Geri Stevens had a passion for jury
duty. She was the head of jury selections in the judiciary department for the
city of San Diego. Every Monday she would address a new group of potential
jurors, reminding them of the special place they had in our justice system and
would review their responsibilities.
The majority of people who receive
a jury summons immediately begin to think of what they can do to get out of it.
It is not a happy place to be!
Geri finally convinced John Maxwell
to attend one of her jury orientation sessions, and he was beyond surprised by
the experience.
Maxwell recalls Geri standing before
her unreceptive audience with an air of excitement and said,
“This will be one of the most
wonderful weeks of your lives.”
That got everybody’s attention.
She proceeded to express
her passion “about
the greatness of America and the right of each citizen to have a fair trial.
She explained to the jurors how their decisions would make a
difference and
that they were examples of why America is a nation coveted and
admired by others. At the close of her 45-minute inspiring
talk, the potential jurors gave her a standing ovation!”
Geri Stevens’ passion for America
transferred to the prospective jurors. They were transformed from an
uninterested group of citizens, serving their civic duty to an inspired group
of Californians who looked “forward to being selected to serve on a jury.”
My family emigrated to America and
became American citizens. They embraced a dream of hope for a better life and
opportunities for their families.
My mother’s parents Mary Chernick
Leader and Earl D. Leader’s parents were from Russia and Hungary. My
Grandmother Mary Chernick’s parents escaped to America from Lithuania, Russia
with her two older brothers Michael and Harry. They traveled by ship to escape
the violent massacres in Russia of Jewish families condoned by Czar Alexander
111.
(Related: “From Humble Beginnings”)
My Grandfather, Earl D. Leader, his
original name Emil Ungerleider, talked about how his father, Mendel
Ungerleider’s parents, 13 siblings, spouses, cousins and other family members
died in Hitler’s concentration camps while he, his sister, their spouses,
children, and their parents were in America safe and sound.
Emma Lazarus was an American poet
who wrote her poem “The New Colossus, in 1883 “to raise money” for the construction of the pedestal of
the Statue of Liberty. In 1903 her poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and
mounted inside the pedestal’s inner wall on the Statue of Liberty.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the
golden door!”
The framers of our Constitution
were wise enough to realize that our unalienable
rights did not come from government or man; they came from God.They were also wise enough to
create the Constitution and Bill of Rights to be exclusionary (explaining what
Government cannot do, rather than all the things it could do).
The very freedoms that most of us
take for granted like the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, freedom of religion, freedom
of speech, freedom of the press, freedom
of assembly, and freedom to petition the government to right wrongs are
what make this country great. It is also why this great nation of ours is a
magnet for people from all over the world who answer the battle-cry
of their souls to be free by seeking citizenship.
Where my family is from (Russia and
Hungary), there were no rights, no choices, no opportunities, no free speech,
no right to a fair trial. You did what the government officials told them to
do. There was no freedom of expression. There was no choice in anything. When
you argued to try and protect yourself, they would throw you in prison and kill
you.
President Ronald Reagan said,
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. … It must be
fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
Let your voices be heard as
American citizens. Share your stories of the greatness of America just like
Gerri Stevens and my grandparents did and elect political candidates who will
protect and defend your constitutional and unalienable rights so the next
generations can continue to enjoy the American way of life!
Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com
Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert
artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her
observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your
business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is
available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline
at: mfrankviola@gmail.com