By Rev. Dennis Dillon, Christian Times —
As the HARLEM WEEK celebration continues in Harlem, our historic community, city and nation mourn the loss of its co-founder and the greatest kingmaker Harlem has ever known: Lloyd A. Williams.
In rare human form, he was a Harlem encyclopedia and geographer who knew and understood every Harlem landmark and everything there is to know about Harlem – a truly transformative figure who trailblazed the path for the modern Harlem Renaissance. There will never be another like him.
Without deliberate intention, he was a kingmaker. A man who lived his life putting others on stage, giving them the microphones and helping to send them off to Broadway and Hollywood as well as City Hall, Albany, and Washington, DC – watching with earnest as they deliver and return resources back to the communities he loved.
Rarely is there a man of such power hanging out backstage, working in the background and operating from the sidelines. Yet for Lloyd, it was so much more important to get the job done than to blaze in the spotlight and be laden with accolades.
His brilliance was immeasurable, his discipline precise. His timing was always impeccable and his process was visionary – never seeing things the way they are, but the way they ought to be. That was the force that drove him – and he got a lot done!
Lloyd’s influence and accomplishments are too many to document yet, with every milestone of his super fruitful life of 80 amazing years, he was always searching to find where he could help and how he could make a difference.
I was apt to believe that he lived full so he could die empty. He lived full as a father, husband, grandfather, son, brother, business leader, corporate executive, community organizer, multiple board member, organizations leader, political strategist, event planner, small business counselor, mentor, friend, initiatives orchestrator, consummate networker, relationship broker, and government negotiator.
The fact is, however, that here lived a man in whom God imbued and endowed so many abilities and capabilities that he could not possibly empty all that he had to give in 80 years. Lloyd Williams wasted no time maximizing his purpose and etching a legacy that can never ever die.
He lived full – and that’s a man who could never die empty!
Source: Christian Times
