Motivational speaker to discuss how stories enrich daily lives

Motivational speaker, author and TV personality Les Brown will discuss how personal life stories enrich and connect people to others as the Business and Finance Division's MLK Convocation speaker.

Motivational speaker and author Les Brown will deliver the Business and Finance 2009 Convocation at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at Rackham Auditorium. (Photo courtesy Office Of Academic Multicultural Initiatives)

Brown's own story is an inspiring one. His mother gave him and his twin brother up for adoption as infants. He was raised by a single woman of modest means and mislabeled "educably mentally retarded" in fifth grade then placed in special education classes.

"I was devastated," Brown wrote in his book "It's Not Over Until You Win: How to Become the Person You Always Wanted to Be No Matter What the Obstacle." "Unless it has happened to you, you can't imagine how painful it is to be called dumb or slow by your classmates. How many people never live up to their potential because at some time in their lives, someone told them they were stupid or dumb or somehow inferior and they took it to heart and lived down to that expectation?"

Brown never went to college, but he became a disc jockey, broadcast manager, community activist and three-term Ohio state legislator, in addition to a renowned motivational speaker.

The title of his talk is "Community and Diversity Enriches, and Stories Connect." That's the Business and Finance Division diversity committee's theme for this year, born at a retreat where the members shared stories of how diversity enriched their lives.

"There was a common thread. Our stories really connected us," says Cheryl Mayes, maintenance mechanic 3 and co-chair for the MLK Convocation on the diversity committee.

Brown's talk is at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Rackham Auditorium. It is co-sponsored by the Athletic Department, College of Engineering, Office of Financial Aid, Office of University Development, Office of International Equity, Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives.