Fortuna Audentes Iuvat, it is the Latin phrase that professoressa Meravigli, my Italian Latin teacher, would often quote. It is quotidianly construed as Fortune favors the bold or the brave. Yet fives years of classical studies at Julius Cesar high school compel me to translate it: Fortune favors those who act boldly, those who dare to act.
In my teens, it was a saying I would use to double dare my friends into doing silly things. “Jump out the window Alessandro, Fortuna Audentes Iuvat.”
Overtime, I came to realize that it was the belief that led political, religious, military and business leaders throughout history, to take, as poet Robert Frost would say, "the less traveled road", the one filled with potholes of uncertainty, the one covered in frightening darkness, the one without any apparent signs of hope.
Overtime, it became the hissing prayer that Prince and I would recite as we prepared to embark on ever bolder ventures, from organizing the commemoration of Rosa Parks life, with little time, no money and a rickety idea in a turbulent sea of skepticism; to launching my successful presidential campaign in a predominantly white school of New Hampshire; to shipping over 100 computers to enable students in South Africa to bridge the tech divide; to believing that the bright minds of the African Diaspora would join us on an overly ambitious endeavor to chart and implement Africa’s development, with little time, no money and a rickety idea in a turbulent sea of skepticism.
Today, this hackneyed Latin phrase, Fortunat Audentes Iuvat, is what has brought us together. The idea that perhaps if we were to act boldly, we might be able to move our continent forward, is what has motivated visionary students to join us; the idea that perhaps if a group of bright African students were to act boldly in the interest of their home, is what has prompted our gracious friends to lend their name and support to Harambe Endeavor; the idea that perhaps bold action is what will enable a generation of Africans to build a peaceful and prosperous Africa, is why each year at the Harambe Bretton Woods Symposium: Where Ideas and Action Meet, the next generation of African professionals will gather right here, on the foothills of Mount Washington, to translate the dialog with the experts, academics, entrepreneurs , and the many friends of Africa, into action.
I could not think of a better day to launch an Endeavor that seeks to restore the dignity of a people and to lead a continent towards economic freedom. For today, with this sunset, Harambe’s Jewish friends, remember the beginning of the long trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the perilous wilderness on towards the Promised Land.
Like their journey, ours will be riddled with challenges. Violence, hunger, disease, illiteracy, gender discrimination, religious and ethnic rivalries, crisis in leadership, and endemic corruption still prevent the vivacious and entrepreneurial spirit of Africans to flourish, and express its full potential.
But like the sons of Abraham, we will persevere, we will remember the words of the King, who told us that "only when it is dark enough can we see the stars;" behind every crisis, we will explore opportunities; in the midst of desperation, we will shed light on stories of hope and during failures of leadership, we will lead. Never, will we surrender our conviction that tomorrow can be better than today and our campaign will not cease until the abundant promises of our land enrich the soul of all our people.
To achieve the dream of a generation, Harambe calls on a generation of Africans to act, Harambe calls on our leaders to enable us to act, Harambe calls on the academics, investors, NGOs, corporations and the many friends of Africa, at home and abroad, to inform and assist our action.
May our collective call for action ring off the prodigious mountains of New Hampshire, onto the dizzying heights of Kilimanjaro, across the fertile plains of the Savannah down to Table Mountain of South Africa. May the call we issue this April 19, 2008, on the shadow of a mountain range named after the president who gave rise to the great American story, mark the beginning of a new chapter in Africa’s history.
From this day forth we choose to be Africa’s hope for a prosperous future and to those who deride us as peddlers of hope we will quote the words of a Senator with a funny name who said, "there has never been anything false about hope."
Whatever history may say of this day, of this Endeavor, let it not doubt our commitment to our continent, let it not doubt our faith in our people, let it not doubt the power of an idea on a piece of paper.
To New Hampshire we say thank you, and to Africa we say, Harambe is on its way.
