Mexican American Reaching for the Stars
Jessica Soriano,
Fontana, CA.
My race does not define me, and it will not have any impact on the goals that I have set for myself. I am reaching for the stars and will settle for nothing but the best.
We are more alike than unalike
Emily Patten,
Phoenix, AZ.
I grew up in a city with a substantial lack of racial diversity, yet my parents and teachers were able to instill values of acceptance and empathy. In my adult life, I’ve found that those two beliefs go pretty far in the way of understanding those who don’t look like me. As an elementary school teacher, my goal is to create a similar environment in the classroom: my kiddos know what Maya Angelou so beautifully stated in her poem, “Human Family”: ‘We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.’
Diversae sunt sanguine, et ex fine.
Dmitri
San Franciso, CA
Different by blood, one by goal. – In Latin
When we run out of “firsts”
Greg Hudgison
Columbus, GA
I am hopeful that one day race will the last part of the conversation, and not the first. My six words refer to when another race is the first to accomplish something. I believe we will make progress when we are out of the first race to accomplish a task or reach a goal.
Separate but equal was the goal.
Glennette Clark
Washington DC
Integration did a great disservice to black people in that we thought that we achieved a dream that turned out to be a nightmare. Teachers stopped caring about students and students stopped caring about achieving. Instead, we became “affirmative action’ed” because we lowered our expectations of ourselves along with everyone else. Integration became a handout instead of the hand up that was needed.
