Clifton Taulbert (born 1945) is an American author, business consultant, and
speaker
Speaker most commonly refers to:
* Speaker, a person who produces speech
* Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound
** Computer speakers
Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* "Speaker" (song), by David ...
. He is best known for his books ''
Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored'' (1989)
and ''
Eight Habits of the Heart: Embracing the Values that Build Strong Communities'' (1997). Taulbert offers courses in Character Education and Building Strong School Communities through Knowledge Delivery Systems, an online resource for educators
Kdsi.org
Taulbert's book ''Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored'' was adapted into the 1996 film '' Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored''.[
]
Biography
Clifton Lamar Taulbert was born in 1945 in Glen Allan, a small town in the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
. He graduated from O'Bannon High School in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1963 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
from Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...
and a graduate degree
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor ...
from Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. Taulbert served in the 89th Presidential Wing of the United States Air Force and has been inducted in the Enlisted Airmen Hall of Fame.
A former Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
banker, Taulbert is president and founder of the Freemount Corporation, a consulting company focused on human capital development and organizational effectiveness. Since the founding of the company, his philosophy has been embraced by such companies as Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
, Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
, Baxter Healthcare
Baxter International Inc. is an American multinational healthcare company with headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois.
The company primarily focuses on products to treat chronic and acute medical conditions. The company had 2023 global net sa ...
, Pacific Coast Gas, the U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...
, the U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and K-12
K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii.
Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world. ...
, and post-secondary academic leadership around the world, from China to the Mississippi Delta.
Taulbert was chosen by CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
at the turn of the millennium to represent one of the many voices of community. Taulbert, who has served as a guest professor/lecturer at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business
The Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration (branded as the Darden School of Business) is the graduate business school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school offers ...
, and the United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...
, said he could have failed had it not been for the community of unselfish people who surrounded his life. We should never underestimate the power of our influence on the life of others, according to Taulbert.
Taulbert has authored 13 books, several of which are foundational to his consulting philosophy: ''Eight Habits of the Heart'' and ''Who Owns the Ice House: Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur'' (''Who Owns the Ice House'' is part of a Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (Kauffman Foundation) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, private foundation based in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 1966 by Ewing Marion Kauffman, who had previously founded the drug company Ma ...
-sponsored education initiative to expose the impact of the entrepreneurial mindset at all levels) and, more recently, ''Shift Your Thinking: Win Where You Stand'' and ''The Invitation: Living beyond the lingering lessons of race and place''. Taulbert's Eight Habits has become foundational to his work on leveraging community as an asset in the workplace, and garnered him an invitation to address members of the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
as a personal guest of former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O' ...
.
Taulbert is a trustee of the University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...
, has been recognized international by the Sales and Marketing Academy of Achievement, the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
, the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
, Rotary International
Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...
as a Paul Harris Fellow and has been a recipient of the Jewish Humanitarian of the Year Award and the Richard Wright Literary Award. The Freemount Corporation is located in Tulsa
Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...
, Oklahoma.
He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his wife Barbara Taulbert.
Works
*Nonfiction
**''Who Owns The Ice House? Eight Life Lessons From An Unlikely Entrepreneur'' (2010)
**''Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored'' (1989)
**''The Last Train North'' (1992)
**''Watching Our Crops Come In'' (1997)
**''Eight Habits of the Heart: Embracing the Values that Build Strong Communities'' (1997)
**''The Journey Home: A Father’s Gift to His Son'' (2002)
**''When Little Becomes Much (2005)
**''The Invitation''
**''Shift Your Thinking: Win Where You Stand''
*Children's books
**''Little Cliff and the Porch People'' (1999)
**''Little Cliff and the First Day of School'' (2001)
**''Little Cliff and the Cold Place'' (2002)
References
External links
Clifton Taulbert's official website
*
''Voices of Oklahoma'' interview
First-person interview conducted on May 23, 2018, with Clifton Taulbert.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taulbert, Clifton
Living people
1945 births
20th-century African-American writers
American memoirists
Oral Roberts University alumni
People from Washington County, Mississippi
Writers from Mississippi