The Boston Chamber of Commerce, John Lewis and a Day in May

For a businesswoman, the Boston Chamber of Commerce has many attributes - among them connections and a sense of collegiality - so it is no surprise that when I started my business 20 years ago, the Chamber would be one of the first organizations I joined. However, in my activist heart, I never would have imagined that membership in this proudly conventional business group would be the vehicle for an experience both moving and profound that will endure in my memory always.

It was May 2017. As part of an overall strategy to make Boston’s Chamber relevant to a new generation, newly appointed CEO Jim Rooney and long time luminary Flash Wiley led a small group of members to Washington, D.C. to tour the National Museum of African American History and Culture. To be confronted with our country’s sordid history of slavery displayed in graphic horror is to break your heart.

Downcast, we rode our bus to the next and only other stop on our itinerary: the Capitol. There our hosts had arranged a meeting with with members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation.

To our surprise, between remarks from Katherine Clark and Ed Markey, the man who for three decades represented Georgia in the House walked into our briefing room, here at the head of our small table was John Lewis. To me, he was not only an historic figure but also the embodiment of the resilience of the human spirit. This hero of the civil rights movement took time from his day to give this group of suits from Boston something at the moment we all sorely needed: hope. He reminded us that no matter how burdened we are by a history of racism and no matter how discouraged we may be with the divisiveness in America, we must continue the fight for justice.

Whatever ones doubts, we must act as though we can make a difference.