WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG MESSAGE FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT ADAMS 3
A message from
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams
A good friend of mine owns a very successful baby furniture
company. He inherited it from his dad, who started the business
many years ago in Brownsville. His father, a tough but fair man,
had a small clothing store where residents camped out all night
to protect it from looters during the riots of the 1960s. He created
a legacy of caring about the community he served, and they
returned their support when the time presented itself.
That small store is now an international corporation that
ships baby furniture all over the world.
When I sat down and spoke with the father about his
son taking over the business he began, he told me he was
comfortable with the process. He knew that he had prepared
his son to have a holistic approach to doing business, to make
the right decisions not only for today but for tomorrow.
Those words resonated with me. I believe we have to ask
ourselves whether we are preparing our children to take
over the borough and the world we will leave behind. They
will have the awesome responsibility to provide physical and
emotional goods and services to humankind. The question in
front of us is this: are we giving them the tools to continue the
forward evolution of this “business” we call humanity, or is
the lack of preparation going to bankrupt our future?
As I travel around Brooklyn, I talk often about the social
and emotional intelligence gap that our communities are
facing. It’s something that few people are talking about, but
wherever I go, the message seems to strike a chord within
the good hearts of Brooklynites, including those who haven’t
been asked to sing this tune for a long time.
The external infrastructure of our borough is doing just
fi ne; thanks to our resurgent global reputation, investment is
fl owing in and construction projects are plentiful. However,
what about our internal infrastructure? Who is investing
in that? When I was inaugurated as borough president, I
made it clear that my mission is not to build buildings, but
to build people. Consider the enduring local impact of biasbased
attacks, challenges with mental health, cyberbullying,
domestic abuse, drug misuse and inner-city gun violence. If
we are to commit ourselves to making Brooklyn a sustainably
safer place for everyone to raise healthy children and
families, where the popularity of our brand translates into
prosperity for every Brooklynite, we need to get serious about
holistic growth.
Standing in front of a giant American flag at the starting line in Red Hook, Borough President
Adams addressed thousands of participants of the Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers 5K Run
& Walk, staged annually to honor the sacrifice of its namesake on 9/11.
I believe we must work on some fundamentals in order to
prepare our children properly to take over Brooklyn, starting
with redefi ning the aims of education. Our current school
system prepares our children to be academically smart, but not
emotionally intelligent. There is a need to match the scholastic
rigor with personal development. The external development of
problem-solving skills must be matched with a commitment to an
internal development of the same, as both are essential for facing
the trials of both work and home life.
Teaching mindfulness, compassion, kindness and all the things
that allow a young person to develop into a thoughtful global citizen
should be very much a part of the curriculum. Tools like meditation
and yoga should be part of the everyday classroom environment,
allowing our children to learn the value of inner peace at a young
age. I have opened up Brooklyn Borough Hall for these meaningful
disciplines; it is time our schools do the same.
Another fact for us to focus on is that our children will become
caregivers of our physical planet. Through my o ce’s Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Taskforce (ReSET) and Solid Waste
Advisory Board (SWAB), we are exploring ways for Brooklyn
to mend and replenish Mother Earth better, locally advancing
composting and shared solar energy. To go further, we must impart
lessons to our next generation on healthy lifestyle choices that do
not negatively impact our environment. The prevailing philosophy
that greed is good must be replaced with Gandhi’s belief that there
is much for human need and not for human greed. The choices
our young people will make with our limited resources are critical;
how they commit to addressing the wasteful practices of yesterday
and today will form the foundation of tomorrow.
Remember my friend’s father that founded the baby furniture
company? Every day, his son makes him proud. Let us follow
that example and raise future CEOs that can inherit “corporation
humanity,” providing goods and services that will make us proud.
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