Valley PR Blog

Remembering MLK and Standing Up For Your Beliefs

By Linda VandeVrede on April 4th, 2008 In Advice

Where were you 40 years ago? I was only in the 4th grade, but the news about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. hit my little 9-year-old brain like a thunderbolt. It was the first time in my life that I was forced to realize that the world can be a pretty nasty place. I was too young when JFK was killed to remember it — so 1968 was my awful introduction to reality. First MLK in April, then RFK in June. Even at that age I just couldn’t fathom it.

As public relations professionals, we’re often put in a very tricky role – advocating the interests and behaviors of others on the executive team who are often driven by sales or ego, rather than relationships and goodwill. At some point in your career you’ll be forced to face this head on. There is a brutal yet thought-provoking quote attributed to Tommy Ross of TJ Ross and Associates in the Wilcox book, Public Relations Strategies and Tactics: “Unless you are willing to resign an account or a job over a matter of principle, it is no use to call yourself a member of the world’s newest profession – for you are already a member of the world’s oldest.”

Granted, leaving a job or an account cannot be compared to giving up your life for a belief, but could you do it? What would be the final straw to push you over the edge? How do you evaluate when it’s time to stand up and leave?

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