poverty addiction abuse victims diseases
bullying people with disabilities single
parents prisoners and dreamers and those
that are privileged in everyday life
what do all these words share defeat yes
defeat is defined as a setback or the
will to surrender without a fight
now there comes a time that we all have
felt that sting of defeat in our lines
growing up in poverty or the Attic
whether it be food money or drugs to
have overcame that challenge of
addiction only the next day they fall
take a child that is bullied who fully
doesn’t understand are the husband and
wife who go through the hours of
marriage counseling yet their marriage
is still on the rocks and all these
examples from different many walks of
life the common trait is defeat and it
is it’s everywhere around us it does not
discriminate it does not pick it does
not choose but I’m here to let us know
that we as a whole can overcome these
defeating circumstances together now as
a prisoner
the moment that I entered these gates
barbed wire concrete all around me the
feet set in it was like a fire in my
soul that I could not put out
when we are told that somehow we don’t
belong here
that it’s our fault that we were abused
when when life-threatening illnesses
attack us our loved ones our automatic
response
I’ve been defeated but that is a lie a
common lie that at one point you you are
we all have believed in our lives so how
do we begin to eliminate this problem in
today’s world chaos and separation is so
rapid that defeat continues growing
yielding power over our lives but by
encouraging motivating and pushing one
another beyond our pains we can take
back that power we can start to overcome
this defeat every day in prisons in our
homes in our schools the workplaces and
even on the streets people are
continuing to be discouraged by their
circumstances and I don’t know about
y’all but what do most of us do we take
her and they are already on the ground
when all that is needed is a word or a
gesture to help that individual rise now
I never want to be talking to any of you
people up here today you know let alone
in prison but the moment that my dreams
and my hopes became abolished that
defeat rose within myself again yet in
the midst of my circumstances not
finishing school running away from home
or having to come to a place like this a
mother a grandmother my grandmother she
offered me those words and she gave me
those gestures my grandmother’s her open
arms the many hugs the I love use her
continuous prayers for me and her famous
line of
Kent does not exist allowed me to see
that darkness was not there
there was always light seeing my
grandmother’s limitations they didn’t
defeat her they became her strength so
she was able to make that choice when
she saw me on that ground and I couldn’t
I get up to help me to encourage me so I
know some of you are looking at me like
I don’t care none of this applies to me
you know I get that I get it but let me
ask you something are each and every one
of you a part of this world today is
there someone that you love
someone that you know out there who is
struggling right now well then this
fight is as much minds as it is for all
of us I know we all remember the
Parkland school shooting a tragedy that
took so many innocent lives and we’re
still asking ourselves why did this
happen how could this have happened but
in the midst of a tragedy like this
taking back that power to surrender
without a fight
it already has begun see there’s this
guy Spencer plumb he’s a survivor of the
shooting and Spencer could have allowed
this this this horrible incident to
deflate him and to engulf him and in
misery but no that is not what Spencer
has done Spencer Spencer what Spencer
has done have led to a chain reaction
across this nation asking each and every
one of us to not only care about the
victims but to care about the safety and
the well-being of every human being on
this earth a gesture that has led many
to begin walk overcoming defeating
there are so many examples of defeat
already beginning to be over King you
have dreamers they fight for dhaka civil
rights leaders who fight for the
equality for every human being out there
congressman’s politicians but Oprah but
check this out you and I we don’t have
to be rich you don’t have to be famous
well-known to care to leave this impact
on this world maybe you’re a single
parent and we all know the struggle is
real you’re trying to make your ends
meet you work long hours and your kids
they fight you every step of the way but
each morning you wake up you put on your
work clothes you get breakfast on that
table and you wake those beautiful
smiling babies reassuring them that we
we are okay most importantly that they
are going to be okay that’s your impact
that is your impact
I have an aunt I’m a few months they’re
all survivors of breast cancer the
hair’s gone the dignity is gone the
weight and chemo is done but each
morning my aunts waked up with joy in
their hearts and that pep in their step
ready to encourage each and every one of
us
despite their situation they made that
choice to say you matter to say that
Samantha that I can be more than just
this number in a system that they call
prison that is their impact even as
prisoners we have been told repeatedly
that there is no victory for us labeled
and thrown away for the choices that we
have made so
or in our lives but what about those
ladies that have also been labeled and
thrown away who have overcame this
challenge this barrier now I’m not
asking anybody to go out and start a
coalition but let’s let’s stop beating
one another down let’s offer those words
those gestures so this past year I had
the pleasure of attending the Special
Olympics where men and women of the
mental or physical limitations they
don’t even know what defeat is the will
to encourage to motivate and push not
only each other but us outshined any
limitations that they may have ever felt
to watch as I see these men and ladies
who face struggles far more difficult
than I myself have ever done laughs
smile motivate push me beyond any defeat
I ever have felt and it got me to
thinking or do Here I am but here they
are they face defeat for the things that
you and I we might take for granted
every single day but dad did not defeat
them they defeated their circumstances
and in having that victory they lend
that hand to people like us in the idea
that all right I can help you and you
know what’s gonna happen after that
you’re gonna help him and he’s gonna
help her just so our world can be as
happy as they see their own you did see
an addict tell their story of sobriety
five years five months or even five
minutes and watches the defeat vanishes
within their eyes as those encouraging
words are felt upon for people like us
to be a prisoner
long and behold no chance no hope of a
normal life surrounded by many and I do
mean surrounded by so many who have
walked this path push me and face
amantha you can do this most importantly
I am here for you
surpasses any defeat that I have ever
felt in this place what am I telling you
folks I’m telling you that we we are
survivors and we survive and we conquer
by caring motivating one another with
our words and our gestures that if if we
took one second that’s all it takes one
second and stop focusing on yourself and
start caring about the person next to
you how much greater would this world be
if we took the motivation that these men
from the Special Olympics have gifted us
with the coal that Spencer has asked for
all of us to care for everyone in this
world the encouragement of a single
parent a prisoner to a boss are an
uneducated grandmother what great things
can we accomplish together see dreamers
they fight civil rights leaders they
fight just the same but as prisoners at
its single parents and everyday people
of this world we have to fight just the
same but our fight listen our fight is
the encouragement the non-stop pursuit
of overcoming defeating circumstances by
unification with one cause one word in
one gesture ladies and gentlemen the
defeat is not in how many times that we
get knocked down but it only becomes a
defeat when we do not help one another
back up
it’s one gesture will you for you I will
I will wheel in ahead [Applause]
bullying people with disabilities single
parents prisoners and dreamers and those
that are privileged in everyday life
what do all these words share defeat yes
defeat is defined as a setback or the
will to surrender without a fight
now there comes a time that we all have
felt that sting of defeat in our lines
growing up in poverty or the Attic
whether it be food money or drugs to
have overcame that challenge of
addiction only the next day they fall
take a child that is bullied who fully
doesn’t understand are the husband and
wife who go through the hours of
marriage counseling yet their marriage
is still on the rocks and all these
examples from different many walks of
life the common trait is defeat and it
is it’s everywhere around us it does not
discriminate it does not pick it does
not choose but I’m here to let us know
that we as a whole can overcome these
defeating circumstances together now as
a prisoner
the moment that I entered these gates
barbed wire concrete all around me the
feet set in it was like a fire in my
soul that I could not put out
when we are told that somehow we don’t
belong here
that it’s our fault that we were abused
when when life-threatening illnesses
attack us our loved ones our automatic
response
I’ve been defeated but that is a lie a
common lie that at one point you you are
we all have believed in our lives so how
do we begin to eliminate this problem in
today’s world chaos and separation is so
rapid that defeat continues growing
yielding power over our lives but by
encouraging motivating and pushing one
another beyond our pains we can take
back that power we can start to overcome
this defeat every day in prisons in our
homes in our schools the workplaces and
even on the streets people are
continuing to be discouraged by their
circumstances and I don’t know about
y’all but what do most of us do we take
her and they are already on the ground
when all that is needed is a word or a
gesture to help that individual rise now
I never want to be talking to any of you
people up here today you know let alone
in prison but the moment that my dreams
and my hopes became abolished that
defeat rose within myself again yet in
the midst of my circumstances not
finishing school running away from home
or having to come to a place like this a
mother a grandmother my grandmother she
offered me those words and she gave me
those gestures my grandmother’s her open
arms the many hugs the I love use her
continuous prayers for me and her famous
line of
Kent does not exist allowed me to see
that darkness was not there
there was always light seeing my
grandmother’s limitations they didn’t
defeat her they became her strength so
she was able to make that choice when
she saw me on that ground and I couldn’t
I get up to help me to encourage me so I
know some of you are looking at me like
I don’t care none of this applies to me
you know I get that I get it but let me
ask you something are each and every one
of you a part of this world today is
there someone that you love
someone that you know out there who is
struggling right now well then this
fight is as much minds as it is for all
of us I know we all remember the
Parkland school shooting a tragedy that
took so many innocent lives and we’re
still asking ourselves why did this
happen how could this have happened but
in the midst of a tragedy like this
taking back that power to surrender
without a fight
it already has begun see there’s this
guy Spencer plumb he’s a survivor of the
shooting and Spencer could have allowed
this this this horrible incident to
deflate him and to engulf him and in
misery but no that is not what Spencer
has done Spencer Spencer what Spencer
has done have led to a chain reaction
across this nation asking each and every
one of us to not only care about the
victims but to care about the safety and
the well-being of every human being on
this earth a gesture that has led many
to begin walk overcoming defeating
there are so many examples of defeat
already beginning to be over King you
have dreamers they fight for dhaka civil
rights leaders who fight for the
equality for every human being out there
congressman’s politicians but Oprah but
check this out you and I we don’t have
to be rich you don’t have to be famous
well-known to care to leave this impact
on this world maybe you’re a single
parent and we all know the struggle is
real you’re trying to make your ends
meet you work long hours and your kids
they fight you every step of the way but
each morning you wake up you put on your
work clothes you get breakfast on that
table and you wake those beautiful
smiling babies reassuring them that we
we are okay most importantly that they
are going to be okay that’s your impact
that is your impact
I have an aunt I’m a few months they’re
all survivors of breast cancer the
hair’s gone the dignity is gone the
weight and chemo is done but each
morning my aunts waked up with joy in
their hearts and that pep in their step
ready to encourage each and every one of
us
despite their situation they made that
choice to say you matter to say that
Samantha that I can be more than just
this number in a system that they call
prison that is their impact even as
prisoners we have been told repeatedly
that there is no victory for us labeled
and thrown away for the choices that we
have made so
or in our lives but what about those
ladies that have also been labeled and
thrown away who have overcame this
challenge this barrier now I’m not
asking anybody to go out and start a
coalition but let’s let’s stop beating
one another down let’s offer those words
those gestures so this past year I had
the pleasure of attending the Special
Olympics where men and women of the
mental or physical limitations they
don’t even know what defeat is the will
to encourage to motivate and push not
only each other but us outshined any
limitations that they may have ever felt
to watch as I see these men and ladies
who face struggles far more difficult
than I myself have ever done laughs
smile motivate push me beyond any defeat
I ever have felt and it got me to
thinking or do Here I am but here they
are they face defeat for the things that
you and I we might take for granted
every single day but dad did not defeat
them they defeated their circumstances
and in having that victory they lend
that hand to people like us in the idea
that all right I can help you and you
know what’s gonna happen after that
you’re gonna help him and he’s gonna
help her just so our world can be as
happy as they see their own you did see
an addict tell their story of sobriety
five years five months or even five
minutes and watches the defeat vanishes
within their eyes as those encouraging
words are felt upon for people like us
to be a prisoner
long and behold no chance no hope of a
normal life surrounded by many and I do
mean surrounded by so many who have
walked this path push me and face
amantha you can do this most importantly
I am here for you
surpasses any defeat that I have ever
felt in this place what am I telling you
folks I’m telling you that we we are
survivors and we survive and we conquer
by caring motivating one another with
our words and our gestures that if if we
took one second that’s all it takes one
second and stop focusing on yourself and
start caring about the person next to
you how much greater would this world be
if we took the motivation that these men
from the Special Olympics have gifted us
with the coal that Spencer has asked for
all of us to care for everyone in this
world the encouragement of a single
parent a prisoner to a boss are an
uneducated grandmother what great things
can we accomplish together see dreamers
they fight civil rights leaders they
fight just the same but as prisoners at
its single parents and everyday people
of this world we have to fight just the
same but our fight listen our fight is
the encouragement the non-stop pursuit
of overcoming defeating circumstances by
unification with one cause one word in
one gesture ladies and gentlemen the
defeat is not in how many times that we
get knocked down but it only becomes a
defeat when we do not help one another
back up
it’s one gesture will you for you I will
I will wheel in ahead [Applause]
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