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Regular thoughts on the human condition and corporate social responsibility by the CEO of a "for-benefit"company.
As you now know, Senator Edward M. Kennedy has died. As is appropriate, much is now being said of the long life of public service Ted Kennedy led, (as one example, I’ve included below the email sent by the President yesterday about his feelings for Senator Kennedy.) Fortunately, much is also being made of his unique ability to collaborate with legislators of both parties to move ahead an agenda of social justice. Over the years, he co-sponsored bills with, among others, Bob Dole, John McCain and he worked closely with President George W. Bush to develop the “No Child Left Behind” education initiative. We can only imagine that the current debate on health care access would be more civil and more productive if Senator Kennedy had not been incapacitated these past 18 months. I encourage you to take some time in the next few days to read, listen and learn about Ted Kennedy’s life. Like most of us, he was a man of contradictions… his younger years of often reckless behavior were followed by several decades of selfless and effective public advocacy, his well-chronicled social life contrasting sharply with his devoted fatherhood and the deep love he had for his wife of the last 20 years. I can add little to the broad media coverage of Ted Kennedy’s death, but, as context, I will add this -- it’s a quote from a speech given by his brother, Bobby, in South Africa in 1964: “Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.” Whether he was railing against the biases of a Supreme Court nominee, advocating for equal opportunity for all or speaking out against a war, Ted Kennedy braved disapproval, censure and wrath on many occasions during his long career. All of us are better today, in some way, for his good work. No one man or woman will replace Edward M. Kennedy, but each of us, in our own small way, can carry on his work. Please take a moment to reflect on the loss of this man, then please ask yourself: am I ready to serve?
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