Are you Color Bind or Color Brave?

Melody Hobson began her speech with her story of assisting a friend in political campaign. She described their moment of attending an event that would put her friend running in the campaign. When they first arrived they were greeted by white person and took them back down a starkly light hallway, that lead to a dim light room. Hobson remembers the person asking where their uniforms were. While listening to this story, I was shocked. What I found not so appalling was Hobson expression to this encounter. Hobson stated that she grew up in a very blunt atmosphere. Hobson was not surprised as she continued on with stating how her mom believed in the importance of being very truthful.  

Initially, I thought what a strong personality she has. Melody was so bold her making her statements, she did not seem afraid of people making negative remarks at her. She made it clear that to fix an issue you must be comfortable about discussing an uncomfortable subject, we must learn from we did wrong. Hobson said we must face problems like race head on. For example, when I was in preschool my teacher noticed my struggles in cognitive and neural development as I made multiple mistakes and spoke very infrequently. My teacher talked to my parents because she knew whatever problem I had would not go away and my parents along with assistance faced my issue right where it hurt me. Accomplishing activities, such as reading books, reading comprehension questions and speaking in class were not a walk in the park. However, I was pushed by educators to really put my best effort forth so one day in middle school I began to push myself. 

This woman held a strong force of power, she accredits much to her mother who taught her that she could be anything she wants to be.  I think I can accredit myself a sense of power because of the challenges i have faced and passed with flying colors. Hobson and I can relate on our parents as her mom always said she could do anything she wants as long as you work hard for it. My mom and dad said a similar thing. Anything that you want to conquer may be difficult but holds much worth once you conquer your dream.  This speaker brings light that we have all faced difficulty with her personal story. For my life, my mom tried to utilize people that  were well known for their success in their life. For example, people such as Anderson Copper . Anderson Copper is a news anchor for CNN. He dealt with dyslexia as he explained his difficulty. He said how lucky he felt that his diagnosis was caught so early on. This helped as he had grow up in a home where reading and writing held such importance. Copper stated how he felt the need to hide because if other kids knew school would become a place he did not want to be. Copper already had stated that being at school, he would feel isolated simply for the diverse way he learned. Despite that, he said that having teachers who understood or could sympathize for his struggle made all of the difference in finding a drive to work hard. Cooper stated how hard he worked but he said how much he gained from that hard work as he moved past high school to admission into Yale University. 

Hobson reminds me of Robert Reich, who has spent many years working for the government. While Robert Reich held the position of Secretary of Labor during Clinton's time in office, he learned very much about what happened to our worlds economics. Reich found that there was a strong sense of income inequality, where the rich became richer and the poor lost more while the middle class were screwed. While watching the documentary, Inequality for All Reich said the most important thing you have is knowledge. He explained that it was power and he used his power to make the world aware of what kind of inequality U.S. citizens were dealing with. 

In thinking about this group of established citizens, Hobson, Reich, and Anderson Copper I find that knowledge can be powerful in any avenue I pick. I realize that I can speak up and fight for change. Regardless of making change, I am finding that I want to empower myself with my knowledge. In a previous paragraph I mentioned that I deal with a learning disability. In my time in the education system, I have been told negative thins about my future, immediate and far away. That I will never be successful in a career path. Yet, I was able to pass classes in Johnson and Wales baking program that only allows three hundred students per year, pass the reading and writing section of 

the core, where my area of difficulty is and being less than 2 semesters away from graduation. 

Overall, Hobson is right. We need to get past our concerns for how our knowledge is viewed and take chance of speaking about your knowledge as it holds much power.