Changing the World, One Word at a Time! | The Queen Latifah Show
Summary
TLDRThe Get Lit program in Los Angeles empowers young women through poetry to address societal issues. Their performance exposes the disparities in education, censorship, and the erasure of marginalized histories from textbooks. It also sheds light on the struggles of underprivileged students, the objectification of women, and the systemic injustices they face. The piece is a poignant critique of the American educational system and a call for change.
Takeaways
- 📚 The nonprofit organization 'Get Lit' uses poetry to teach literacy to teens, emphasizing the power of words to change the world.
- 🤔 The script questions the relevance of standardized lessons, suggesting that the most impactful lessons are often untaught and unwritten.
- 🚫 It highlights the censorship and banning of books in schools, which can limit students' access to diverse perspectives and important historical contexts.
- 🏛 The poem points out the irony of banning literature that addresses serious issues while allowing access to harmful content like hate group websites.
- 🏫 The script criticizes the omission of significant historical events and marginalized groups from educational curricula, leading to an incomplete understanding of history.
- 👗 It addresses the socioeconomic disparities between students, noting the different priorities and struggles they face, such as finding appropriate clothing versus affording basic needs.
- 🏅 The poem讽刺了学校在推广自信的同时,却通过体重百分比公开羞辱学生,加剧了身体形象问题和自我价值的质疑。
- 🛍️ It contrasts the experiences of privileged students who can afford to shop for fun with those who must rely on thrift stores out of necessity.
- 🚌 The script includes advice for personal safety, reflecting the harsh realities and dangers some students face in their daily lives.
- 🏢 The poem touches on the issues of sexual harassment and assault, highlighting the lack of protection and support for victims within educational settings.
- 📈 Lastly, it emphasizes that the greatest lessons in America are often the ones that are not formally taught, but learned through lived experiences and observations of societal issues.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the nonprofit organization 'Get Lit'?
-Get Lit is a nonprofit organization focused on teaching teens literacy through poetry.
What significant event did the Get Lit participants recently perform at?
-The Get Lit participants recently opened for John Legend at the Hollywood Bowl.
What is the underlying message about education standards mentioned in the script?
-The script implies that the greatest lessons are not those prescribed by state education standards but rather those learned through personal experiences and unspoken truths.
Why does the script mention 'Catcher in the Rye' and a gun?
-The script contrasts the banning of 'Catcher in the Rye' with the availability of guns, highlighting the irony that a book is banned for its content while guns, which can cause harm, are not.
What does the script suggest about the censorship of literature in schools?
-The script suggests that literature is often censored in schools for addressing sensitive topics, such as racism and sexual assault, which are deemed inappropriate for discussion.
What historical omissions does the script point out in American education?
-The script points out that American education omits discussions of the contributions and sufferings of Hispanics, slaves, Native Americans, and those involved in the construction of the continental railroad and Japanese internment camps.
How does the script describe the disparity between private school students and those from less privileged backgrounds?
-The script describes a disparity where private school students shop for fashion while less privileged students search for basic necessities, highlighting the socioeconomic divide.
What is the script's commentary on the treatment of female students in schools?
-The script comments on the objectification and sexualization of female students, noting that they are often judged by their appearance and subjected to harassment and assault.
What is the script's stance on the portrayal of certain lifestyles in the media?
-The script criticizes the media for promoting certain lifestyles as 'ghetto' while romanticizing dangerous behaviors, suggesting a double standard in how different life experiences are portrayed.
How does the script address the issue of body image and self-esteem among students?
-The script addresses the issue by pointing out how schools can inadvertently harm self-esteem by promoting body shaming and unrealistic beauty standards.
What advice does the script give to students on navigating their school environment?
-The script advises students to remain quiet, keep to themselves, and take precautions for personal safety, reflecting a culture of fear and self-preservation in schools.
Outlines
📚 Empowering Youth Through Poetry
The paragraph introduces three young women from a nonprofit organization called 'Get Lit' in Los Angeles. This organization uses poetry to teach literacy to teenagers. The young women have performed at prestigious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, opening for John Legend, and their mission is to change the world through the power of words. They discuss the limitations of traditional education and the importance of teaching life lessons that are not found in textbooks. They touch on issues like censorship, racial disparities, and the suppression of uncomfortable truths in history and literature.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Literacy
💡Poetry
💡Censorship
💡Silence
💡History
💡Inequality
💡Self-confidence
💡Ghetto
💡Sexual Assault
💡Prom
💡Education
Highlights
Three young women from the nonprofit organization 'Get Lit' are determined to change the world through poetry.
Get Lit focuses on teaching teens literacy through poetry in Los Angeles.
Get Lit recently opened for John Legend at the Hollywood Bowl.
The performance highlights the contrast between mandated curriculum and the real-life lessons students learn.
Books like 'Catcher in the Rye' are banned in some states, while guns are not.
Literature that challenges societal norms is often banned in schools.
Students are taught to be silent about uncomfortable topics like rape and historical injustices.
The poem discusses the erasure of marginalized histories in American education.
Privileged students shop for fashion, while others search for basic necessities.
Students face different challenges, such as poverty and lack of resources, impacting their education.
The poem criticizes the superficiality of promoting self-confidence while ignoring body shaming.
The performance addresses the hypocrisy of schools rewarding attendance but not resilience.
The poem calls out the normalization of sexual harassment and assault in schools.
The performance highlights the double standards in how schools treat different students.
Students are given advice on how to stay safe in a world that doesn't protect them.
The poem concludes by emphasizing that the most impactful lessons are often the ones not taught in class.
Transcripts
three young women who are determined to
change the world one word at a time
they're part of a nonprofit organization
called get lit a program here in Los
Angeles focused on teaching teens
literacy through poetry it recently
opened for John Legend at the Hollywood
Bowl and now they are here to share
their powerful performance with us
please welcome Melissa Zarya and
Rhiannon here in America every single
state they have a set of standards for
every subject a collection of lessons
that the teacher is required to teach by
the end of the term but the greatest
lessons you will ever teach us will not
come from your syllabus the greatest
lessons you will ever teach us you will
not even remember you never told us what
we weren't allowed to say we just
learned how to hold our tongues now
somewhere in America there's a child
holding a copy of Catcher in the Rye
there is a child holding a gun but only
one of these things have been banned by
their state government and it's not the
one that can rip through flesh it's the
one that says after you are more pages
than why because we must control what
the people say how they fake and if they
want to become the overseer of their own
selves then we'll show them a real one
and somewhere in America there's a child
sitting at his mother's computer reading
the homepage of the KKK website that's
open to the public but that child will
have never read To Kill a Mockingbird
because the school has banned it for its
use of the n-word Maya Angelou is
prohibited because we're not allowed to
talk about rape in school we were taught
that just because something happens
doesn't mean you are to talk about it
they build a spread new shopping malls
so that we'll forget we're really
standing on the bones of the Hispanics
on the bones of the slaves on the bones
of the Native Americans on the bones of
those who fought just to speak
continental railroad to Japanese
internment camps there are things
missing from our history books but we
were taught that it is better to be
silent than to make them uncomfortable
somewhere in America private school
girls search for hours through boutiques
trying to find the progress of their
dream while kids on the south side spend
hours searching through the lost and
found
because winter's coming soon and that's
the only jacket they have kids are late
to class we're working the midnight
shift they give awards for best
attendance but not for keeping their
family off the streets he says we'll
call your music ghetto they will tell
you you don't talk right then we'll get
in the back seat of a car with all their
friends sing about how their bout that
life and we can't stop somewhere in
America schools are promoting self
confidence while they whip out their
scales and shout out your body by
percentage in class where the heftier
girls are hiding away and the slim fit
beauties can't help but giggle with
pride the preppy kids go thrift shopping
because they think it sounds fun
but we go cuz that's all we got money
for the mama works for the city mama
only gets paid once a month somewhere in
America a girl's getting felt up by a
grown man on the subway still in her
school uniform and that's part of the
appeal it is hard to run in nice often
and Maryjane's and all her male teachers
know it too
coaches cover up star players raping
freshmen after the dance women are
killed for rejecting date god forbid I
bring my girlfriend to prom was blackout
drunk up the after part make a picture
before her wounds wake her how many
pixels is your sanity worth what's a 4.0
to a cold jury why don't you learn in
class today don't talk loud don't speak
loud keep your hands to yourself keep
your head down keep your eyes on your
own paper if you don't know the answer
fill and C always wear earbuds when you
ride the bus alone if you feel like
someone's following you pretend you're
on the phone a teacher never fails only
you do every state in America the
greatest lessons are the ones you don't
remember learning
[Applause]
Browse More Related Video
IB Theatre Solo | Inspired by Bertolt Brecht's Epic Theatre
How America's public schools keep kids in poverty | Kandice Sumner
Nascer nas prisões | gestar, nascer e cuidar
Life as an “Untouchable” in India
International Women's Day is a Fake Holiday - Louise Perry Subscriber Q&A | Maiden Mother Matriarch
A journey from Corporate to Social Entrepreneurship | Gouree Manjarekar | TEDxTilakwadi
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)