I try to act out of faith.

Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?

You'd better stay determined, because that's how our ancestors got us where we are.

The poor have been sent to the front lines of a federal budget deficit reduction war that few other groups were drafted to fight.

The legacies that parents and church and teachers left to my generation of Black children were priceless but not material: a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity.

I also grew up with community co-parents who looked out for each other. They looked out for children and tried to be the hands of God. They tried to live their faith.

A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.