From The President's Desk

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​Dr. Bethune’s Last Will & Testament: A Litany
..."Here, then is my legacy”

I LEAVE YOU LOVE... Love builds. It is positive and helpful. It is more beneficial than hate. Loving your neighbor means being interracial, interreligious, and international.
I LEAVE YOU HOPE... Yesterday, our ancestors endured the degradation of slavery, yet they retained their dignity.  Today, we direct our economic and political strength toward winning a more abundant and secure life.
I LEAVE YOU THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE IN ONE ANOTHER... Negroes have got to demonstrate still more confidence in each other in business. This kind of confidence will aid the economic rise of the race by bringing together the pennies and dollars of our people and ploughing them into useful channels.  Economic separatism cannot be tolerated in this enlightened age, and it is not practicable. We must spread out as far and as fast as we can, but we must also help each other as we go.
I LEAVE YOU A THIRST FOR EDUCATION... Knowledge is the prime need of the hour. ... If we continue in this trend, we will be able to rear increasing numbers of strong, purposeful men and women, equipped with vision, mental clarity, health and education.
I LEAVE YOU RESPECT FOR THE USES OF POWER... We live in a world which respects power above all things. Power, intelligently directed, can lead to more freedom... that is why we must select leaders who are wise, courageous, and of great moral stature and ability... we must produce more qualified people like them, who will work not for themselves, but for others.

I LEAVE YOU FAITH... Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible. Faith in God is the greatest power, but great, too, is faith in oneself...Our forefathers struggled for liberty in conditions far more onerous than those we now face, but they never lost the faith...We must never forget their sufferings and their sacrifices, for they were the foundations of the progress of our people.
I LEAVE YOU RACIAL DIGNITY... I want Negroes to maintain their human dignity at all costs. We must recognize that we are the custodians as well as the heirs of a great civilization... I would not exchange my color for all the wealth in the world, for had I been born white I might not have been able to do all that I have done or yet hope to do.
I LEAVE YOU A DESIRE TO LIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEN... The problem of color is worldwide. It is found in Africa and Asia, Europe and South America. I appeal to American Negroes--North, South, East and West--to recognize their common problems and unite to solve them.
I LEAVE YOU FINALLY A RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE... The world around us really belongs to youth for youth will take over its future management. Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better world. They must not be discouraged from aspiring toward greatness, for they are to be the leaders of tomorrow. Nor must they forget that the masses of our people are still underprivileged, ill-housed, impoverished and victimized by discrimination. We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.

If I have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and serving. As I face tomorrow, I am content, for I think I have spent my life well. I pray now that my philosophy may be helpful to those who share my vision of a world of Peace, Progress, Brotherhood, and Love.