Success by Choice Not by Chance Without Excuses: From the Plantation to the Plant

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© 2013 by Dr. Laurence P. Huntley. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/13/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2447-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2448-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2446-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013918046

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All scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 THE PURPOSE FOR THE BOOK

Are Things Better Now?

Childhood Experiences

Chapter 2 REALIZATION OF HIS LIFE EXPERIENCES

Relationship with His Stepfather

Relationship with His Grandfather

Relationship with His Grandmother

Relationship with His Mother

He Did It For The Love of Mama!

Cotton Picking Days: Projecting His Life to Higher Standards

Chapter 3 A HEART OF DISCONTENT

A Serious Choice

The Exodus from Mississippi—A Time of Discovery

Another Step on his Road to Success

Chapter 4 HOW THINGS EVOLVED

Unless You Have Been Through the Fire

Humility not Pride Creates Unity and Understanding

The Character of the Man

The Sacrifices

Things the Spirit of Enthusiasm Will Do for You

Do Not Leave Things to Chance

Commitment to Success

Freely Give Freely Get

Chapter 5 PREPARING THE GROUND WORK

Plowing His Own Field in Business

Know Your Limitations

Bob & Ernie Partnership and Relationship Un-corked

Knowing Your Role

Unity Is Strength

Chapter 6 LINKING UP

Team Work

Weather That Changed Bob and Ernie’s World

A Deeper Sense of Relationship

The Spirit of Hope Hung on God’s Word

Loyalty and Trust

Chapter 7 VISION AND ACTION

Wonder

The Impact of a Precise Moment: Beating the Enemy of Success (Procrastination)

The Rewards of Self Determination Are Embodied in this Book

Doing His Part in Action Not Words

Who Lights Your Flame

The Testament before the Trial

Chapter 8 WORKING HAND IN HAND

The Team

Trusting in God

You Must Know Who You Are

The Bob Goblet Encounter with a Man of Faith and Loyalty

In Retrospect

Self Will and Determination

Starting Your Life With A Quest

Chapter 9 TIME

The Value of Time

Time

The Proper Use of Time and Energy

The Power of Choice is in Your Heart

Chapter 10 PERSONALITY SPEAKS

How You Greet Whom You Meet

Controlling Your Destiny by Controlling Your Emotions

Teach Your Grand Kids

The Legacy of a Good Heritage

Managing the Business

Divine Intervention

God’s Place in Your Life

Chapter 11 RACE NEUTRAL

A Major Breakthrough was not by Luck

Acceptance of People—No Color Code—The Source of Success

Where in the Family Did the Spark of Ambition Start?

Journey to Discover Ernie’s Roots—Trip to Mississippi

Reflections of the Grafting and Back to the Future—A Throw Back

Who is Ernie Tucker

Chapter 12 PREPARING A FERTILE GROUND

Sowing Seed in Time for a Harvest in Due Season

His Covenant

What Was Your Breakthrough

Formative Years/ Schooling—Crane Jr. College

His Vision and Determination

Partnership

Making and Designing His Job

Business Relationship

Defining Their Relationship

Hiring an Attorney

What Made Him Tick

Chapter 13 THE STRENGTH TO STAND FOR SOMETHING

Courage—A Lesson to Learn and Grow By

Trusting People to Trust in Him

It Didn’t Matter if You Were Black or White

His First Big Break—Creating It

Chapter 14 THINKING ON A HIGHER PLAIN

Divine Intervention—A Clearly Defined Goal

Your Thoughts Dictate Your Direction in Life

The Uniqueness of the Partnership—Address Your Weaknesses

Chapter 15 MODUS OPERANDI

His Principles and Practices

Ignoring the Odds

Capture the Moment

Giving Back to the Community

Staying In his Lane

Keeping Your Lane

Chapter 16 FULFILLING YOUR COVENANT

Stepping Up and Taking Action

Use of the Sixth Sense

Philosophy of Life

A Man of His Word

Chapter 17 LET YOUR ACTIONS FULFILL YOUR THOUGHTS

Thinking Out Loud

Attainment

The Freedom and Power of One’s Choice

Money Was Not His Motive

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

I n life we usually find a cause to justify the reality of our success or failure. We relate the outcomes to prior circumstances or experiences to justify our condition. Our ultimate rewards are intrinsically tied to our due diligence or lack there of. We are the product of our past etched in the capacity of our being.

The past is history, but the future is yet to come. If we project our thoughts on what we hope for, our vision will be created according to our heart’s desires, not the dictates of our circumstance. We can have success by choice and not by chance by simply knowing exactly what we want and going after it. It is up to you.

The paradigm shows the simplicity of success. It is based on the do and don’ts of progressive thinking. To succeed you must have a desire to succeed, and then define what you would consider to be success. But you can only determine what success is if you have seen what success looks like in your vision of life.

First you must know that success is not a destination but an ongoing journey. Success comes from finding and fulfilling the needs of others. Someone once said, All good things come through the doors of men. When you plan your success, it must be based on fulfilling the needs of people first. In order to meet their needs, one must know their desires. A sense of empathy must exist in the mind of the success believer. They must know and understand how it feels to find a solution and the joy it brings to the one who seeks it.

If you want success, you must recognize your goal in life. Then decide how to attain that goal. Then find a vehicle to transport you into your desired world of success. What do you have to give, so that you could get there? Remember that you can only give that which you have. Giving is the pleasure of sharing the knowledge of having. Whatever is your gift, you must find it. Your gift is that which you will share with those who need your services. But the focus is not on the success, but on the service which brings success. It does not matter what you do, so long as you know that success is parallel to the size and scope to which you desire to help others, and the extent to which you will extend your gifts in meeting their needs, whether you are a painter, a poet, a planner or a plumber.

Desire is the first law of gains, and here in lies the power for change, and how it has transformed the lives of one generation from the plantation to the plant with no excuses. Ernie’s success is by choice, not by chance. His testament creates hope. Your encounter with him in this book will forever change your life, because it deals with adversity and recovery coupled with the power to believe.

Ernie was born into an unusual circumstance, nurtured in a harsh environment, grew up with the quality of a rose, beautiful in his character, his ways and his radiance, but protected by the thorns of the desire for survival. His premiere and most distinguished quality is his heart of gratitude. He maintained the qualities of a God given purpose true to his objective. His youthful life was harsh but it sharpened his sense of compassion which was instilled by the loving and guiding nature of his mother, the confidence building of his grandfather, and his innate character for fairness with a determination to do his part. Although he recalls the day the bus driver drove pass him on a lonely road a mile from school, it did not affect his attitude. He maintained his composure to listen and learned that in the end, the victory was his. He learned that day it is better to depend on God not man, and that everything in life is a lesson to be learnt.

Should he be given a challenge of a chance, he could change things. He carefully picked his fights so that he could win his battles, never with the person, but with that which stood in his way to success. To him the discovery of ignorance gave birth to the opportunity for him to seek the doorway to knowledge and a bright future. He strived to be a winner by choice, not by chance. Whatever he did he pursued with diligence wanting to be the best regardless of whom or what he competed against. As a boy he foot raced, jumped farm rails, chased away invaders, took risks, and endured pain to be counted in. His mantra was, No Excuses.

He worked harder and faster than most adults when he picked cotton or planted potatoes. He gained their respect and admiration, sometimes the envy of his peers. At the age of awareness, he was prepared to challenge the burdensome system of racial bigotry in his community, but the wit and wisdom of his mother prevailed when she realized that he was a very unique young man, who did not back down to adversity, and in his youthful way, would have settled the score in somewhat of an uncompromising manner with an irreversible outcome.

He was someone who was never intimidated by height or might. Although at times when he was right, he would have side stepped an issue if it would have compromised his opportunities to fulfill his greater objective. He would have changed the circumstances if he could, and left the rest to God. Sometimes his mother felt that he was cutting it too close, as in the instance with Mr. Tom in Mississippi. Before things could escalate to an irrevocable circumstance, she sent him to Chicago where his elder brother resided. His challenges were not as harsh, but there was opportunity if you sought after it. Ernie created his own breakthroughs, as he chose his turf, and calculated his mission. He had a great sense of discipline and determination with a terrific sense of priorities. He was steel willed and determined even though he maintained a sense of mental flexibility. He was inclined to carve out his own opportunities by examining all the options. Humble but confident, he focused on gaining knowledge since he recognized it to be the source of power and the vehicle to his goal in life. His three Ds in life were:

Dedication, Determination and Discipline. These principles were the foundation of his philosophy of life. When he picked a goal he always stuck to it. He never allowed distractions to get in his way. Despite the most adverse circumstances he never gave up. And when he approached a mission he followed an unshakable routine to achieve his goal. The rewards were always bountiful.

CHAPTER 1

THE PURPOSE FOR THE BOOK

D uring a moment of reflection with Dr. Huntley, a colleague who was on the Advisory Council on African American Affairs of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Chicago, a question was raised. What have we tried to accomplish through the commission in the last decade? We looked at each other and laughed. He evaded the question and did what he always did, address the practical. Personally, Mr. Tucker said, I have tried and accomplished the things I have personally attempted to do with my children, and they have done the same or better with my grandchildren. What he decided to do was to leave the future generation a legacy on some basic principles of life that has guided my whole life. These principles have been what had anchored my steps and clarified my purpose. They have helped me to fulfill my objective of providing the best for my family. He hoped to leave just a foot print on the sands of time by recording his life’s journey. That was the nucleus of the idea which gave birth to him suggesting that a book be written about the on going saga of a blessed life.

At an arranged interview with Mr. Tucker and his highly esteemed business partner, Mr. Bob Goblet, the question arose as to what they agree upon in their journey in the world of business. Their answer was so simple that it stomped my desire to find a more complex story which could have been earth shaking or ground breaking. In an air of simplicity they both agreed that what they had attained was through the basic elements of human civilities, respect, honesty and brotherly love for each other and one another’s family, while they were having an open mind in sharing goals of common interest. That was a lesson in itself. Being truthful to one another and always willing to be the one to extend out your hand in friendship justified demonstrating this formula of human understanding. Sincerity in word, thought, action and deed always helped. It is no wonder that the Tucker-Goblet team evolved to become what it is today, an indelible foot print on the horizon of the socio-cultural, socio-political, and race relation of our American society.

That is a textbook example of faith, respect and love for one another’s family. It was at a time when Blacks were not accepted as residents of some communities or work in certain positions, and Whites did not associate beyond the workplace. Bob and Ernie were actually working with precision in name and in nature. They knew each others gifts and parlayed them into an orchestration of a business symphony. The timing and harmonious relations were instrumental in the best case scenarios of business relations, and financial success without excuses.

When his business partner Bob, showed up for the biographical interview, he was on time although it was an intrusion into his scheduled activities he had laid out for the day. Nonetheless the interview would not have been complete, or the conversation fruitful if we had not determined what had they achieved in their sojourn. It was obvious that what was accomplished did not happen in the era of government set-asides, Minority Business incentives, or through the support of the Small Business Administration. Although they might not be the only team which might have scored success in the business arena, they are the only ones who have inculcated the philosophy of race neutrality into the next generation of their off spring that is obvious, or known to the general public. Hence the need to explore the depth of their successes, and chronicle the favorable out-comes so as to create a road map to the future for coming generations who wish to enjoy race neutrality here in America or on earth, and succeed in business and life.

When they started their partnership, it was a time when the air in Chicago reeked with controversy about every issue of human relations, from school desegregation and busing to Bridgeport and its social justice practices. They leapfrogged that generation and became the true model of what Dr. Martin Luther King had only dreamt about. They had already walked hand in hand in business, with social and cultural integrity by comingling their business enterprises with family vacations and real estate purchases and other investments. Not simple things, but complex investments such as farms and condominiums in exclusive vacation destinations, and even boats.

Even in the turn of the millennium, such relationships were few and far between. Hence the need to plant seeds of hope for future generations of human beings. We have searched for instances of such a great human success story and it was difficult to point out instances of true life successes of similar ilk. We wonder if it was possible to find a similar life story to have lasted this long. The question which hangs in the wind after all these years is; has Martin Luther King’s dream become a reality, or is it just a nightmare for many people? We wanted to know the truth, but we must declare what have been the facts of the situation in order to validate the claim that the Bob Goblet’s and Ernest Tucker’s saga is an ongoing reality. If not! What are the conditions of the current affairs and portraits in business partnerships which were ordained through government edict? Did 49%-51% work? Very well, if it did work! But today there is one sure thing. Bob and Ernie’s 50%-50% has survived the times of civil unrest economic downturns and political changes by following God’s rules.

Are Things Better Now?

The question was Are things better now than then? Back then, in the mid-sixties, people were skeptical, and very unsure on both sides of the social and racial spectrum. For over 200 years the racial chasm festered in a do nothing attitude, that is the way it is, not in the voice of what it ought to be, which evolved into Jim Crow legislation which was socially and morally reprehensible. A case in point and as a matter of fact, how little things have changed. The lead machinist at Ernie’s shop had a difficult time dealing with Ernie as his manager. He was quite challenging to Ernie, not only in words but in his ways. If he could, he would have fired Ernie, despite the fact that Ernie as part owner and operations manager was providing him a job! Tensions were high at that time in history in America, because of an impending racial and socio-economic shift. Bob, Ernie’s business