Page 13 - Ambassdor Delano Lewis Sample

secondary education institution I was going to go to when I

graduated because all my mentors had gone to Kansas University
as well.
I think about the lawyers that were in town: Elmer Jackson, a
senior prominent lawyer; Judge Rothstein, a lawyer who became

judge, and George Haley, the brother of Alex Haley, graduated
from the University of Arkansas Law School. George became the
Assistant District Attorney for Wyandotte County, Kansas, and
was one of my heroes in the early 50s. Just to fast forward,

Wyandotte County has elected its first African American District
Attorney in Wyandotte County, Mark Dupree, only a few years
ago. Josh Hayden is also one of my heroes. That's a snapshot of
some of my champions in Kansas City.

What do you think made those gentlemen so special? I'm
sure each one had their own attributes, but could you talk a

little bit about what made them so special?

Well, I think what made them so special was that they cared
about us. They really believed that a solid education would help us

not only to succeed, but to be supportive of ourselves and our
families. We would work ourselves out of our poverty and the
economic conditions that we were in. They all believed that
education is so important. It was that they cared about us, I guess.

That is the real tribute. They also were strong African American
men, they believed that being a strong male was important in the
African American society. I would just say that their strength,
their leadership, their belief in education, their belief in excellence,

their belief in results, in getting things done. They were just great
leaders, and I just learned so much from those few, and there
were a number of others.

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