"Part 12: Read Carl Jeffrey Wright’s In Search of Heroes Interview and Become Inspired" by Ralph Zuranski
Click Here to visit Jeff Wright's Heroes Page
check out the links below to the Guardian Line Comics and Urban Ministries
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com
Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to have trusted friends or a mastermind group to bounce your ideas off?
Jeff Wright: I think that one of the things that stops a lot of people from accomplishing the goals and the dreams and the visions that they have is that they do not have trusted friends or a mastermind group or counselors and advisors to help guide them along the way.
Jeff Wright: There are no one-man shows on this planet. Not really. And I think it is very, very critical to have the wisdom that comes from counselors. Of course, this is a Biblical principle to have counselors, to have others around you who can bring you the perspective, or as my wife would put it, the last 10%.
Jeff Wright: We all need someone who can say, “Hey, you know what? You’ve got something right around your mouth that we need to pluck off.” Or, “There’s another way of looking at this. I know you feel convinced. I know you prayed. I understand that you’ve got a clear vision but here are two or three things that you haven’t thought about that you might want to consider.” And that only comes when you have counselors, when you have people around you who you trust, who can give you the kind of input that you are going to need to accomplish the things that God has set out.
Jeff Wright: These people obviously have to have some clarity about your vision and the track record that can allow you to comfortably take their advice and their wisdom and incorporate it into your program.
Ralph Zuranski: Who do you feel are the real heroes in our society today that are not getting the recognition and the reward they deserve?
Jeff Wright: This is a great question. I believe today because of the way media is managed and concentrated in so few outlets and all of the other negative trends that we talked about earlier in terms of media content, we are missing the stories of many, many real heroes.
Jeff Wright: I know, for example, that the teachers, particularly in the grade schools, have in their midst a number of heroes that we are probably not seeing. While there are some teacher-of-the-year awards and some other things like that, in my own life I can look back and think of several teachers who were tremendously influential in shaping my life to be what it is through their influence. They will go unheralded and unrecognized publicly but they have been tremendous in making a difference.
Jeff Wright: I’m sure that’s true for almost everyone. Almost all of us have had one or two teachers whether we went to private school or public school, or maybe even homeschooled and the teacher was our parent, who became a hero to us because they set out a path and they set themselves firmly in their commitment to bring the best out of each of us.
Jeff Wright: There are also another group of unrecognized heroes who are labeled teachers and those are Sunday school teachers and Bible study teachers, teachers who are outside of our public school or our family setting but who we encounter in the faith community and our churches who have made a difference in our lives.
Jeff Wright: I think that it’s very easy to discount the impact of individuals who, in a learning situation, are able to pour values and visions into our lives.
Ralph Zuranski: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?
Jeff Wright: I think heroes are important in the lives of young people because it’s very difficult to achieve something you haven’t seen. If you can’t see it, it’s very hard for you to achieve it. And heroes give vision.
Jeff Wright: The National Visionary Leadership project, which was begun by Dr. Camille Cosby, Bill Cosby’s wife, and Renee Poussaint, the former television newscaster, has put together a program which is designed to bring visions of heroes, bring visions of leaders who made significant accomplishments, primarily in the African American community, into the view of young people.
Jeff Wright: I think it’s important for people to see that they can be great, they can be successful, and that they can achieve things that for them, particularly for African Americans, might not appear to be possible just from the media that they are consuming on a regular basis.
Jeff Wright: If you looked at that web site or learn more about that project, at http://www.VisionaryProject.com, I think you can see the power of heroes in the lives of people.