“Some people watch things happen, some people make things happen and others ask, what happened?”

“The things yee are seeking are also seeking yee”

“As a man thinketh so is he”

“It ain’t what your looking at, it’s what you see”

“The name of the game is to stay in the game”

“It ain’t over till it’s over”

 “You don’t cry when you win, so don’t cry when you lose”

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, you can’t hit what you can’t see, rumble young man rumble”

“It ain’t bragging if you can do it”

“The whole world loves a winner”

“They knock you down, get back up and start over again”

 “It’s not the steak, it’s the sizzle”

“Walk and chew gum at the same time”

“Old to soon, smart too late”

"IF"   By Rudyard Kipling

 (‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

 If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

 If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

 If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

OneUnited Bank stands on the shoulders of Sonny Wright. When he founded Peoples National Bank of Commerce in 1983, he made it possible for us to create the first Black owned interstate bank in 1991 when we merged with Peoples and the largest Black owned bank in America today. 

Mr. Wright's spirit is in all of us at OneUnited and we will continue to work hard to live up to his ideals.

Personally, I ran into Mr. Wright and his wife earlier this year and then tried to schedule a meeting to learn more about the history of Peoples. Unfortunately for me, that meeting did not happen. Reading this memorial has helped me understand and appreciate our shared history and the strength of his character.

My prayers are with his family.

Teri Williams
President & COO
OneUnited Bank 

This picture is very special, as Madison (4 year old grandaughter) and her grandfather often held tea parties at our home in Bowie Maryland.  Her parties were all the rage and everyone was invited.  When dad became ill. He often said, " Madison, when I come home we have to have another one of our tea parties".  Madison suprised grandpa with a private party at the hospital.  He was so happy...