My ambition didn't grow out of nowhere. It was planted in me by a community that nurtured me.
Interpretation
Ambitions are often shaped by the support and encouragement we receive from our communities.
In this quote, Michael Eric Dyson emphasizes that ambitions do not arise in isolation; instead, they are cultivated by the influences and support systems provided by the community around us. This highlights the importance of social connections and environments that foster personal growth and aspirations, suggesting that our goals and dreams are often reflections of the collective encouragement we receive throughout our lives.
In practice
Use this quote during a motivational speech about the importance of community support in achieving one's goals.
Hip hop scholarship must strive to reflect the form it interrogates, offering the same features as the best hip hop: seductive rhythms, throbbing beats, intelligent lyrics, soulful samples, and a sense of joy that is never exhausted in one sitting.
Oprah Winfrey represents the most ingenious and creative expression of black spiritual genius in the public mainstream that we've had in quite a long time, if ever.
When Dr. King was murdered, I had no idea who he was. But as soon as I heard his words on television that night when I was 9 years old, I was dumbstruck, awestruck by their power.
I grew up in Detroit. I was a teen father. I lived on welfare for three years. I have a brother serving life in prison, though I believe he's innocent.
George Bush ran a campaign where he bragged about being an anti-intellectual, dismissing his Harvard and Yale pedigree, pretending he was an American every day, ordinary everyman, and as a result of that, played up his fumbling speech because it signified that he was a good guy. That is deeply and profoundly anti-intellectual.
Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth--even if they decide to help the less fortunate--while others are short-changed, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary, or the inequalities that make it possible.
The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top.
I hope so. God, I've practiced so much that I you don't want to be worse five years later. I feel I have a great game today. I know how hard it is to pull off those great shots, and I know how easy it is to miss, so I'm more aware of these things. But I'm so happy I'm at the age I am right now because I had such a great run and I know there's still more possible.
I know how gratifying it is not only to work in film but to be acknowledged by peers; producing 9 to 5 was an opportunity that I valued precisely because itβs so rarely in the hands of women.
I've become absolutely convinced that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are.
People think that whatever happens on the football field should define me way one or the other. A lot of people say, 'I can't believe you don't think more highly of yourself, two-time MVP, Super Bowl MVP,' but it's like, whatever. It just happens to be what I do. I want to be defined by what I believe in, by who I am.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay and I never want to finish second again.
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