>“We look into mirrors but we only see the effects of our times on us–not our effects on others.” – Pearl Bailey

I saw the video segment on the evening news and thought, “that’s only part of the speech, where’s the rest?” It turns out that the video clip was taken out of context, resulting in her superiors, white house officials, other public officials, and much of the public to jump to conclusions. Release of this clip initially resulted in attacks on her professional and person character, loss of her job, and a bunch of unwanted media attention. Fortunately for Ms. Sherrod, the full video was later viewed by her superiors and, while a great deal of damage had already occurred, the Department of Agriculture has back stepped, apologized, and offered her a new position within the agency. She even received a text and a phone call from President Obama.


This entire fiasco got me to think about myself as a parent, a spouse, a friend, and an educator. It’s really made me reflect on times that I may have jumped to conclusions about someone else’s actions. The lesson here is that we should not be quick to judge, as a matter fact, we shouldn’t be judging people at all. Period! We should be more open-minded before we form opinions about anything or anyone. While I consider myself to be pretty flexible, I’ve decided to re-commit to being even more open-minded and to continue to question what is being presented to me and think about my effects on others.

Edited Speach
Full Speech