When we feel pressured to have achieved certain things by a particular age, it could ultimately hinder us. It's great to have goals but those specific benchmarks can easily become irrelevant once you ask yourself, 'where am I having the most impact?' 'Am I going after the stories I want to tell?'
Soledad O'BrienPeople will say you cannot get a job in a down economy. People will say you cannot get a job that you love that will pay you well. People will say you canโt do good and do well. Theyโre wrong, thatโs idiotic advice. People will tell you that you cannot change the world. Theyโre wrong too.
Soledad O'BrienKids who are middle class, socioeconomically, are surrounded by mentors. They have coaches, teachers, they have family friends, their parents have friends. They might have opportunities, they might have jobs that allow them to experience things that kids in poverty often don't have. Sometimes they come from dysfunctional families. And when you come from a family where money's a real challenge, then it might not be a priority to get you into a summer internship.
Soledad O'BrienWhen you have a child who has special needs, you really start thinking about children across the board with special needs.
Soledad O'BrienI'm a big believer that there's more power in numbers and the more you can expand the stories that are relevant to both communities, the better. For example, a school that's terrible for black kids is terrible for brown kids. We have to figure out ways to navigate the school systems and make sure that we're investing in a public education system that's beneficial for all kids.
Soledad O'BrienPeople want to know how do they pay for education and they want to figure out how to find and maintain meaningful employment. Education and the economy are polled by Latinos as the top two most important issues. But those are also the issues that everyone cares about, regardless of race; so we don't need to be divided over it.
Soledad O'Brien