By Craig Williams 

Dr. Robert Solari grew up in the segregated 1930s and ‘40s on Mounds Road, not far from today’s Meridian School. Back then the signpost said ‘Meridian Road’ but everyone just called it ‘The Blacktop.’ In his day, getting to school entailed a hike to America, a settlement east of Mounds, where he attended a two-room schoolhouse with other little girls and boys who shared his skin color. It is noteworthy, therefore, that several decades later, Dr. Solari would be a key figure in the integration of public schools in Detroit, Michigan, where he was hired as one of the very first black teachers in that system and, later, appointed as its first black principal. His path is an interesting one, made all the more so by his hike, all those years ago, to both an actual and a metaphorical place called America. In very concrete terms, that two-room schoolhouse of his youth, absent white faces, was his America. But it was also a metaphorical America; one in transition and was, perhaps, quite different than you’d expect.

Robert recalls life in Mounds as one of twelve children in a hardworking family. His mother worked as a housekeeper and his father worked as a farm hand for the Herbert Hayden Family Farm. His older brothers and sisters pitched in with household chores and hand-me-down clothing. He tells me that his parents weren’t well educated, not formally anyway — only finishing elementary school — but they made it clear to their children that intelligence was available to all who worked hard and treated others fairly. The family motto was simple: Treat others honestly, fairly, and in the way that you would want to be treated. Dr. Solari came of age in another, far-away time, but in many ways, not so far away. Like ours today, he recalls a racially diverse community as the backdrop of his youth. It was an undeniably separated society, he says, but didn’t feature the angry divisiveness many might have imagined. People found ways to work with one another, despite differences, real or perceived. He learned a great deal from the people of Mounds and the surrounding communities.

After graduating from high school, Robert joined the Army and served as a Tanker in the last days of the Korean War. He came perilously close to not making it home when instinct told him to open the tank’s hatch while under fire and get out.

Good instincts have served Dr. Solari well. It’s what led to nearly every good choice he’s made. His face assumes a far-away posture when he tells me about his high school sweetheart, Verna, whom he lost in 2018. “I chased her until she caught me,” he laughs, “and my instincts were right!” Together with her, they made a life that brought so much joy and opportunity to their three children and countless others. He took the training his parents and community gave him and leveraged it with a college education, attending Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Though he had dreams of attending at the University of Illinois, this historically black university and college (HBCU) opened some very broad doors, nonetheless. Among those doors were the ones clad in blue and gold at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Ph.D. The University of Michigan is among the finest educational institutions in America, so when Robert Solari, of Mounds, Illinois, born to parents with an elementary school education, walked through its doors as Dr. Robert Solari, he made an important, two-word statement to every kid from some overlooked corner of the world, DREAM BIG.

I asked Dr. Solari what he’d share with the young people of Meridian if he were speaking to them today, and his was a very clear message: “Follow your dreams and listen to your best instincts. Believe in yourself and in your power to do better than others may tell you you can do. Don’t be limited by somebody else’s limitations.”

In my interviews with students, I often ask them what they’d do with a magic wand that was guaranteed to perform as directed. I offered this magic wand to Dr. Solari, and, unsurprisingly, he shared with me what many of the Meridian students I’ve spoken with have shared: “I’d create world peace by eliminating the need to fight.”

Meridian students of today share an important thread with Dr. Solari. And I have no less faith in their ability to convert their instincts and considerable talents to world-changing power. It’s worth repeating: DREAM BIG.