Alexander Haley began crafting short stories during his tenure in the Coast Guard. As an emerging writer, he received a rejection letter weekly for four consecutive years. In fact, it was not until eight years later that his inaugural story was published.
Following two decades of military service, he retired and ventured into a new profession as a writer. He took on the role of an assignment writer for Reader’s Digest and subsequently collaborated with Playboy.
Before long, he gained recognition for his perceptive and comprehensive interviews. His discussions with Malcolm X culminated in his first book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley. This literary piece, translated into eight languages, brought Haley considerable acclaim as an author.
However, the most remarkable achievements were still ahead. The tales Haley encountered during his youth in the 1920s and 1930s motivated him in 1964 to explore his maternal lineage. “Using the pronunciations of the African words repeated by family members,” Haley consulted “linguists at several universities.” These language experts confirmed both the language and the village from which the words originated.
He traveled to Gambia, located in West Africa, to carry out research for his narrative. For his return journey to the United States, Haley arranged for passage on a cargo vessel in an effort to gain first-hand insight into the experiences of his ancestor during the voyage to America.
After dedicating nine years to the project, he still felt unprepared for the task and contemplated jumping off a freighter into the vast Pacific Ocean. While he stood at the rear of the freighter, gazing at the wake and readying himself to leap into the sea, he heard the voices of his ancestors urging him, “You go do what you got to do because they are all up there watching. Don’t give up. You can do it. We’re counting on you.”
Three additional years passed, and Roots: Saga of An American Family was ultimately published. Six months post-publication, over 1.6 million copies were sold. The work was translated into thirty-seven languages and serialized in the New York Post; the compelling narrative sparked interest in the exploration of Africa and African American genealogy.
Due to its extraordinary success, the American Broadcasting Company created Roots, a twelve-hour televised miniseries inspired by Haley’s novel. During the course of the eight-night telecast, Roots was viewed by more than 130 million viewers.
In 1976, Haley received the 1976 National Book Award for Roots. The following year, he received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored. In 1989, Haley became the first person to receive an honorary degree from the Coast Guard Academy.
Haley’s life exemplifies one of many narratives filled with initial failures that ultimately lead to success. You may experience setbacks now, but by gradually ascending the ladder, you can eventually attain the pinnacle. As Leonardo da Vinci famously stated, “Obstacles cannot crush me,” Leonardo da Vinci once said, “every obstacle yields to stern resolve.”
I was also reminded of the tale of British poet John Masefield. At the age of 18, he left his career as a seaman to work in a carpet factory in New York. During the nights, he began composing poetry after being inspired by the works of John Keats and Percy Shelley. He confessed, “I was on fire to be a poet, but, as everyone knows who has tried to compose a poem, the new task I had set myself was far more difficult than climbing masts or painting decks.”
Masefield nearly lost hope until he encountered this simple yet profound truth: “Sitting still and wishing makes no person great. The good Lord sends the fishing, but you must dig the bait.”
“This easily remembered stanza somehow gave me the courage I needed to go on. I dug bait for months – and finally caught a publisher who accepted my first poem,” he said. The rest is now history.
“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek,” said Mario Andretti.
George Allen agreed, “People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,” Calvin Coolidge reminded. “Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
It is not what destiny does with us, but what we do with destiny that determines what we shall become. When a man is determined, what can stop that person?
Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Put him in a prison cell and you have a John Bunyan. Have him born in abject poverty, and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Load him with bitter racial prejudice and you have a Martin Luther King. Make her blind and you have a Helen Keller.
Let life challenge you. You are human and the hardships of life are sent to you, not by an unkind destiny to crush you, but to challenge you. “God will never try us beyond our strength,” Saint Paul assures (I Corinthians 10:13).
