Advice for activists from a former Pittsburgh NAACP president and Pitt alumnus

Tell us a memory from your time as a Pitt student.

I had the opportunity to drive Martin Luther King Jr. to campus from the Pittsburgh airport with a few of my Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers. He was scheduled to speak at Pitt’s student union. I regret that we didn’t get a picture with him. That would’ve been wonderful.

I remember that Dr. King was just so low key. He didn’t have any pretentiousness, and of course, he gave a rousing speech.

What do you want young people to know about community organizing?

I don’t expect everybody to stay in the movement for 50 plus years as I have — that’s unrealistic. It would be nice if they stayed at least 10 to 15 years. You don’t get things done without consistency.

You have to know that if you speak up, somebody’s not going to like what you’re doing — it’s a political mathematical equation. I’d rather be known for doing something than known for doing nothing.

To young people: You have to stay in the space that you create and find people who support you in that space. You can’t just be out here for a minute. Don’t say, “I did my minute; I did a year or two.” That is not going to solve the problem.

When a doctor says, “Take these pills for 10 days,” and you take them for five days and start feeling a little better, you can’t quit taking the pills because you’ll get sick again. You never healed. This country is not healed.