I didn't wake up and decide to become an activist. But you couldn't help notice the inequities, the injustices. It was all around you.
Yuri KochiyamaRead
I tell you, in this country, you don't get much of an education. Throughout high school, through junior college, which is all I went, I didn't know anything about the annihilation of all the Indian nations that were here.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the inadequacies of the education system in addressing important historical truths.
Yuri Kochiyama's quote reflects on the lack of comprehensive education regarding the history and experiences of Native American nations within the American education system. It emphasizes a significant gap in the curriculum that fails to acknowledge the atrocities and injustices faced by these communities, suggesting a need for a more inclusive and truthful educational narrative.
In practice
In a speech advocating for educational reform, this quote can illustrate the need for deeper historical awareness.
I didn't wake up and decide to become an activist. But you couldn't help notice the inequities, the injustices. It was all around you.
Don't become too narrow. Live fully. Meet all kinds of people. You'll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart.
Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.
So, transform yourself first… Because you are young and have dreams and want to do something meaningful, that in itself, makes you our future and our hope. Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders.
Nowadays, a 13-year-old would probably know more than Bobby Fischer knew when he retired. They analyse all the moves and prepare themselves on their computers. But that doesn’t mean they are special.
I have read the Aeneid through more often than I have read any long poem.
I am an earnest advocate of manual training and trade teaching for black boys, and for white boys, too.
Don't be afraid! We won't make an author of you, while there's an honest trade to be learnt, or brick-making to turn to.
If you step up the self-education curve, you will come up with more answers than you can use.
The focus of entertainment is taking away from what the public needs as news. I think investigative journalism will always be important and always find its way, be it on the Internet or wherever.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.