For many young people growing up in minority communities, there is a sense that their lives are disposable. As athletes, we have a platform to let those kids know that their lives are important. That their lives matter to us.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing the value of young lives in minority communities and using one's platform to uplift them.
In this quote, Jason Collins highlights the struggles young individuals in minority communities often face, feeling that their lives may be undervalued or disposable. He underscores the responsibility of athletes and public figures to leverage their influence to affirm these young people's worth and importance, encouraging them to realize that they matter and are significant in society.
In practice
In a speech at a youth rally advocating for minority rights.
I would love to see an athlete live their life in an authentic way, not feel that they have to hide, not feel that they have to be afraid, or live with shame - all the other things that go with being a closeted athlete. No human being should have to walk that path. But there is that fear of stepping forward.
The worst insult you can give a professional athlete is to call them soft. And the stereotype out there is that gay is soft.
The first relative I came out to was my aunt Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco. Her reaction surprised me. 'I've known you were gay for years,' she said. From that moment on I was comfortable in my own skin.
Some people insist they've never met a gay person. But Three Degrees of Jason Collins dictates that no NBA player can claim that anymore. Pro basketball is a family. And pretty much every family I know has a brother, sister or cousin who's gay. In the brotherhood of the NBA, I just happen to be the one who's out.
My dream was to play in the NBA and live my authentic life as a proud gay man at the same time. I was able to accomplish both of those goals because of the people who have supported me throughout my life.
I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport.
I give 98 percent of my mental energy to Chess Others give only 2 percent
How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball... The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.
We have to earn our Wings every day.
Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.
Too often we take notes on writing, we think about writing but never do it. I want you to walk into the heart of the storm, written words dripping off hair, eyelids, hanging from hands.
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