printable versionPowell: 'We are still the nation people look to'
BY CASSANDRA BROOKS
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's March 2 talk at Memorial Auditorium drew alumni, students, faculty and staff, who filled every seat.
After his talk Monday, Colin Powell spoke with William Taft IV, a visiting law professor.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell offered words of inspiration with a twist of humor on Monday, earning waves of laughter and a standing ovation. Powell's talk at Memorial Auditorium drew a large crowd of alumni, students, faculty and staff.
Following opening remarks by Law School Dean Larry Kramer, and an introduction by Former Secretary of State and Hoover Institution Fellow George Shultz, Powell, 72, entered the stage to a massive roar of applause, then offered his first quip. He commended Stanford for preparing such accomplished young students who shape the world we live in, then added: "To be here at Stanford is a treat. At this stage in my life and career, it's a pleasure to be anywhere."
Reflecting on what he missed after a career as a military general, national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state, Powell insisted that he doesn't look back. But he admitted that he missed his diplomatic jet, which came with its own waiting lounge, red carpet and attendants, who would bring him Diet Coke on a silver platter. "Then Condi got the jet and now Hillary's got it, and I'm never going to get it back," he said.
But Powell's talk was largely forward looking. He addressed the current state of the nation while offering an optimistic view based on America's history of overcoming hardship, and spoke passionately about the new administration of President Barack Obama.
As Powell spends his days traveling around the country and the world delivering talks, he said, seeing Americans hard at work boosts his confidence and optimism that things will get better. "Whatever the challenges, I sense that we'll get through it," Powell said. "I've seen worse times in this country. The point is not to lose faith in resiliency of the system."
He noted that between 1968 and 1974, it looked like America might indeed come apart. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy and the resignation of President Richard Nixon could have brought a lesser nation down, he said.
He also noted that during the recent presidential election few within and outside America's borders believed that American voters would elect a black man.
"I was in Hong Kong the night of the election and watched the states go down not knowing what the outcome would be," Powell said. "Then it was announced and it hit me like an electric shock. I sat down and started crying and said, 'We did it. America did it.'"
Powell mused about the incredible transformations in race relations during his lifetime. "I remember being a young kid in the Bronx, hearing the great news that Greyhound hired the first black bus driver in the South," he said. He added that back then he and his family worried that if the bus driver had an accident, the public would blame it on his race. "Now I lived to see a black man become president of the United States. We've reached a point where the content of a person's character is more important than the color of their skin," he said.
But Powell, who founded America's Promise Alliance, an organization dedicated to ensuring children have the resources they need to succeed at home, school and in their communities, also cautioned that while this is a milestone, the race problem still demands our attention. He spoke about minority kids who still don't have the same economic opportunities and minority incarceration rates that are "off the charts." He charged the crowd to keep working at the problem and to take action in their communities by encouraging and helping young kids.
Powell said that during the recent presidential campaign he was impressed with then-candidate Obama's ability to bridge the gap between generations and to use modern communication to assemble hundreds of thousands of citizens. "I voted for Obama because he brought generational change into the political system and we needed that change," he said.
Powell connected some of the leadership skills he sees in Obama to the training he received during his early days in the military on the importance of inspiring and motivating people. "You have to take care of your troops and followers and treat everyone as important," he said, "while inspiring people to believe in you and absorb your passion."
Part of inspiring others, he told Monday's audience, is making human connections. When he was secretary of state, he said, he would sneak away from his security detail and go into the garage next to his building to engage with the workers there. When he asked them how they determined who got the best parking spots, the parking lot attendants put it simply: Those who drove into the lot and greeted the attendants with a friendly wave or smile in the morning got the choice spots. Those who did not take the time to treat the attendants like human beings got the less desirable spaces.
He also talked about a conversation he had with a hot dog vendor on the streets of his hometown New York, who, once he recognized Powell, refused to take his money. "No, General, don't pay me," the vendor said. "I've been paid. I am here in America."
Powell's talk ended with a question-and-answer session with William Taft IV, a visiting Stanford law professor, who asked about the problem of Afghanistan, race relations and the current stress on our armed forces. While Powell voiced true concern over these problems, he expressed confidence in America's leadership. "We are still the nation people look to," he said. "America's position has evolved, but we are still the place of hopes and dreams and opportunities."
The event was organized by Stanford Law School in conjunction with the university.
Cassandra Brooks is an intern at the Stanford News Service.