I was eight years old when I got the talk about what to do if a police officer stops me. I was 15 when I was face-down on the curb for the first time.
Jason ReynoldsRead
If a kid is reading a book about someone who looks like them but doesn't talk like them, we stunt their growth by dissing them.
Interpretation
Representation in literature is crucial for children's development and self-identity.
Jason Reynolds emphasizes the importance of representation in literature for children. When kids see characters that resemble them in appearance but not in voice or cultural background, it creates a disconnect that hinders their growth. By not valuing diverse narratives, we undermine their understanding of self and the world, which is essential for their personal and social development.
In practice
In a speech to educators, you might emphasize how important it is for students to see themselves in the literature they study.
I was eight years old when I got the talk about what to do if a police officer stops me. I was 15 when I was face-down on the curb for the first time.
Having a superpower has nothing to do with the ability to fly or jump, or superhuman strength. The truest superpowers are the ones we all possess: willpower, integrity, and most importantly, courage.
Hip-hop saved me. It gave me permission to use language in a certain way. It validated my community and my friends. It gave our slang a certain elegance.
People always say time heals. Time doesn't necessarily heal anything. It allows you to manage things. There are occasions where you feel the pain as if it just happened, but you know that it's a fleeting moment.
I try to create characters people want to sit with, even if nothing is happening.
I believe that no matter what you do in life, if you learn the basics through theater, it will help you in everything else - problem solving, communication, discipline, all of that stuff.
Cramming seeks to stamp things in by intense application immediately before the ordeal. But a thing thus learned can form but few associations.
There is no way, absolutely no way, that I would want people to stop reading the 'Odyssey.' But I want them to read it with their eyes open. To notice it and then to think what it says about us.
The basic economic resource - the means of production -_x000D_ _x000D_ is no longer capital, nor natural resources, nor labor._x000D_ _x000D_ It is and will be knowledge.
Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.
My students have shown me so many times that it's not always about being the perfect person in the perfect position - it's about showing up when you're needed.
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