By Johnny Coomansingh
On January 16, 2001, I delivered the address: The Development of Extraordinary Qualities in Ordinary People. This was directed to the students of the Black Student Union at Kansas State University in Manhattan (The Little Apple), Kansas. In light of its history, it’s amazing that Kansas State University eventually established a Black Student Union. The brief history below gives an idea about how this Union originated.
In 1855, the New England Emigrant Aid Company, led by Isaac Goodnow, established a Free-State town, Manhattan, in Kansas Territory, to bolster the anti-slavery cause. The settlement was initially named ‘Boston,’ by consolidating the existing settlements of the towns, Polistra and Canton. In June 1855, a steamboat carrying settlers from Ohio, part of the Cincinnati-Manhattan Company, ran aground near Boston. The stranded Ohio settlers, who were headed to Junction City, Kansas, were invited to join the new town, but they insisted on renaming it ‘Manhattan.’
In 1899, 44 years after, the first Black African American to graduate from what is now Kansas State University [then Kansas State Agricultural College (KSAC)] was George Washington Owens. Owens was born in Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1875, to former slaves who migrated to Kansas in the early 1870s.
Owens entered KSAC (now Kansas State University) in 1896 and graduated in 1899. Owens wrote an autobiography chronicling his experiences growing up on the plains and as a student at District School #3 of Alma and Kansas State Agricultural College. After learning that no African American had graduated from KSAC, Owens resolved to be the first.
Kansas State University (K-State) celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013 honoring diversity and the legacy of Owens and Minnie Howell. Minnie Howell was the first Black female K-State graduate.
There were other African American students, for example James Pierce who came from South Carolina. During the 1920s, Pierce suffered social and economic pressures and decided to travel west to Kansas in search of his dream and resolve to study architecture. Below is a paragraph from a pamphlet published by the K-State College of Architecture Planning and Design:
“With only a few dollars in his pocket, James enrolled in the 1936 freshman class of what in now Kansas State University. James could never have imagined how the four years he spent in Manhattan would forever impact his life. Arriving on campus at the height of the Depression and with racial equality unheard of, James faced both financial and racial adversity. Threatened, broke, and discouraged, James could not enter the Student Union, the Field House, or most other campus buildings. He did secure a job as a busboy in a fraternity house, receiving only food in exchange for his labour. He was allowed to live in the loft of the campus dairy barn, provided he did the chores around the barn. Persevering through these hardships and excelling at his studies, in 1940 James graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in architecture, the first minority student ever to receive this degree at K-State.”
From these ‘pioneers,’ the Black Student Union emerged. Having come from Trinidad and Tobago, a former colony of enslaved Africans and indentured British servants, I thought it an honor and privilege to engage members of the Black Students Union with a theory of mine; the need for focus and the need to succeed.
I began my spiel by quoting a Tao verse for the mere fact that what seems like nothing to some people is still very much something. As Anais Nin once said: “We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.”
A Tao verse:
“Thirty spokes are made one by holes in a hub;
Together with vacancies between them, they;
Comprise a wheel,
The use of clay in molding pitchers
Comes from the hollow of its absence;
Doors, windows in a house
Are used for their emptiness;
Thus we are helped by what is not
To use what is.”
We must note that we are oftentimes blinded by our own egos from seeing the full possibilities of life. When we discipline ourselves to adopt periodically, a ‘no-ego’ state, we can perceptively drink in the full meaning of a situation without imposing ourselves upon it.
Developing the ability to compete is one of the tenets toward good success. This rests on our ability to organize ourselves in such a way as to generate opportunity and results, rather than impasses, stagnation, bureaucracy, unproductive arguments, and wasteful friction. In other words, we must know how to utilize our energies, collectively to foster production.
Man is limited not so much by his tools as by his vision. To be a visionary all that someone has to do is but open his or her eyes. Where there is a lack of vision the people perish. This is called spiritual discernment, seeing where other people cannot see. We must understand what The Law of Least Effort is all about. It is simple. It’s our ability to respond or our ‘response-ability.’ This calls for CHANGE!
In the text, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People authored by Stephen Covey it states, “No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or emotional appeal. But change is hard.
Some people resist change. As the Arabian proverb states: “The caravan is moving and the dog is still barking.” Nobody likes to be told that they must change. Change means: Adapt, Adjust, Adopt. Despite the odds, we must seize the day! We must reengineer our attitude to the idea of change. Many think about change as a problem but the way we see the problem is the problem. Ordinary people with extraordinary qualities see possibilities; not problems.
Positive change yields substantial dividends one of which is success. Without any doubt, Nothing succeeds like success. Failure is not an option. In the movie Star Wars, Yoda said: “Do or do not. There is no try.” Many moons ago, I recall Dr. Myles Munroe’s speech titled Seven Peas in a Pod on how to be successful. I copied his words:
The first ‘Pea’ is PURPOSE: You must have a purpose. What is purpose? Purpose signifies the object for which anything exists or is done, made or used; an intended or desired result; end or aim; intention or determination; that which one puts before oneself as something to be done or accomplished; the subject at hand; the point of issue. Munroe maintains that the greatest tragedy in life is not fear, but a life without a purpose. When the purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.
The second ‘Pea’ is POTENTIAL: Do you have the potential? What is potential? Potential is the possible as opposed to actual; capable of being or becoming; latent; expressing possibility. All things are possible with God…only believe.
The third ‘Pea’ is PEOPLE: It is our nature to want to be around people. We must choose wisely the people with whom we would like to surround ourselves. Man is not an island. We need people to survive. We need friends. We need togetherness. However, some so-called friends carry you and don’t bring you back. Some friends stab you in the back. Some friends lie in wait to see you fall. A word of caution: Do not follow after a multitude to do evil. We must be able to stand our ground, not to be bought or sold.
The fourth ‘Pea’ is PLAN: This refers to a scheme of action or procedure; a design; an arrangement; a project or a definite purpose. To develop extraordinary qualities one has to have a plan; a layout; a map. Know about the Why, What, Who, When, Where and How. We must have an idea about the answers to such questions.
The fifth ‘Pea’ is PERSISTENCE: Refers to the act of continuing steadily or firmly in some state, purpose or course of action, despite opposition or remonstrance; to last or endure; to be insistent; to continue steadfastly.
The sixth ‘Pea’ is PRINCIPLE: Principles are natural laws that cannot be broken. According to Stephen Covey: “It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law.” Consider these principles: Fairness, Integrity, Honesty, Dignity, Service, Quality, Growth, Patience, Nurturance, Encouragement. Principles are not practices or values; principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value. They are essentially inarguable because they are self-evident. We become what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit. Habits are like a cable, we weave a strand of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken. Why is it so easy to form bad habits? What do we remember most about people? The bad things or the good things?
The seventh ‘Pea’ is PRAYER: Prayer is the magnificent seventh. What is prayer? I learnt that “Prayer is the key in the hand of faith which unlocks heaven’s storehouse where are treasured the boundless resources of the omnipotent.” So pray! Prayer is talking to God…ask and it shall be given.
Roy Alexander said in his book Power Speech: the Quickest Route to Personal and Business Success: “If you don’t ask you don’t get; if you ask right you get more.” Prayer is spiritual communion with what you conceive God to be. Prayer is the means for an ordinary person to obtain the chart, which guides the development of extraordinary qualities. ‘If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.’ Nothing is more wasteful than doing with great efficiency that which should not be done.
Attitude is the greatest of all assets. Your attitude determines your altitude. Some people keep looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Cooperate with others to remove the tunnel and stand in the presence of light. None is so blind as he who will not see. We must not procrastinate if we want to achieve any modicum of success. Procrastination is the thief of time. Do not put off things for tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes…it is non-existent. All you have is today. Don’t be a late sleeper: Laziness is not an attribute. ‘Laziness is so slow that poverty soon overtakes him.’
Problems must be turned into opportunities. We must not keep blaming the colonists for our demise. Yes, I agree that our ancestors were illtreated, maimed, persecuted and sometimes murdered. Even today in these modern times we experience the negativity with the rejection of Diversity, Equality and Inclusiveness (DEI) but we must press on to higher goals. We must shake off the dirt that others throw on us.
Should we continue to harbor thoughts of getting even? Do not make the problems of the Haters yours. We must practice as Mahatma Gandhi espoused in Satyagraha or ‘Truth Force.’ His model of ‘Passive Resistance’ must be present in all of us. As Martin Luther King Jr. practiced, ‘The Strength to Love.’
And finally, ‘the Last Banana Syndrome’ conjures up desperation and discouragement. Giving up, becoming losers are people without the will to make things happen. Ordinary people with extraordinary qualities are people who stay on their feet and keep moving. They leave no room for failure. They are people with F.O.C.U.S—Follow One Course Until Successful.
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