In pursuit of the truth using data journalism and Taylor Swift’s carbon footprint

by Joe Domaleski | Feb 12, 2024 | Blog, Business, Columnists, Community, Front Page, News Center, Opinion, Top News

Much of the information we consume is fed to us algorithmically by computers in the form of memes, social media posts, brief video clips, and other short forms of media. (Editor’s note:Yes, that was Taylor Swift’s name in the article title.  That’s not click-bait. We will bring the subject of Taylor Swift a little further down into this article. Be patient and read along as we lay the foundations to make her carbon footprint relevant to this article).

When something goes “viral,” people register a “like” or comment and then pass it along to others without much thought, similar to a biological virus. Before you know it, whole segments of the population are potentially “infected” by misinformation. Although it’s not always intentional, misinformation is a real problem in today’s society. In a previous article, I wrote about a related concept called The Matthew Effect. With the rise of generative AI (artificial intelligence), the problem is likely to get worse. In fact, many media outlets are considering putting warning labels on AI-generated content.

We live in a noisy, data-drenched world, and yet truth is such a rare commodity. I’m reminded of that famous line, “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,” in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. In the poem, those lines are spoken by a thirsty mariner who is adrift at sea but unable to drink from the saltwater sea. It conveys a sense of irony and despair of being surrounded by something in abundance yet being unable to use it. As a society, I think most of us thirst for the truth. Here’s my modern take on that famous poetic line:

Data, data everywhere,
yet seldom do we think.

We are literally surrounded by data. When you are born, you get a social security number that’s a form of data to establish your identity and track you for the rest of your life. In school, you have report cards, test scores, and grades that go into your academic transcript. Everything you do online is tracked. Everywhere you go is tracked by GPS or a roadside camera. Organizations and governments capture data. Medical providers keep data on patient care. Insurance companies keep data on claims. Stores keep data on sales transactions. Banks and credit agencies use data to assess risk and account for financial transactions. Your personal preferences are noted and captured by social media, streaming music outlets, and video services. In short, there’s no shortage of data everywhere about everything. The abundance of data has advantages and disadvantages to society. We can examine the disadvantages and concerns in a future article.

In our quest for the truth, let’s turn our attention to the advantages of having so much data. A quality, original source of data has the potential to provide indisputable, unfiltered truth. Most of us rely on traditional forms of news information in which a human author (or AI) attempts to summarize, explain, or elaborate on something that we assume started as facts from an original data source. Conventional journalism often relies on interviews, observation, and qualitative analysis. This is very helpful when done correctly. It’s not always easy or straightforward to get insight from raw data. On the other hand, the potential for abuse and bias increases as layer upon layer of commentary drifts away from the original, underlying truth.

Data journalism is a relatively new term that flips the story-writing process upside down to start with the data, not the human commentary on the data. It adds a quantitative dimension to stories, research, and investigation. Although the term is new, the concept isn’t. Data journalism was inspired by investigative reporting based on open records requests, meeting minutes, transcripts, data charts, budgets, and other forms of data. Specifically, data journalism is concerned with mostly numerical data since numbers tend to be less nuanced and most objective than words. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the publisher of this paper used data journalism by reporting on the numbers such as those discussed towards the end of the pandemic.

Data driven journalism process graphic. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Source/Mirko Lorenz

So what is data journalism? One commonly accepted academic definition suggests the practice of data journalism is “a way of enhancing reporting and news writing with the use and examination of statistics in order to provide a deeper insight into a news story and to highlight relevant data. One trend in the digital era of journalism has been to disseminate information to the public via interactive online content through data visualization tools such as tables, graphs, maps, infographics, microsites, and visual worlds.” (Antonopoulos, Nikos; Karyotakis, Minos-Athanasios (2020). The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. p. 440).

As someone who’s been working with data most of my professional career, my own definition of the term is that data journalism is the use of computer technology, statistics, and data visualizations to help tell a story. Whereas traditional journalism may include a graph or chart, data journalism makes that a central feature. Data journalist Mirko Lorenz says that “data-driven journalism is primarily a workflow that consists of the following elements: digging deep into data by scraping, cleansing, and structuring it; filtering by mining for specific information; visualizing and making a story.” Here’s an example from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Source: Atlanta Regional Commission – 21-County Data Dashboard

This approach to reporting relies on three activities: accessing a quality data source, analyzing (aka “interrogating”) the data to understand it, and visualizing the data into a graphical format that tells a story. Examples of data visualizations include infographics, database listings, data-enriched maps (like Google Maps), dashboards, interactive graphics, charts, and even 3D virtual reality explorations. Data journalism tends to rely less on words and more on pictures – but pictures based on original data sources.

There are many advantages to data journalism:

• Enhanced Objectivity: Data visualizations based on original sources tend to be less susceptible to personal bias.
• Greater Depth and Context: It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Visual storytelling allows the reader to explore information in a deeper, more meaningful way than traditional word-based media.
• Higher engagement: The ability to see and explore data “hands-on” is more fun and engaging for the audience. Take a child to a science museum with interactive exhibits and compare that to a science textbook to see what I mean.
• Increased comprehension: Data presented in an interactive format encourages readers to explore the information themselves, leading to greater insights and understanding. Instead of being told what to think, the reader has to use their own brain to draw conclusions.
• Uncovering new insights: Data visualizations often uncover patterns, trends, and knowledge that’s not obvious in a traditional written story.

There are some disadvantages to this approach to journalism as well:

• Increased complexity: Even though a visual approach to storytelling has the potential to be more user-friendly, it does require the target audience to use their eyes and brains. Some people like to be told what to think, so data journalism wouldn’t be appropriate for them.
• Risk of Misuse: Statistics and graphs can be misused to skew or distort the truth. Correlation is not the same as causation. Look that one up.
• Risk of misinterpretation: Even if the visualization is sound, the target audience may be confused and make improper interpretations contrary to the facts. This problem isn’t unique to data journalism; all forms of communication are subject to misinterpretation.
• Bad data: Proper data journalism requires accurate and available data. Beware of data visualizations that are based on incomplete, outdated, or biased information. Always look for the original data source citation and avoid homemade infographics with no citation.
• Privacy: The right to privacy and the right to know are two, often conflicting societal goals. On one hand, the proliferation of data has made life easier. On the other, it’s made it harder than ever to live a private life. Most data-driven stories avoid personal data unless it involves a public figure.

Taylor Swift at the 2024 Golden Globes on 2/7/24. Attribution 3.0 Generic (CC BY 3.0) Source/iHeartRadioCA

Here’s a recent situation regarding data journalism. Does the public have a right to know where Taylor Swift travels in her private jet? A young data journalist has been using publicly available data to publish information about her travels.

Taylor Swift launches legal salvo at student who tracks private jets via public data
(Source – ABC News website, 2/7/24)

Does the public have a right to know, or does Taylor have a right to fly in privacy? Some have even correlated the flights with the carbon footprint it leaves behind, noting the potential hypocrisy in Swift’s public comments related to global warming.

Why Taylor Swift’s globe-trotting in private jets is getting scrutinized
(Source – AP News website, 2/7/24)

By the way, as I was writing this story, there’s been some breaking news that Taylor Swift sold her jet amid the uproar. Regardless of how you may personally feel about the story, this is a great example of the impact made by data journalism.

My intention isn’t to pick on Taylor Swift. Quite the contrary, I don’t mind admitting that I enjoy her music and think she’s quite talented. In fact, congratulations to Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce on the Kansas City Chief’s win at the Super Bowl. What a game!

Anyway, back to the main article theme. By using data journalism many things we assume are true based on a single headline just don’t stand up to scrutiny. In the broader discussion about carbon emissions, one would think the United States is the worst offender based on the news. Consider the following data visualization.

Not only is it not true that the US is the worse offender, carbon emissions in the US are on the decline. China is the worst offender and their carbon emissions are growing. The data speaks for itself. I’ll leave it to the reader to put their own interpretation of what this signifies.

So, what does all of this mean for you and the readers of this newspaper? In the upcoming weeks, I will be working with the publisher to create and publish some new features that use data journalism methodology. Some of these features will start as simple data aggregation features, but over time we hope to create some fun and compelling data visualizations based on real and relevant data. In all cases, we will cite the data sources (just like it’s done in traditional news stories) and when possible provide a direct link to those sources.

Our goal? To provide the discerning reader more opportunities to discover the truth for themselves. There is a wealth of publicly available data produced by our local, state, and national governments. At the local level, both of our two largest municipalities have gone to great lengths to provide more data and communications to the citizens – that’s good, and I have personally thanked both mayors for their efforts in communicating with the public using different methods. Yet, we all know that a free press is a good thing for a community. The online edition of this newspaper was one of the original news sites that goes all the way back to the late ’90s. An online strategy has always been an integral part of the operation at The Citizen. We aim to take that to the next level by adding quality data journalism to the mix.

So, what would you like to see? Let us know, and we’ll look into it.

[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25 years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year.  Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran.  He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. ]

If the grid goes down, amateur (ham) radio works when all else fails

by Joe Domaleski | Jan 29, 2024 | Blog, Business, Columnists, Community, Front Page, News Center, Opinion, Top News

Idon’t necessarily consider myself a “prepper,” but I do like to be prepared in case of emergencies. When I was a Boy Scout, I was taught to “Be Prepared.” We often think of emergency preparedness as having supplies and plans in place for first aid, food, water, battery power, shelter, important documents, and money. Those are all good and necessary preparations, but how about communications? Instant communications with cellphones and the internet have spoiled us. What happens if those forms of communication fail? It’s admittedly old-school technology, but amateur (ham) radio works when other forms of communication fail.

Before there were cellphones, the internet, or even television, if you don’t count smoke signals and signal flags, the world’s first form of wireless communication was radio. The ability to hear voices, music, and news through thin air was (and still is to me) somewhat magical. I’ve always had a personal interest in radio. As a middle-schooler, I enjoyed building crystal radio kits that allowed me to hear distant radio stations from around the world without batteries! Shortwave radio stations allowed me to hear news and music from faraway places like London through the BBC World Service, the Soviet Union (now Russia) through Radio Moscow, and obscure Pacific islands whose primary connection to the world was radio.

Joe (KI4ASK) & Mary Catherine (KI4HHI) Domaleski at the 2023 Fayette County Amateur Radio Club field day event in Brooks, GA. Photo/Bryan Macera

Closer to home, I enjoyed listening to scanners – not the type of scanner you hook up to a computer to make copies of documents, but radio scanners that gave me the ability to listen to our police, fire, airport traffic, and more. Radio opened up a whole new world to me, and I remained fascinated with it all through high school. Yes, Radio Shack was one of my favorite stores at the mall.

My first exposure to two-way radio (meaning that I could listen and talk) was probably a set of GI Joe walkie-talkies that my brother and I got for Christmas one year. We had fun riding around the neighborhood on our bikes, talking on the radio about “secret missions.” Go watch “Stranger Things” – Dustin was me in high school (although I was a little skinnier). During the CB radio craze of the late 70s, my father put one in his truck, and I enjoyed talking to people as we traveled down the highway, saying things like, “Breaker One-Nine, this is the Little Polack.” Yes, my CB handle was “Little Polack,” and my dad was the “Georgia Polack.”

In the Army, we used radios a lot, but as an officer, I had a soldier assigned to me as my RTO (Radio Telephone Operator), so most of my radio communications went through him. While I was in the Army, I learned about something called MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System), where a group of amateur (ham) radio operators helped relay information to/from home using radio and phone patches. Satellite phones were becoming a thing, but my dad said MARS actually helped him find out about my birth while he was in Vietnam.

The world changed dramatically on September 11, 2001. By then, cell phones were very prevalent, but it became clear to me that we had an overreliance on the internet and cell technology. I saw firsthand how many people in New York were literally cut off from the world, even as they were in the middle of the action. We knew more about what was going on by watching it on TV at home than the people directly involved in the situation. This was a wake-up call for me to become more individually prepared for communications. Remembering what I knew about the usefulness of ham radio, I decided to get my license the following year.

Jack Parks (KO4WBM) and Bryan Macera (K7CPT) operating a portable ham radio station during a club picnic. Photo/Joe Domaleski

Becoming a ham radio operator requires taking an FCC multiple-choice test administered by a group of certified Volunteer Examiners. It’s not a hard test. In fact, the questions and answers are made public. Most of the test questions pertain to some basic rules and radio knowledge. Once I got licensed, my wife Mary Catherine decided to get licensed, so she took the test. We found ham radio useful for keeping in touch around town. While she was driving the minivan around with our kids, I could talk to her on the radio and save precious cellphone minutes. Back then, you paid for cell phone calls by the minute. Ham radio was and still is free. My ham radio callsign is KI4ASK, and her callsign is KI4HHI, both of which were assigned to us by the FCC.

For the past twenty years, we’ve found ham radio to be both a fun and useful hobby. Here are some of the things we’ve done with our ham radio licenses:

• Maintaining contact with each other and friends on hiking trips, where cellphone coverage is spotty.
• Supporting local events like the Tri-PTC Triathlon, PTC Classic 15K, Run the Ridge 5K, and others with radio communications.
• Providing weather spotting assistance to the National Weather Service through their Skywarn program.
• Going on “fox hunts,” which are scavenger hunts for hidden radio transmitters.
• Talking to people around the world, which was especially fun during the sequestered COVID-era.
• Listening to what’s going on in Eastern Europe and the Middle East firsthand.
• Talking to astronauts aboard the International Space Station!
• Making friends right here in our community through the Fayette County Amateur Radio Club.
• Sending email over the radio without the internet using Winlink.
• Sending text messages over the radio without cellphones using APRS.
• Supporting our first responders with backup communications through ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service).
• Assisting Georgia Emergency Management (GEMA) / Homeland Security as volunteer auxiliary communicators through the AuxComm program.

If the grid goes down, we know what to do and how to stay in touch with each other and members of our community. In order to help people in our community learn about this fun and useful hobby, the Fayette County Amateur Radio Club and Fayette County Parks and Recreation have teamed up to offer a one-day “ham cram” class and testing session on Saturday, February 17th. I bet some of you reading this article have thought about getting a ham radio license. Now’s your chance.

For more information about the upcoming ham radio class, including registration, please go to the Parks & Rec registration site using this link.

Full disclosure – my wife Mary Catherine is the Assistant Director of Parks & Recreation. I’m a Past-President of the ham radio club. This was her idea to offer the class, but it’s one that I fully support. I’ll be one of the instructors, as will a team of others who are committed to helping you pass the test and earn your license on February 17th.

Members of the Fayette County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) provided support to the 2023 Tri-PTC Triathlon. Pictured here with Tri-PTC President Allen Leonard (on left). Photo/Kim Bramblett

We have a very active ham radio community here in Fayette County. There’s a network of five radio repeaters that have the ability to provide communications across the county and even link with other communities for statewide coverage. If the towers go down, we have the ability to do simplex, point-to-point communication. Lots of people in our community have their license, including our 911 Director, Katye Vogt, and the Publisher of this paper, Cal Beverly. Among the ranks of our members, we have people of all walks of life including students, first responders, educators, business people, retirees, and young adults.

So many of us, myself included, spend a lot of time on the internet. You are reading this article through a web browser, and you’re probably active on one or more social media outlets. I am as well, but what if all of that goes down? How would you get the news, find out what’s going on, or talk to your family? Ham radio is a hobby that’s both fun and useful. It’ll work when all else fails.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to comment here or contact me directly.

[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25 years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year.  Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran.  He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. ]

Our local business community needs your help – here’s how (even without money)

by Joe Domaleski | Jan 22, 2024 | Blog, Business, Columnists, Community, Front Page, News Center, Opinion, Top News

Our local business community needs your help. Two weeks ago, I wrote about trends facing small, local businesses in our community. Several readers reached out to me directly and asked for my thoughts on how to support the small businesses in our local community. This topic is timely, not only due to the current state of the economy but also because it’s the new year. The new year is traditionally when many of us resolve to do better with habits, resolutions, and personal goals. Consider setting a personal goal of supporting our local businesses more this year. Before listing ways you can support the local economy, let’s consider why that even matters. Please note that everything in this article applies equally well to our small, local non-profits. They need our support also.

Choosing to support local businesses is an act of community-building.

Let’s start with this newspaper. Unlike other news websites, the publisher of this online newspaper has chosen not to put up a paywall to generate revenue. In order to promote free speech and access to the news, revenue comes from advertising – unobtrusive, well-behaved, local ads that don’t pop up and block the content. Revenue is needed to help pay the staff who keep it running and the costs associated with maintaining one of the most popular websites in our community. Unlike other websites, this website is not run by robots or AI – it’s run by real people who report the news, write columns, and contribute hand-written content like this column I’m writing for all of you. Would you like to help? If you own a business, consider advertising. I advertise my own business, Country Fried Creative, on this site. I can tell you that it’s cost-effective and will be seen by more people than most of the other more traditional print and broadcast advertising. If you’re a consumer who doesn’t own a business, talk to your favorite businesses about supporting the paper by becoming an advertiser. Having a free press is vital to our community, but it needs funding in order to operate.

I recently read a short book entitled, How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine. The subtitle of the book is “The fight for local economies, data privacy, fair labor, independent bookstores, and a people-powered future.” Caine is the owner of a small, independent bookstore – Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas. I won’t summarize the book here except to say that it was a real eye-opener. Support Caine’s efforts and order a copy online to read what he has to say. Like most of you reading this, we also use Amazon – it’s fast, inexpensive, and efficient. Yet, I’m also thinking maybe some of the things I order online should be sourced locally. Caine makes a persuasive argument that supporting local businesses is critical for fostering diverse, vibrant communities. He also touches on the implications of Amazon’s dominance, such as its impact on the publishing industry and its contribution to economic inequality.

When you support a small business,
you are supporting someone’s dream.

It’s not easy running a small business, staffed by local employees. The economic odds are stacked against us. Know that every dollar you spend is going to real people in our community who are trying to support their families. I have a great team, who are underpaid. Most of my peers who own businesses feel the same way. It’s hard to compete with big companies that offer big wages because they have monopolies in their industries, get lucrative government contracts, have access to lots of funding, and obtain subsidies that us small businesses don’t get. Despite that, we’re not looking for a hand-out. We’re willing to work for it, but we would like your support. If you agree and think it’s important to support small, local businesses here are three ways you can do it (even without money).

Shop local – if you’re looking for a place to eat, buy products, or purchase services, look in your community. The well-established ones will probably have a lot of marketing and will be easy to spot. Seek out those businesses who aren’t well-known – they need your money more than those with big marketing budgets. I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy discovering a place that I didn’t know about – especially in our community. There’s one area of the county that’s become our Hollywood. I think that’s great and I’m over there a lot myself walking around the lake (if you see me, stop and say “hi”), but what about the rest of our community that’s not the focus of all of that attention? Consider shopping local with less glamorous businesses. They need your support.

Members of the Fayette County Amateur Radio Club enjoy a group dinner at the historic Olde Courthouse Tavern on the square in Fayetteville. The Tavern is a small, locally-owned family business. Photo/Joe Domaleski

Support local – it’s easier than ever to support a small business online even without money. Consider following local businesses on social media and help them expand their reach by sharing, tagging, and commenting on their posts. Leave a positive review online. Sign-up for their newsletters. Seek out businesses (and non-profits) who need more online exposure and help them with some social media love. Doing this costs nothing. It’s human nature to follow a trend and popular things. It’s disappointing to see things trending that feature bland (and AI-generated) content. Some of that is cranked out right here in our community. Unfortunately, the way the algorithms work – popularity creates popularity (and many of those numbers are fake). Look for the content that’s clearly not well-financed and appears to be more homegrown. The big media players have plenty of attention, how about your favorite restaurant that doesn’t have many followers? Help them out and it costs nothing but a quick click!

Be kind – show your appreciation to the folks in the community who’ve invested time and money to keep the local economy vibrant. Check in with small business owners and employees to see how they’re doing. Even if you have a bad experience, resist the temptation to complain about it online. One bad review can destroy a business. Instead, talk with the business owner and help them get better and improve. Have patience and understand that small businesses have fewer resources than big businesses. You’re more likely to get better in-person service with a small local business than you are with the faceless large corporate entities and national chains. Let’s work together to help our local economy thrive especially those lesser known small, local businesses who need to get more exposure and attention.

In order to help the small, local businesses in our community get more attention and better marketing, I have partnered with the publisher of this newspaper to launch the Fayette Marketing Initiative. We intend to help local businesses get the attention they need, even if they don’t have much of a marketing budget.

If you’re a small business owner, let us know – we’d love to help you. If you know of a business or non-profit that needs marketing help, perhaps you would consider sponsoring them for the program.

Last year, a person of influence contacted me to pay for my company’s services to help promote a non-profit that couldn’t afford it. Now that non-profit is doing well and all they needed was some marketing. Who else in our community needs more publicity, especially if they can’t afford it?

You can contact me using the Fayette Marketing website or directly via email.

Supporting local businesses is not about charity; it’s about choosing to invest in your community and in the people who live in it.

[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25 years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year.  Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran.  He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. ]

Life’s most persistent and urgent question

by Joe Domaleski | Jan 15, 2024 | Blog, Business, Columnists, Community, Front Page, News Center, Opinion, Top News

What is your purpose in life? I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. As a young man, I was mostly focused on getting through school. As I entered adulthood, my focus was on fulfilling my military service and getting started in life. Once I got married and started having children, my primary focus was on making money and providing for my family. These are all natural and typical American pursuits. Our family was very active in Church and we volunteered in the community, but if I’m honest our efforts in those areas were secondary to our other activities. My life’s path may be similar to yours. The first major “leap of faith” I took was starting my business twenty years ago. As I’ve shared previously, this was one way I attempted to bring together my goals of providing for my family and serving others in the local community.

Now that I’m in middle-age, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Raising a family and running a business has been my life’s work so far, but what kind of legacy do I want to leave in the final third of my working years? Is it to make a certain amount of money? Is it to have a certain headcount of employees? Is it to win some kind of award? Is it to land a certain kind of client? As I think on these things, the following quote really resonates with me.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

If all goes according to plan, this article will come out on MLK Day, and many of you will have the day off from work. You may choose to spend the day at one of the many MLK Day celebrations. Perhaps you’re going to participate in some kind of community service event that honors the tradition of making this a day of service. Not everyone has the day off. It’s always seemed ironic that often times the people associated with a holiday are often the ones least likely to get the day off. As you look around the community, many businesses are still open. This is because they are open to serve their customers and because they need the money, particularly the employees. Please consider supporting those that have to work today.

During his lifetime Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a lot to say about a wide variety of subjects. Known primarily for his impact on civil rights and social justice, he also had quite a lot to say about work, professions, and community service. Here are some of my favorite MLK quotes related to work, purpose, and dignity:

• “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” 
• “So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight, that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth.” 
• “Do you know that most of the poor people in our country are working every day? And they are making wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation.” 
• “We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.” 
• “Set out to do a good job, irrespective of race, and do it so well that nobody could do it better.” 
• “If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well.’” 
• “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” 
• “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” 
• “The time is always right to do what is right.” 
• “We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice – not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.”

Those are some powerful quotes. Dr. King was such an eloquent speaker and writer that any commentary I would offer on the above wouldn’t do them justice. Let’s let those statements stand on their own merits. If you are a business leader in our community, take pause to reflect on Dr. King’s messages to us. If you are a worker, regardless of profession, do the same.

Indeed, Dr. King also said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” Regardless of what your role is in our community, please take the time to consider life’s most persistent and urgent question.

In closing, I’ll add the following which Dr. King wrote from a Birmingham jail:

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25 years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year.  Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran.  He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. ]