
12:21But I think the main thing is
12:24you don't want people,
12:26one of the main things,
12:27is you don't want them to stop working.
12:32Stop.
12:33I don't want them to stop working.
12:34I don't want people to give up.
12:35I want people to persist
12:37and recognize,
12:38look, we just celebrated last week
12:40Reverend Jackson's 84th birthday.
12:42Yes.
12:43And he told us that
12:44the ground is no place for a champion.
12:47Ms. Gattis, he told us
12:48that if you were to knock me down this morning,
12:50that would be on you.
12:52But if you came back next week
12:53and I was still on the ground,
12:55that would be on me.
12:56If we can look up, we can get up.
12:59I want to thank you so much for joining us.
13:02Once again, people,
13:03the book is
13:03The Power to Persist
13:05and Eight Simple Habits
13:07to Build Lifelong Resilience.
13:10Thank you so much for joining us
13:11here on the Mildred Gattis Show.
13:13Dr. LaMail McMorris.
13:15Thank you so much for having me.
13:17It's my pleasure to be
13:19with such an icon in our community.
13:22Thank you so much.
13:23I'm Mildred Gattis
13:24and you're listening to
13:25The Mildred Gattis Show.
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