I actually LOVE working on real estate projects. Whether I am representing a Buyer or a Seller in a real estate transaction or working as a part of a real estate development team I really enjoy working in this arena. In this respect I am very much like my paternal grandfather Kither Elihu Greenlee.
My grandfather was born on July 21, 1900 in Attala County, Mississippi. He was educated in Attala County Public Schools, Central Mississippi College and Jackson College (now known as Jackson State University) from which he graduated in 1926. He studied education in college and upon graduation led a career as a school principal. Educating Black children was not a priority for the state of Mississippi in 1926 so my Great-Grandfather A.J. Greenlee financed the construction of a school that he and my grandfather built from the ground up. It was named the Greenlee Elementary School. However, my grandfather and grandmother had ten children and the salary for Black educators was paltry. Hence, he built a reputable construction company on the side and worked as a carpenter and building contractor to supplement his income.
For about ten years, from 1926 until the mid thirties, this unrelenting hustle along with frequent hunting and fishing brought in enough income to cloth and feed his very large brood. However, as Jim Crow spread my grandfather was economically marginalized by the white racists in Kosciusko, Mississippi. So in 1941 he moved in search of work so that he could support his family - first to Atlanta, Georgia and then to work in the naval ship yards in Chicago, Illinois.
Fifty years later in 1991 while a law student I was privileged with the opportunity to speak at a the Scholarship Dinner at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. My grandfather passed at the age of eighty-two before I finished high school but he was the inspiration for my remarks. They are still relevant today...
"Whenever I have been called upon to speak publicly I have always saluted the audience with the phrase,
"Habari Ghani." It is from the Swahili language and it simply means, "What's Happening?"
More than likely on an occasion like tonight the audience would respond back "Imani." Imani means "Faith."
I am convinced that on an occasion such as this - what we celebrate is something greater than the scholars who are gathered among us and the kindness and generosity of alumni and friends. I am convinced and I would like to persuade you that what we celebrate here tonight is the manifestation of our Faith and the Faith of those who have gone before us.
I wonder if any of you have ever contemplated the founding of an institution? Not just any institution - but an academic institution which would seek to train the minds and hearts of eager individuals in the principles of democracy, justice and equality. What would is take from all of us gathered here tonight if right now we decided that we would be bold and courageous enough to lay the foundations for a new chapter in academia?
What would be required of us to create a law school so great and revered that it would not have to be called
"The Harvard of the Midwest" for indeed even Harvard would shield its ego from the glare of this institutions' brilliance.
If you have even a moment to revel in this mental exercise you have probably simulated in your own mind a portion of the dream that the founders of Washington University School of Law etched into reality. The fact that we are here tonight in gratitude to your generosity is evidence of the fact that the dream still lives on. Indeed tonight we celebrate their Faith.
But also tonight I celebrate the Faith of someone very dear to me. His name was Kither Elihu Greenlee and he was my grandfather. A graduate of Jackson State College my grandfather was a teacher, a school principle, a mason and a carpenter. Although I'd like to believe that he did all things well he is undoubtedly best remembered for his carpentry and for the wonderful and magnificent structures he designed and built from the ground up in some of the most exclusive areas of Kosciusko, Mississippi. His work was so renown that when Mr. Booth, the white superintendent of the Kosciusko School District, was told to blackball my grandfather or risk being terminated, he ignored the warning and hired my grandfather to build his house anyhow. (As the story goes he was terminated soon thereafter but the beautiful cottage style structure still stands today. It is called "The Booth House.")
In 1941 my grandfather got into a dispute with a white gentleman who contracted with my grandfather to build him a home. After my grandfather advance money all of the requisite supplies the client cancelled the entire contract and refused to reimburse my grandfather for the wood and materials. Angered by this injustice my grandfather sought the assistance of every lawyer in that small town in Mississippi only to be repeatedly turned away. They all said that he had a case but refused to represent him for fear that they would never practice law in the state of Mississippi again. Discouraged, his dream deferred, my grandfather left carpentry and his home for the naval shipyards in Chicago never to return again.
Little did he know that a few generations down the line would be born a woman who would have gladly represented him in court. In May of 1992 I will be the first person in my family to graduate from law school.
And I'd like to think that I am the synthesis of two visions - two faiths which have finally met in history - the faith of my grandfather that one day the unbalanced scales of justice would be set straight - and the faith of the founders of Washington University School of Law that theirs would be an institution dedicated to the sculpting and the toning of the legal mind - regardless of the color of her skin.
I am truly grateful - but I am also reminded of a saying my mother once told me - "If you're really thankful - then ACT like it." I would like to think that there is an inexhaustible supply of dreams and visions in the annals of history waiting on we who are seated here tonight to be made into realities. Indeed Washington University is not perfect - and some of us here have known discouragement as we have dealt with a multitude of bureaucracies. Perhaps some of us have felt like our agendas have been set on the back burner while "others" have pursued loftier goals. There may be some truth in all of those perspectives yet whether that is the case is really not the issue because when all is said and done, Washington University School of Law has done her job. She has turned out persons who will be formidable opponents to many in future courts of law. And if we are truly grateful we will not be content to simply say "Thank you" but we will seek to dream new dreams and conceive new visions of what we want our law school - this institution to do and to be. And we will act on those visions with FAITH.,
As the writer Maya Angelou has written:
"Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise -
Into a daybreak that's wonderously clear
I rise -
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave -
I am the dreams and the hope of the slave..."
I am convinced that on a night such as tonight we celebrate FAITH!
We celebrate the faith of our founders, the faith of my grandfather and the faith of those of you here who have been so generous to give. What new heights does our institution have yet to reach if we covenant to work in Faith together?
Harambee!"
My grandfather was born on July 21, 1900 in Attala County, Mississippi. He was educated in Attala County Public Schools, Central Mississippi College and Jackson College (now known as Jackson State University) from which he graduated in 1926. He studied education in college and upon graduation led a career as a school principal. Educating Black children was not a priority for the state of Mississippi in 1926 so my Great-Grandfather A.J. Greenlee financed the construction of a school that he and my grandfather built from the ground up. It was named the Greenlee Elementary School. However, my grandfather and grandmother had ten children and the salary for Black educators was paltry. Hence, he built a reputable construction company on the side and worked as a carpenter and building contractor to supplement his income.
For about ten years, from 1926 until the mid thirties, this unrelenting hustle along with frequent hunting and fishing brought in enough income to cloth and feed his very large brood. However, as Jim Crow spread my grandfather was economically marginalized by the white racists in Kosciusko, Mississippi. So in 1941 he moved in search of work so that he could support his family - first to Atlanta, Georgia and then to work in the naval ship yards in Chicago, Illinois.
Fifty years later in 1991 while a law student I was privileged with the opportunity to speak at a the Scholarship Dinner at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. My grandfather passed at the age of eighty-two before I finished high school but he was the inspiration for my remarks. They are still relevant today...
"Whenever I have been called upon to speak publicly I have always saluted the audience with the phrase,
"Habari Ghani." It is from the Swahili language and it simply means, "What's Happening?"
More than likely on an occasion like tonight the audience would respond back "Imani." Imani means "Faith."
I am convinced that on an occasion such as this - what we celebrate is something greater than the scholars who are gathered among us and the kindness and generosity of alumni and friends. I am convinced and I would like to persuade you that what we celebrate here tonight is the manifestation of our Faith and the Faith of those who have gone before us.
I wonder if any of you have ever contemplated the founding of an institution? Not just any institution - but an academic institution which would seek to train the minds and hearts of eager individuals in the principles of democracy, justice and equality. What would is take from all of us gathered here tonight if right now we decided that we would be bold and courageous enough to lay the foundations for a new chapter in academia?
What would be required of us to create a law school so great and revered that it would not have to be called
"The Harvard of the Midwest" for indeed even Harvard would shield its ego from the glare of this institutions' brilliance.
If you have even a moment to revel in this mental exercise you have probably simulated in your own mind a portion of the dream that the founders of Washington University School of Law etched into reality. The fact that we are here tonight in gratitude to your generosity is evidence of the fact that the dream still lives on. Indeed tonight we celebrate their Faith.
But also tonight I celebrate the Faith of someone very dear to me. His name was Kither Elihu Greenlee and he was my grandfather. A graduate of Jackson State College my grandfather was a teacher, a school principle, a mason and a carpenter. Although I'd like to believe that he did all things well he is undoubtedly best remembered for his carpentry and for the wonderful and magnificent structures he designed and built from the ground up in some of the most exclusive areas of Kosciusko, Mississippi. His work was so renown that when Mr. Booth, the white superintendent of the Kosciusko School District, was told to blackball my grandfather or risk being terminated, he ignored the warning and hired my grandfather to build his house anyhow. (As the story goes he was terminated soon thereafter but the beautiful cottage style structure still stands today. It is called "The Booth House.")
In 1941 my grandfather got into a dispute with a white gentleman who contracted with my grandfather to build him a home. After my grandfather advance money all of the requisite supplies the client cancelled the entire contract and refused to reimburse my grandfather for the wood and materials. Angered by this injustice my grandfather sought the assistance of every lawyer in that small town in Mississippi only to be repeatedly turned away. They all said that he had a case but refused to represent him for fear that they would never practice law in the state of Mississippi again. Discouraged, his dream deferred, my grandfather left carpentry and his home for the naval shipyards in Chicago never to return again.
Little did he know that a few generations down the line would be born a woman who would have gladly represented him in court. In May of 1992 I will be the first person in my family to graduate from law school.
And I'd like to think that I am the synthesis of two visions - two faiths which have finally met in history - the faith of my grandfather that one day the unbalanced scales of justice would be set straight - and the faith of the founders of Washington University School of Law that theirs would be an institution dedicated to the sculpting and the toning of the legal mind - regardless of the color of her skin.
I am truly grateful - but I am also reminded of a saying my mother once told me - "If you're really thankful - then ACT like it." I would like to think that there is an inexhaustible supply of dreams and visions in the annals of history waiting on we who are seated here tonight to be made into realities. Indeed Washington University is not perfect - and some of us here have known discouragement as we have dealt with a multitude of bureaucracies. Perhaps some of us have felt like our agendas have been set on the back burner while "others" have pursued loftier goals. There may be some truth in all of those perspectives yet whether that is the case is really not the issue because when all is said and done, Washington University School of Law has done her job. She has turned out persons who will be formidable opponents to many in future courts of law. And if we are truly grateful we will not be content to simply say "Thank you" but we will seek to dream new dreams and conceive new visions of what we want our law school - this institution to do and to be. And we will act on those visions with FAITH.,
As the writer Maya Angelou has written:
"Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise -
Into a daybreak that's wonderously clear
I rise -
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave -
I am the dreams and the hope of the slave..."
I am convinced that on a night such as tonight we celebrate FAITH!
We celebrate the faith of our founders, the faith of my grandfather and the faith of those of you here who have been so generous to give. What new heights does our institution have yet to reach if we covenant to work in Faith together?
Harambee!"