Colin Powell keynote speaker at diversity conference
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks at California University of Pennsylvania on Thurs. Sept. 19.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks at California University of Pennsylvania on Thurs. Sept. 19.
CALIFORNIA — As a youngster growing up in the South Bronx of New York, retired Gen. Colin L. Powell never gave much thought to his life path.
However, there were plenty of folks around him that would not consider failure by him as an option.
Powell shared memories of those early days and the ones that followed with about 1,500 California University of Pennsylvania faculty and students and others taking part Thursday in the National Diversity & Leadership Conference being hosted by the university.
The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell readily admits that he was not a good student, always struggling to meet the expectations of his teachers and parents.
The trend continued when he later attended City College of New York.
After nearly five years, the faculty gathered to determine how they could help the young man who had excelled in his Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) courses but could barely pass his college courses.
“They said, ‘Let’s roll his ROTC grades into his grade-point average and see what he does,'” he recalled. “They came up to a 2.0. They said that was good enough for government work, give him to the Army and we’ll never see him again.”
While he has returned to the school, the professors set him on a path for success.
“It isn’t where you start out in life, it is where you end up,” said Powell. “It is what you do along the way. Did you apply yourself? Did you believe in yourself? Did you believe in the opportunities that were before you?”
Powell said that he needed that foundation provided by his family and teachers when he entered the U.S. Army in 1958.
“It was just four years after the last segregated unit was shut down in the Army,” he said. “I’ve been through Jim Crow, segregation, integration and affirmative action.”
But while the nation struggled through those years, the Army had somehow embraced diversity and allowed him to advance through the ranks.
“The Army said that it had to have an officer corps that looked like the people they were to lead,” said Power. “You could not expect minority soldiers to constantly look up to people that did not have their background or experience.
“So they wanted me to do well.”
When he retired from the military some 35 years, he did so as a decorated four-star general.
However, his journey was not over.
From 1987 to 1989, Powell served as the National Security Advisor for then-President Ronald Reagan and then was appointed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton.
Powell said he is often asked about his achievements, as poor, black kids from the South Bronx did not give much thought to becoming a trusted member of the president’s staff or the nation’s top military advisor while growing up.
“It was unthinkable. It was unbelievable,” he said.
“But it did. It did because I worked hard. It did because I was in an institution that allowed me to better myself.”
During President George W. Bush’s administration, Powell was appointed Secretary of State.
While now retired from government life, he continues to keep tabs on what is taking place in the nation’s capitol and is not happy with the actions of Congress and its inability to work together.
“I was in Washington for decades and I never saw a legislative situation like we have now,” said Powell.
“I’ve never seen such polarization on the right and left. Surely we can find compromise.”
The Founding Fathers, he said, strongly argued and disagreed while writing the U.S. Constitution, but when all was said and done, they had a document that addressed the formation and duties of a Senate and House, a judicial system, military and the role of a president.
“What a remarkable document and we still have it and its still functioning today because they compromised,” he said.
“If those men could make those kinds of choices and those kinds of compromises, why can’t 535 people in Washington pass a budget? It is a disgrace.”
Powell urged the young people to use their right at the ballot box to remove those that do not embrace compromise.
“We have to start pressing back about our political leaders and let them know that this is unsatisfactory,” he said.
Despite the political upheavals, the fiscal woes and the wars taking place around the world, Americans continue to have confidence in their country and remain hopeful, said Powell.
“I only wish I could bottle up the confidence and optimism and take it to Washington and pour it over the politicians and tell them they better get moving because the people out there are mad,” he said.
Despite the upheavals and negative discourse, the nation continues to be model for struggling nations, Powell added.
“America continues to great and an example to others around the world,” he said.