Martha Daniel receives congratulations on her Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award at Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME Irvine church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Rev. Mark Whitlock, left, makes a beeline to Orange County Register columnist David Whiting to give condolences on his dad’s passing. Whiting was recognized for his work with the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award Bishop Kevin Vann, left, and Rev. Mark Whitlock pray for Orange County Register columnist David Whiting’s dad who passed away a couple days earlier at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel’s many accolades would fill this wall many times over so the IMRI founder, president and CEO decided to take some of them down in her Aliso Viejo office. Magazine and newspaper covers of her line the wall Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. The Navy veteran who grew up in Memphis, was named Small Business Woman of the Year in 2016. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)IMRI CEO Martha Daniel is interviewed in her Aliso Viejo office. Her company is a private contractor to defense department, Southern California Edison, ARCO, IBM, PG&E, CA Department of Social Services, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Disneyland along with hundreds of medium and small businesses throughout the country. Photographed Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)The Bible, religious references and accomplishments are displayed near Martha Daniel’s Aliso Viejo desk. The IMRI founder, president & CEO wants people to know where she’s coming from on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)A picture of presidential hopeful Barack Obama and Martha Daniel during a 2008 fundraiser is displayed in the IRMI CEO’s Aliso Viejo office Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)IMRI CEO Martha Daniel, left, and daughter COO Maronya Scharf run the Aliso Viejo company together. Daniel is involved in various community organizations including the Rothenbuehler Foundation for Veterans, New Directions for Women, the Child Guidance Center and the Vicksburg Soccer Organization. She will be the guest speaker at the 39th Annual Economic Forecast at Chapman University hosted by James L. Doti, Ph.D. Photographed Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel, whose mother was a sharecropper, was the first person in her family to go to college. The mother-daughter team are the Aliso Viejo-based IMRI’s CEO and COO, respectively. Photographed Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel embraces a fellow Martin Luther King Drum Major Award recipient at her IMRI Aliso Viejo company Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Both will be honored this Sunday. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)The Bible and her religious accomplishments are displayed near Martha Daniel’s office desk. “I want people to know where I’m at,” the Information Management Resources, Inc., founder, president and CEO says in her Aliso Viejo office Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. She’s an ordained minister for the African Methodist Episcopal 5th District for Justice. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Rev. Mark Whitlock was surprised that Orange County Register columnist David Whiting managed to make the awards ceremony due to his dad’s recent passing. Whiting was recognized for his work with the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)“I ain’t going to let no one turn me around,” Martha Daniel tells the Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME congregation after receiving the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award at the Irvine church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel will receive the Martin Luther King Drum Major Award this Sunday. The founder, president and CEO of Information Management Resources, Inc., a private contractor to defense department, is in her Aliso Viejo office. The African Methodist Episcopal 5th District for Justice ordained minister was the first person to go to college in her family. This overachiever’s future plans include a Christian-themed amusement Park in Temecula. Photographed Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel, sitting center, marched with Martin Luther King at age 15. The IMRI CEO receives the Martin Luther King Drum Major Award recipient at Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church in Irvine on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel, bottom, was honored at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME. The Memphis native, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. as a teen, received the Drum Major Award on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Kala Perkins of San Francisco, right, wants ordained minister Martha Daniel to bless her at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church where Daniel receives the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award recipients Orange County Register columnist David Whiting and IMRI CEO Martha Daniel are surprised the photographer is still at Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church in Irvine where the duo were honored for advancing tolerance, equality and justice Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martha Daniel, Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award winner, recalls her mother living long enough to see her daughter treated with respect. Her mom couldn’t march with Martin Luther King Jr. for fear of losing her job. However, it didn’t stop her daughter from marching with the civil rights leader. She was honored at COR AME church in Irvine on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Rev. Mark Whitlock congratulates Martha Daniel, Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award winner, at Irvine’s COR AME church on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Re. Mark Whitlock congratulates Martha Daniel as she receives the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)The Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME congregation puts their hands out for Orange County Register communist David Whiting’s dad, Allen Whiting. His dad was a former Foreign Service officer, Sino-Soviet expert and State Department intelligence chief who passed away a couple days ago. Photographed at the Irvine church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)The Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME congregation gives Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award recipient Martha Daniel a standing ovation at the Irvine church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. Daniel is a CEO of Information Management Resources Inc., (IMRI) an Aliso Viejo-based $20-million-a-year business. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)The Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME congregation honored the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award recipients at the Irvine church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Kala Perkins of San Francisco, right, and ordained minister Martha Daniel pray at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church where Daniel receives the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award recipients get top billing on the Sunday program at Irvine’s Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award winner Orange County Register columnist David Whiting, pictured, was described as an A1, above-the-fold columnist who is not afraid to tackle tough stories by Rev. Mark Whitlock at Christ Our Redeemer (COR) AME church in Irvine. Photographed Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)Show Caption of Expand
There are times when our nation is sailing along so well it feels as if the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is the wind at our back.
These are not those times.
To help sort out what’s what, I sit down with CEO Martha Daniel, who on Sunday — along with Roman Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann and me — received the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award from Christ Our Redeemer Church in Irvine for advancing tolerance, equality, justice.
King would be proud.
Daniel was born and raised in Memphis and marched with King when she was 15 years old to support the garbage workers’ strike that asked for nothing more than honest wages for honest work.
“Baby, don’t go out there,” Daniel’s mother warned. “You’re going to get killed.”
Daniel went anyway, locking arm-in-arm with marchers, getting tear gassed and nearly being marooned after curfew and walking miles home after buses were shut down.
The evening King was gunned down in Memphis, April, 4, 1968, Daniel and her parents sobbed and hugged with neighbors who grieved the grief of the inconsolable on front lawns and sidewalks.
Much has happened in the half-century since. Presidents have gone and presidents have come.
It would have been understandable if Daniel took to the streets in those dark days of 1968 when fires of discontent swept through cities across America. Like millions, she was angry about the snuffing out of a life that had helped so many, that was on a path to help so many more.
“I felt like I had lost hope,” Daniel recalls. She wondered, “How are we going to get out of this without a leader?”
But Daniel and her family also understood as King did that violence begets violence, that fear only spawns more fear. That week, instead of marching, they mourned.
As a senior at Booker T. Washington High School, something her black history teacher said crystallized Daniel’s thinking. It also cleared the brush for the way she would live her life.
“Being a radical puts you outside,” the teacher told his student. “You have to assimilate on the inside to make change.”
That year, the city was forced to integrate its high schools. Immediately, proms were canceled. Daniel paid no mind and focused on her studies.
Today, Daniel is a Navy veteran, a change agent, an ordained minister, a teacher of women’s Bible study and a woman of inspiration. Among other things, she also is a cyber security expert.
Daniel, now 65, founded and is president and CEO of a company called Information Management Resources Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based $20-million-a-year business.
Still, Daniel knows tragedy that would cause some to give up.
Facing the Klan
One of Daniel’s earliest memories is staring at two drinking fountains, one for white people the other for black people. You don’t have to guess which one was clean and which was leaky and rusty.
“Mama,” Daniel asked, “why do we have to go to that dirty water fountain?”
Mama just shook her head. But on the inside, she cried for her little girl.
At a department store, mama addressed a young clerk as “ma’am.” Her daughter started to insist it should be the younger woman who addressed the customer as “ma’am.”
Mama put her hand over her child’s mouth. The invisible wounds of discrimination cut deep.
By the time Daniel had graduated from a two-year tech college and had been refused employment as a secretary at numerous white businesses, she knew she had to leave Memphis to stay sane.
She enrolled in the Navy, shocking friends and family who didn’t understand her mission of working from within.
With a background in computers, she requested a focus on cryptology. Soon, she was stationed in Pensacola, Fla. There, she witnessed her first Ku Klux Klan rally.
“I’m in the military, so I’m free,” Daniel told herself. But she knew it was a lie. In her heart, she admitted, “I’m still not free.”
After being discharged, Daniel moved west for the promise of a more tolerant land. First the family lived in Anaheim, then Pomona where Daniel was told by her boss she needed a college degree to advance.
With a year of college credit, Cal Poly Pomona said it would take three years to earn her bachelor’s degree. Daniel took double loads and graduated in 18 months. Before the growing family moved to Riverside, she followed up at the University of La Verne with a master’s in business administration.
In high school, Daniel had made a list of three things she wanted: a college degree, to live in California, to be the president of a company.
It was 1980 and Daniel had 22 job offers. She was on her way to realizing her dreams.
Teaching in jails
At the beginning of the 1980s, Daniel started working for Arco and then moved on to become a senior systems engineer for IBM. By the end of the decade, she’d branched out to become chief information officer at FDIC/Resolution Trust Corporation.
Her next move was to build her own company.
In 1992, Daniel acquired Information Management Resources. Today, the company has 155 employees and manages more than $300 million in data operations. Clients include the armed forces as well as Wells Fargo, Lockheed Martin, IBM.
She was named regional small business person of the year in 2016, a top women veteran leader by the White House in 2014 and is a member of the Orange County Homeland Security Advisory Council.
But when it comes to Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, riches and awards mean nothing. What matters are Daniel’s other passions — and action counts.
While leading a growing company, Daniel every weekend for five years drove to Los Angeles where she took classes in theology. She studied at night. Finally, she became an ordained minister and now is an associate pastor at the African American Methodist Episcopal Church, Christ Our Redeemer in Irvine.
On Thursdays, she teaches women’s Bible studies. On Monday nights, she’s at jails teaching female inmates. But her instruction isn’t just what the Bible says. Daniel teaches what the Bible means.
“I can bring you up from the bottom to where you have hope.”
Daniel, with a blended family that includes nine children, understands that struggle too well.
Several years ago, her 28-year-old son took his life. Yet after three months, Daniel rose up to return to ministering and shares her struggle and what she learned with parents who also have lost children.
“When one window closes,” she says quietly, “another one opens.”
Reflecting on the Martin Luther King Drum Major award, Daniel explains honoring King is critical so his dream of equality and tolerance doesn’t die.
More than a half-century ago, King stood before the congregation in Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and said in his mellifluous voice. “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness.
“We all have the drum major instinct.”
Source: Oc Register
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