Great communicators understand the transformative power of words.
Great communicators understand that while musicians play notes, we play words, and those words, played the right way, at the right time, hold a transformative power.
With MLK weekend coming up, I thought I’d share with you this true story about the power of words:
In February of 1960, Clarence Jones was living in a great home in Altadena, California, with a palm tree right in the middle of it. Clarence was far away from the orphanage he was forced into as a child, not because his parents didn’t want him, but as domestic servants to a wealthy family, their bosses would not allow them to take the time off they needed to raise their son. But in the kindness of God, Clarence not only made it out of the orphanage, but would go on to earn an ivy league degree, followed by a degree in law. Now, he thought, it was time for him to reap the fruit of his years of struggle. It was at this moment in his life that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., knocked on his door, asking him for his legal assistance because he was in the trial of his life down in Montgomery, Alabama. Clarence Jones listened patiently, and then told Dr. King no. King made more appeals, but to no avail. For Clarence, he had worked too hard, and life was too good, to do pro bono work on a trial where King would likely be found guilty. As King turned to leave, he invited Clarence to come hear him preach that coming Sunday at the Baldwin Hills Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Clarence agreed.
Not long after taking his seat, Dr. King began his message by saying, “Brothers and sisters, the text of my sermon today concerns the role and responsibility of the Negro professional to the masses of our brothers and sisters who are struggling for Civil Rights in the South.” Clarence Jones began to have an ominous feeling he was in the crosshairs of Dr. King’s sermon. He was. Dr. King would talk about a young lawyer he had recently visited who was living in a fine home with a palm tree right in the center of it. I can see Clarence sinking in his seat. He talked about this young professionals upbringing, how he came from struggling parents who served as domestics, and even had to put their precious son in an orphanage. King called attention to his mother who scrubbed floors so her child could have a better life. And then these words, “I can’t help but wonder if this man’s mother could speak to him right now, might she share the immortal words of Langston Hughes: ‘Well son, I’ll tell you, life for me ain’t been no crystal stair, but all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on. So, boy, don’t turn your back. Don’t you set down on the steps (From, Life Ain’t No Crystal Stair, by Langston Hughes).
Writing of this moment years later, Clarence would remember, “I realized that I’d never heard anyone so thoroughly capable of transforming a listener. It was like the magic Frank Sinatra was renowned for having with his singing voice. That same quality was something that somehow Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. alone had in his speaking voice. His phrasing was immaculate…the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.”
When King was finished, Clarence Jones went up to him and said, “‘Dr. King, when do you want me in Montgomery?’ And from that point on, I was a Martin Luther King, Jr. disciple. From that moment until the assassination on April 4th, 1968, I served as Dr. King’s personal lawyer, political advisor, and draft speechwriter (Yep, Clarence would write the draft of King’s, “I Have a Dream Speech”.). It was the most important relationship I’ve ever had…My relationship with Martin King, like the color of my skin, is the defining aspect of my time here” (These quotes taken from, Last of the Lions: An African American Journey in Memoir, pages 70-73).
While we should always be careful about taking people’s personal stories and backgrounds and wielding it against them when we speak, let’s not miss the broader point- the transformative power of the right words at just the right time. What moved Clarence Jones from a life of selfish complacency to sacrifice, was one message. Words really can move people. Let’s keep working on our craft.
What I’m Reading:
The Last of the Lions, Clarence B. Jones
As we go into MLK weekend, here’s a resource I edited and contributed to with some of my all time favorite communicators.
