Explorations in Black Leadership

Co-Directed by Phyllis Leffler & Julian Bond

Leadership Philosophy: Having Faith and Taking Care

BOND: Talking about war, in an interview in Essence in 2000, you described yourself as being in a war, waking up every day feeling you're going into combat for the causes you're fighting for. Is this a philosophy that you embrace that you're sort of girding up as if for war? To meet the enemy every day?

LEE: Oh, yeah, every day. Every day, especially with the nature of this place.

BOND: But how do you sustain that over a long, long time?

LEE: Well, I think it's faith again, you know, I say my prayers. You have to just have faith that you can and you have to know that what you're doing hopefully is right and you have family and friends around you to kind of support you. It's hard but it's not — it's not insurmountable, you know, and I hear people tell me, "I'm depressed, I'm tired, uhh." Well, if you take care of yourself, and if you stay on track and if you really believe in what you're doing, I in ain't no way tired, you know, you just keep going.