As I thought and prayed about what I could say to motivate our young men on this Monday. I want you to share with your sons that they can be a trailblazer at any age. Sixty years ago, on November 14th, at the age of 6, a first grader by the name of Ruby Bridges became a trailblazer when she became the first African American to attend William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1960. Bridges carried integration on her small shoulders. Ruby lived during a day and time when African American children were not allowed to attend school with white children. U. S. Marshals had to escort Ruby to school every day because her young life was in danger. Can you imagine being in the first grade, just six years old being threatened everyday when she went to school.
As Ruby would enter the school every day, crowds would be outside yelling negative names at her and one day someone had made a box like a coffin and put a black doll in the box. Ruby said that she would have nightmares of seeing that black doll in the coffin like box. Bridges’ family experienced retaliation because of her going to this school. Grocery stores refused to sell to her mother whose name was Lucille and her father, Abon, lost his job according to the National Park Service. All the students who were in Ruby’s first grade class withdrew from the school and she ended up being the only student in her classroom for the rest of the school year. It was just Ruby and her teacher.
Ruby Bridges is a trailblazer, one who is a pioneer and somebody who is willing to take risks and do something that no one has ever done. This 6-year-old little girl who is now 66 years old has a place in American History because she was willing to take a risk and her parents wanted her to have the best education. Parents, when you and I look at your son, who knows we maybe seeing the next trailblazer, the first BMW to be the mayor of Lexington, or governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, or even President of the United States, the one who will come up with a cure for cancer, own his own business, be an engineer, an architect, doctor, lawyer, have a construction company, in other words our BMWA young men are CANDIDATES FOR GREATNESS WHO CAN BE A TRAILBLAZER AND EVEN NOW AT THIS VERY AGE!