From Tony's Desk: An Inspiring Story of Gratitude and Belonging

My friends,?

As the Thanksgiving holiday approached last year, I shared my feeling with you that America needs a new attitude of gratitude.??

Didn't mean to imply that we're a nation of ingrates. But most of us are not really comfortable with expressing or receiving gratitude. Meaningful expressions of gratitude tend to embarrass us, so we let emojis serve as a substitute.?

But earlier this year I came across a story reported by NBC News and other national news organizations about an act of gratitude that's not only meaningful, but also encouraging evidence that our society is not as divided as it sometimes seems.?

The story surfaced in Coronado, CA., a resort community just across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. Two brothers, both in their 80s, were selling their childhood home in Coronado and an adjoining eight-unit apartment building. And they're using the bulk of the proceeds to make what's known as a "naming gift" of $5 million to the Black Resource Center? (BRC) at San Diego State University.?

Donors of naming gifts are given the opportunity to name the facility they contribute to, and traditionally it's named to honor the donor's family. But here's where the Coronado story gets even more interesting.

?Generous remembrance of a generous past

?The two donors are Lloyd Dong, Jr. and his older brother Ron,? the sons of Chinese immigrants. Their generous gift is an expression of gratitude to Gus and Emma Thompson, the Black couple who first rented and later sold their property to the Dong brothers' parents back in the 1930s, when race prejudice and sometimes local ordinances made it very difficult for people of Asian descent to find housing in California.

?So, the BRC is being re-named for Gus and Emma Thompson, African Americans whose compassion reached across racial boundaries to help the Dong family get their start in America.?

?As you might imagine, Gus and Emma were not strangers to racial barriers. And they used their entrepreneurial energy to fight them. Gus was born into slavery in Kentucky around the beginning of the Civil War. In the 1880s he arrived in Coronado just as the landmark Hotel del Coronado was being built and the city of Coronado was being established. He built the 3-bedroom house which would later become the Dong family's home.?

Next door he built a livery stable (later replaced by the apartment house) . This provided him with a living, but he also built rooms above it where Black coach drivers and other people of color could rent rooms in an era when most local housing was denied to them. When the Thompsons' kids were grown and out of the house, their parents would occasionally move into one of the rooms above the stable to make their house available to a minority family who needed the space more.?

Investing in the future by honoring the past?

Over the years Emma and Gus became successful entrepreneurs in multiple local businesses as well as civic leaders and early civil rights and political activists,? especially Emma. The Dong family hopes that naming the BRC for Emma and Gus will help keep today's students aware of the Thompsons' legacy. And the Dongs' $5 million gift will fundamentally expand the center's work of providing mentorships,? development support and advancement opportunities for students before and after graduation.?

Most of us don't have the opportunity to express our gratitude through philanthropy on that scale. But we all have the opportunity to express our gratitude personally to people who have touched our lives in a positive way. This holiday season might be a good time to reach out to even just one such person.? And maybe this story out of California will inspire some of us to do just that.?

I'm personally inspired by both the Thompsons' legacy and the Dong family's?? generous recognition of that legacy. It's a wonderful example that when it comes to building a more equitable society where all people have a true sense of belonging,? we're all in this together. We may not all get there at the same time, but we will all get there. And we'll all benefit if we remember that all of us must do our part.?

Happy Thanksgiving!?

In Gratitude,

tony