Answering Dr. King’s Call 62 Years Later: A Guest Post by Robert F. Smith
Robert F. Smith presents an in-depth reflection on some of Dr. King’s most powerful words and their enduring impact on today’s leaders. Read on for an exclusive essay from Robert F. Smith on writing Lead Boldly.
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Lead Boldly: Seven Principles from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lead Boldly: Seven Principles from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Hardcover $31.99
Leadership insights from one of history’s most influential voices.
Leadership insights from one of history’s most influential voices.
In 1963, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed: “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice… Now is the time to make justice ring out for all of God’s children.” His words were a plea not just for civil rights, but also for economic justice.
I was nine months old then, too young to remember the trip with my mother to hear Dr. King’s dream, but the stories passed down by my family were woven into my identity. Alongside hundreds of thousands of others, we listened as Dr. King declared that Black Americans had “come to our nation’s capital to cash a check” for the equality promised by the American Dream — only to be handed “a bad check.”
Dr. King’s imagery of a check marked “insufficient funds” still resonates with me. I grew up in a segregated Denver neighborhood without basic services like a bank or supermarket. Families like mine had to travel to white neighborhoods for groceries or financial services — places where we were not always welcome. Decades later, my old neighborhood still lacks reliable access to nutritious food and banking. It remains, like many other Black neighborhoods, part of the “other America.”
Dr. King devoted his life to addressing these disparities, to giving Black Americans better access to jobs, capital, and opportunity. Even as America’s check bounced, he refused “to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” His dream shaped my life, and inspired me to contribute to Lead Boldly.
Today, Black unemployment remains nearly 50% higher than white unemployment, and Black households hold one-twelfth the wealth of white households. Black college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than their white peers, causing them to delay purchasing homes and having families. We may have more legal rights, but structural economic barriers persist, weakening our entire nation.
To fulfill Dr. King’s dream of closing these gaps, we must expand access to capital, enable a level playing field for diverse entrepreneurs, strengthen education at all levels, and establish equal access to our national infrastructure, including broadband, which is essential for economic participation. This goes beyond any one community and will lift our entire country’s GDP and global competitiveness.
As the first generation in my family to enjoy full civil rights, I’ve embraced this work. Lead Boldly offers a roadmap for leaders at all levels to do the same, to manifest the shared prosperity and growth that can propel our country’s success for decades to come. This is not simply Dr. King’s dream; it’s the American Dream.
My parents took us to Washington in 1963 because they believed a better life was possible for their children. In many ways, that journey continues. Each of us can help fulfill our national dream, if we choose to lead boldly.
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