King: You have vision to rebuild your community

Old industry may be no more, but new leadership can be encouraged, he said.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Martin Luther King III said he didn't come to Youngstown to tell the community how to revitalize itself.
Rather, his message is that it is up to the people of Youngstown to create and buy into a central vision that can lead to the city's rebirth.
He spoke to about 30 Mahoning Valley business, labor, education and other leaders Friday in a "One Valley Conversation" at Youngstown State University.
"A central vision is important for success," King said. He hopes his visit sparks more of the continuous dialogue needed to create that vision.
"Hopefully, I may have been a small lightning rod," he said.
Known for conflict resolution
King, son of famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has a reputation for resolving conflicts and for bringing segments of a community together, and that's why he was invited here, said Susan Moorer, executive director of Leadership Mahoning Valley.
King, president and chief executive officer of the King Center in Atlanta, said he does a lot of public speaking but opportunities like this trip to Youngstown where he gets a chance to encourage people interested in rebuilding a community to work together is a bit different.
King said he hopes Youngstown can create an image for itself that people will take with them when they leave that encourages them to come back.
Reverse the negative
That vision may already be here, but perhaps it just hasn't been recognized yet, he said. Any success is predicated on people buying into that central vision, King stressed.
He had never been to Youngstown but said the little he'd heard about the community gave him the perception that the city was run by the mob, had lost its major steel industry and was "not a ghost town, but not the best town."
But that's just perception, he said, and perception is not necessarily the truth.
Those who live here must foster what they want to occur as a community, he said, adding that every community has a visionary who has forged a plan that not everyone has bought into yet.
The city has a great name, he said. "Youngstown" is a name that should be able to attract people on its own.
The city is centrally located between Pittsburgh and Cleveland and there's no reason it can't become a major community in the region, King said. The old industry may be gone but entrepreneurial leadership in development of new, smaller businesses should be encouraged, he said.
Create the best product and people will come to you, he said.
gwin@vindy.com