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The best-selling author and famous boyfriend of Oprah Winfrey told a crowd of nearly 200 Omahans Saturday that the recipe for success is self-worth and love. “You have two choices: Become a slave or become an owner,” Stedman Graham told his audience. “A follower or a leader. Owners don’t talk to slaves. Leaders don’t talk to followers.” Graham was the guest speaker for the graduating class of the Academic Summer Academy, sponsored by the United Methodist Church’s Wesley House. Sixteen students ages 7 to 10 were honored Saturday. The program focuses on literacy, leadership-development, legacy-building and love. Graham is chairman of the management and marketing firm that creates training and leadership programs for corporations and educators. His most recent book, “Move Without the Ball,” encourages readers to widen their definition of a successful life and build a solid academic foundation. At St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church of Christ on Maple Street, Graham told his audience that unless people think on their own, they cannot maximize their own potential. Otherwise, “the world defines you by your color,” he said. “Because you’re a black male, you become a target. So (people) walk around as second-class citizens…..and have second-class everything.” Too many minorities, he said buy into the self-fulfilling prophecy that their lives are meaningless. He said blaming white people or the government for their problems is the wrong place to look.’ “You are what you love,” he said. “Can you love yourself? Don’t focus on your weaknesses, focus on your strengths.” |
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