Raising me as a single parent, my mother held many jobs. Most of them had to do with the betterment and the advancement of our community and society at large. I grew up seeing her active in ministries at our church, with the homeless, as a social worker, with elderly, with youth, as a children's rights organizer with the Urban League of Chicago.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the dedication and hard work of a single parent in enriching the community while raising their child.
Ayanna Pressley's quote highlights the profound influence her mother had on her upbringing as a single parent. By juggling multiple jobs aimed at community improvement and actively participating in various social causes, her mother served as a role model, illustrating the values of service, commitment, and the importance of contributing to society. This experience not only shaped Pressley's character but also instilled in her a deeper understanding of community engagement and social responsibility.
In practice
In a speech about community service, you can reference this quote to highlight the importance of parental influence.
I'm not naive. All politics is about identity, right? Neighborhood politics, cultural politics, issue politics. It's not as though I don't get that. It's just - it has to be, I think, tempered in a way that is for our overall advancement and not to our detriment or obliteration. When I say 'our,' I don't mean just communities of color.
We should be uncomfortable with the growing gaps in our society, and we cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to these injustices.
We desperately need comprehensive immigration reform in this nation, and yes, comprehensive immigration reform proposals are nuanced and complicated, but you know what shouldn't be? Our capacity to see each other's humanity.
You cannot have a government for and by the people if it is not represented by all of the people.
As I have always said, those closest to the pain should be closest to the power.
At the women's march, we held signs that said, 'Today we march, tomorrow we run.' They didn't believe us, but it's coming to pass.
And she, the new mother of a daughter, felt a fierceness come over her that seized at her heart, that made her feel as if her bones were turned to steel, as if she could turn herself into a weapon to keep this daughter of hers from having to be hurt by the world outside the ring of her arms.
My first rule of consumerism is never to buy anything you can't make your children carry.
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.
A grandmother's special calling is to pray and to be a fellow worker in the battle in which her children or her grandchildren are engaged.
My grandmom worked as a maid for most of her life, and she worked in the tobacco and the cotton fields, whatever she could get.
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