For many young people growing up in minority communities, there is a sense that their lives are disposable. As athletes, we have a platform to let those kids know that their lives are important. That their lives matter to us.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing the value of young lives in minority communities and using one's platform to uplift them.
In this quote, Jason Collins highlights the struggles young individuals in minority communities often face, feeling that their lives may be undervalued or disposable. He underscores the responsibility of athletes and public figures to leverage their influence to affirm these young people's worth and importance, encouraging them to realize that they matter and are significant in society.
In practice
In a speech at a youth rally advocating for minority rights.
I would love to see an athlete live their life in an authentic way, not feel that they have to hide, not feel that they have to be afraid, or live with shame - all the other things that go with being a closeted athlete. No human being should have to walk that path. But there is that fear of stepping forward.
The worst insult you can give a professional athlete is to call them soft. And the stereotype out there is that gay is soft.
The first relative I came out to was my aunt Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco. Her reaction surprised me. 'I've known you were gay for years,' she said. From that moment on I was comfortable in my own skin.
Some people insist they've never met a gay person. But Three Degrees of Jason Collins dictates that no NBA player can claim that anymore. Pro basketball is a family. And pretty much every family I know has a brother, sister or cousin who's gay. In the brotherhood of the NBA, I just happen to be the one who's out.
My dream was to play in the NBA and live my authentic life as a proud gay man at the same time. I was able to accomplish both of those goals because of the people who have supported me throughout my life.
I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport.
Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can.
I felt that it was my duty not to senselessly waste my time. And since I didn't want to waste my time, I tried to accomplish as much as possible.
I'd rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.
When you fall, feel the pain. And then stand up. You were born for victory. And failure has no place in your world.
If you stay up late and you have another hour of work to do, you can just stay up another hour later without running into a wall and having to stop. Whereas it might take three or four hours if you start over, you might finish if you just work that extra hour. If you're a morning person, the day always intrudes a fixed amount of time in the future. So it's much less efficient. Which is why I think computer people tend to be night people - because a machine doesn't get sleepy.
You don't move just because you want to go from this point to that point - the body has to be using the words as well as you vocally use the words.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.