As a professional speaker, I get to go to some very nice places. Tweet this

It turns out that people hold events in major cities, fabulous resorts, and famous tourist destinations. 

Last Friday I was in Little Rock helping the largest Arkansas-based accounting firm increase revenue by improving their presentations to prospective clients. 

I stayed for the weekend and toured Little Rock to learn more of its history. 

A tourist can’t really understand the Arkansas capitol city without visiting Central High School and the Little Rock Nine National Park, which more resembles a museum than a park. 

A message that keeps on giving

The Little Rock Nine was a group of African American students who tried to gain entrance to an all white school in 1957. 

The National Guard was called to the scene and the national media reported some very ugly behavior, including a photograph that spoke volumes regarding race relations back then.

Things became such a mess that the Little Rock school system was shut down for an entire year.

On the day I toured the Little Rock Nine museum, Rodney King died in California.

King became the face of the Los Angeles riots in 1992 when a group of policemen beat him senseless and the scene was captured on video. 

This now famous bit of video and the resulting riot shed new light on America’s lack of progress in the area of race relations as of the early 90s.

Even now, as I think about the Little Rock Nine and Rodney King, I wonder how far we’ve really come.  I wonder how much further we need to go when it comes to living together without prejudice. 

Sometimes the best presentations are confrontational

The imagery from 1957 and 1992 do not make for pleasant viewing.  They show people at their worst and make us cringe with discomfort. 

But the sheer shock value of these types of photos and video can make for a very effective presentation, don’t you think?

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