"I feel I am the luckiest child in the world to have had a mother and father who lived, rather than just preached, their faith and family values," claims Marian Wright Edelman. Through her parents' example, she learned that being honest was more important than being honored. She learned first-hand that faith was safer and more enduring than fame.

Marian was the youngest of five children. Her father was a Baptist preacher who, Marian says, "lived every day the faith he preached on Sunday." He was an example for her and her brothers and sisters as well as for their community. Marian's mo…