Promoting Leadership & Servive
Thursday, March 12, 2009
It was an honor for BNO Founder to deliver a speech in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Mikva Challenge Program. Mr. Johnson was humbled by the opportunity to recognize Abner and Zoe Mikva and the great work they have done throughout their lifetime.
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“10 years in the making. Congratulations to the Mikva Challenge program - this is truly a remarkable accomplishment.
For me, The Mikva Challenge program was a phenomenal experience and it completely enhanced my time in high school by shaping it squarely around the notion that I - as a 15 year old could not only hold politicians accountable but that I could actually transform an election.
As I remember, those years were an exciting time to be involved in politics. In 1999 I was a freshman in high school, but because of Mikva I was spending my winter evenings volunteering on a presidential campaign downtown, interviewing the CEO of the Public School system, and hosting a youth advocacy television show.
The Mikva Challenge forced me to think critically about the problems facing society. But most importantly, Mikva was the glue that connected me to the political arena, because all of a sudden I cared about election results and getting others registered even if i couldn’t vote!… at 15 you were gonna listen to what I had to say because I had the confidence of my experiences to say you know what: “im not gonna wait until I’m 50 to make a stand. I am gonna get involved right now and make a difference in my community.”
I have carried that notion with me ever since. And today I use those experiences from Mikva as the bedrock for the actual bricks-and-mortar rebuilding work i do in New Orleans, which also mobilizes and motivates people to care about the Gulf Coast through meaningful community service. After Hurricane Katrina I joined the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Team and for 6wks I drove an Emergency Response Vehicle in the 9th Ward, providing food to returning families. Later on, a cohort and I founded an organization called Blanket New Orleans where we raised funds to provide warmth and comfort to returning residents in the form of large blankets. We replicated that initiative in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, but this time expanding it throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.
I am sure I got my gumption for resisting timidity amid governmental inefficiency from my those high school days engaging the hard knocks of Chicago politics.
And so friends, on this anniversary, the Mikva Challenge organization has a lot to be proud of:: for what is has already done to transform politics and the lives of so many young leaders, but really for what is yet to come!
And Know this - that amid the challenges we face in our cities, country and around the world… with callous violence, global terrorism, an economic depression, and a devastated New Orleans… know this, that this generation, my generation… THE MIKVA GENERATION is ready to lead.”
