Without Any Labels

Listen

00:00 / 00:36

I think hope is something that you have within yourself.

Hope is something that should be in your self-esteem, that you should never give up.

Hope is what keeps you going.

It's very hard to put aside these labels, because all your life you're growing up with these labels:

"at risk"..."minority"..."gangster".

Sometimes you start to believe that. You know? You're hearing it all your life and you hear that this is all you can do, and there's a certain expectation that...

You just got to put that aside.

It is true we grow up with accumulated fictions. Stories that are self imposed and others done to us. Learning deficit. Special Needs. Second Language learners.What the world needs now is a different vocabulary. One that insists on capturing the life giving qualities that promote happiness and goodness.

In what ways can you relate to the speakers words and feelings. What enabled her to overcome obstacles and prejudice?
Discussion: Brainstorm the new vocabulary that is not deficit bound but embodies the virtues and gifts to be developed in the young. Come up with a list of invented or actual descriptors. Feel free to illustrate.