BURLINGTON, Vt.—Oprah's man has some advice: Be yourself, and reach for the stars.
That was the message delivered at a Martin Luther King, Jr. remembrance Sunday, as author Steadman Graham implored young people to be the best they can be.
"If it falls (to) your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Sweep streets like Beethoven composed music ... Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept well," he said, quoting the slain civil rights leader.
"What that translates into for me is: Let your little light shine," he told members of the Essex Children's and World Unity choirs in the event at City Hall.
Drawing on his own personal experience, he said being called "Oprah Winfrey's boyfriend" doesn't mean that's how he sees himself.
"You can create anything you want based on the 24 hours you have in a day. You can control your own life. That's the vision that Dr. King had. Change your perspective, and you will change your life," he said.
"Graham has taught us a very important thing," said Patrick Brown, director of The Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center. "That there is equity. We all have one thing in common: 24 hours. What we do with those 24 hours is up to us."
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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
