Jacksonville's Carla Harris - St. Augustine Catholic

I n H e r O w n W o r d s
“When I was leaving Bishop Kenny for
Harvard, people said, ‘Well, you know
that’s a big school and all those kids come
from Ivy League prep schools. It will be
very competitive, so just do your best and
don’t worry about it.’”
Oh, really?
“At the end of my freshman year a
professor advised me not to major in
economics because, as he put it, ‘You can’t
think, girl.’”
Oh, really?
“By my senior year I was working
three jobs, maintaining an A grade level,
applying to great graduate schools, vying
for an internship on Wall Street and
writing my thesis.
“That’s when I realized the power that
exists in faith. I mean, I was baptized at
three months old, and I went to Catholic
school through 12th grade and, sure,
I went to Mass and did things grade
by grade, but I don’t think I grasped
the power of faith and what I can do
with it until I ran into adversity and the
challenges of my college years. That’s when
I realized, if I prayed for it, I would get it.”
So what did the gifted Carla Harris pray for?
“Courage. I think the difference between
someone who finds their gifts and uses
them to reach their goals, vs. someone who
doesn’t, is the courage to believe and to
understand where your power comes from,
and then to confidently act.
“I’ve had people say, well, they don’t
have any special gifts. They do this
average. They do that average, and I say,
oh really? You’re just average? Well,
Carla Harris serves on community
and foundation boards ranging from
the New York City Food Bank and
A Better Chance Inc., to The Apollo
Theatre Foundation, St. Charles
Borromeo Catholic School, the
Morgan Stanley Foundation and
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
(SEO is the organization that helped
pave her way to Wall Street). She
also finds time to pursue a successful
singing career. Her first album, Carla’s
First Christmas and her newly released
gospel album, Joy Is Waiting, are both
available on www.Amazon.com and
www.cdbaby.com.
how about that you sew better than I
can? That’s a gift. Speak better than I can?
That’s a gift. What about the fact you’re a
better listener and you can make someone
feel he or she is the only person in the
room? That’s a gift.
“Once I actually start talking to people
about who they are, and articulating it
back to them, they can see they are special;
they bring something to the table.”
P e o p l e W h o L o o k L i k e M e
“If a story headlines the fact that I am
a black woman, I think it’s important.
Race and gender can be fears or obstacles
we put in our own minds so we end up
thinking success is for other people; it’s
not for people who look like me. But when
you see someone you identify with, who
is doing things, then all of a sudden you
think perhaps there aren’t any obstacles
and you find a message and an inspiration.
“I view discrimination as other people’s
baggage and I carry enough of my own
without picking up theirs. So if I even
smell discrimination, then I say ok, that’s
their baggage, let me look at this as an
educational exercise for them. By the
end of this interaction they will love me,
and maybe they won’t have to carry that
baggage any more.”
B a d , B a d D a y
“Anybody can have a bad day, especially
on Wall Street where things change minute
to minute. You have a deal you’ve been
working really hard on and you’re looking
forward to bringing it to market, but the
market doesn’t cooperate. People aren’t
interested in owning that security now. Or
a competitor comes out of nowhere with
an offer your client takes. That’s a bad day.
You feel the bite.
“The lyrics to Standing on Holy Ground
were inspired by a friend who tried to
cheer me up on one of my rough banker
days. I had emailed her, saying oh, boy,
rough day on the street today. She emailed
back saying don’t forget you are standing
on holy ground – He is always with you.
Later during a flight to Los Angeles, the
lyrics came to me.
“People ask how I can come back from
a bad day and give my best the next day. I
tell them what my paternal grandmother,
who still lives in Jacksonville, told me long
ago, ‘whatever you be, be good at it.’
“Completing the to-do list doesn’t matter
as long you give it your best shot. Every
time you interact with other people, no
matter how rough they may be, give it
your all. So often we let circumstances get
us down when things don’t work out. But
there is a satisfaction that can sustain you
when you give it your best. If your job
is to organize paperwork or file, just be
the best organizer and filer there is. Be
a steward of that filing. Show what you
can do and something more will come
your way.”
P r e p a r i n g A P l a c e
“I credit St. Pius for my foundation in
education, and Bishop Kenny for the critical
years. I also recognized that a lot of my St.
Pius classmates could not continue to Bishop
Kenny for financial reasons. Even then, it
was in my mind, because these were friends
Carla Harris, a member of St. Charles Borromeo Gospelites, is making a difference
for St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School. She is a major benefactor of educational
programs that help children who live in tough environments.
richard termine
I had grown up with. So I always thought if
someday I could help people so money wasn’t
a barrier to education, I wanted to do it.
“When I got to Wall Street and became
financially able, Bishop Kenny was the first
place I thought about. St. Charles Borromeo
Catholic School in Harlem was the other.
I sing in the St. Charles Gospelite Choir,
and it is so clear, when I look around the
church, who attends St. Charles School and
who doesn’t. Everything about the St. Charles
students speaks volumes with respect to the
curriculum, the teachers, the kind of support
and nurturing these kids get. Most of them
come from tough environments, but St.
Charles School is making a major difference in
their lives. So I want to be a part of furthering
the next generation’s opportunity to attend
these two schools. All the proceeds from my
albums and vocal performances benefit them.
My goal is $250,000 to develop math and
science programs for St. Charles and $250,000
to endow a scholarship fund at Bishop Kenny.
And I’ll keep moving, and I’ll keep working
toward my goal, and I’ll keep praying until I
get there.
I n G o d ’ s W o r d s
“God never skimps on us; he always gives us
his best at all times. When I don’t quite know
where I stand, I believe I will still land on my
feet because, in Romans 8:28, he said, ‘And
we know that all things work together for the
good of those who love Him and are called to
His purpose.’”
Thanks be to God.
And thank you, Carla Harris.
Attend a Worldwide
Marriage Encounter
weekend.
Contact Tom & Susan Hughes
800-923-WWME (9963)
www.geocities.com/jaxMEweb
20 St. Augustine Catholic February 2006 St. Augustine Catholic February 2006 21
richard termine
Last November, Carla Harris performed
in Carnegie Hall before a full house. Her
repertoire included songs from her newly
released CD, “Joy Is Waiting.”
Back thrown out
with the trash?
www.jaxhealth.com
Mission News
“We can only pay him $3.52 a month
but he is like a priceless gift to our people.”
So says Bishop Joseph Willigers
of Jinja, Uganda, about
Mathias, one of his catechists.
There are 185 full-time and 569
part-time catechists in Jinja.
Each is willing to give of themselves
because, as one catechist
put it, “We love Jesus Christ
and know that but for our
work of making Him known
many of our people would not
be reached at all with the ‘Good News.’”
Won’t you help catechists in the Missions, through
the Propagation of the Faith, as they continue to
bring the “Good News” of Jesus Christ to those most
in need of Him?
The Society for the
PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH
…A Pontifical Mission Society
Rev. Brian Eburn, local director
c/o St. Michael Parish, P.O. Box 6310
Fernandina Beach, FL 32035-6310
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