I wrote this four years ago. Last night a young man read it and responded to it. That young man is Marcus Glivings the son of my former command officer LCDR Rudolph Glivings.
Today I was out and I stopped for lunch. I was eating alone when I was approached by a young man who wanted to know if I was Bill Cobbs. We talked for a few moments and then he said he wanted to ask me a question. I told him to fire away. He asked me if it ever bothered me when people criticized me for staying in the Gubernatorial race. I asked him if he had some time because that wasn’t something I could easily answer. I invited him to have a seat and we started talking
I started by telling him about a man who had changed my life. That man was LCDR Rudolph Glivings my commanding officer in the Navy BOOST program. When I got into the program to say that I took it for granted would be an understatement. One day LCDR Glivings summoned me to his office to give me a talking to. He asked me if I really understood the significance of the opportunity I had been given. All I wanted to do was get out of there but he was far from finished reading me the riot act. For two hours he drilled me. When he was finished he gave me an assignment. He told me to write a paper on two men. Those men were Benjamin O. Davis Jr. And Thurgood Marshall. I had a week to complete the task.
I went to the library to get source material and there wasn’t a lot there. I knew I could use that as an excuse so I dug harder. It was probably the most meaningful homework assignment I ever received. I discovered two men who overcame what for most people would have been insurmountable odds to do things that they were not supposed to do. Thurgood Marshall was denied admission to the Law School of his choice and instead attended Howard. He would argue almost 40 cases before the US Supreme Court and lose only three. He would go on to be the first black Justice on that Supreme Court.
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was only the fourth bla k man to attend the USMA at West Point. While there he was shunned for the entire four years yet he managed to graduate 37th in his class. He went on to form the Tuskegee airmen and would later become the first general officer in the United States Air Force. Ruddy Glivings knew what he was doing. He lit a fire in me and gave me three men that I would admire for my entire life.
I’m sure that young man regretted approaching me but I hope that my story resonated with him. In answer to his question I told him that like any normal person I get irked by the criticism but when I do I remember what I learned from the three men who would become my lifestyle examples. Everyman is capable of his own greatness once he determines to move beyond mediocrity. I think we’ll be staying in touch.