(Memphis) Students packed the Temple of Deliverance Tuesday morning to hear from the National Civil Rights Museum 2012 Freedom Award Honorees.
Marlo Thomas, daughter of St. Jude Research Hospital founder Danny Thomas, has taken St. Jude to new heights in treating children with cancer.
Thomas is receiving the Humanitarian Award, “If you don’t notice something, you can’t cure anything. I think people go through life with tunnel vision. They are thinking what they need for their families. That is fine. But notice what is happening around you.”
National Freedom Award Honoree Dr. Bernard LaFayette, a 1960s civil rights activist, encouraged students to remember history, “That’s what young people must do. You must learn those lessons in order to apply those lessons to future problems.”
Students had questions for International Award Honoree Economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, who started a village bank to provide credit to the poor.
“Do you think micro-loans can help us in the United States?” one student asked Yunus.
“You have almost 2/3rds of the world population almost deprived of the financial services of the banks. So you need a completely new set up of banks which can provide those services,” replied Yunus.
Legacy Award Honoree Dr. George Jenkins encouraged students to excel.
Jenkins and three friends, now known as The Three Doctors, excelled in the medical field despite their background, “Don’t get caught up into someone getting an edge faster. You are gonna get that edge if you put that work in.It’s not a race to your degree.”
The honorees picked up their awards at a ceremony and dinner Tuesday night at the Cannon Center.