Due Date: October 16th; Leadership Quote

Leadership is sometimes so complex that many like to boil down it's essence into a short quote, typically by someone made famous either through entertainment, politics or social justice. At all times leadership is constantly changing in the eyes of the people. As Tolstoy (author of "War and Peace") would argue, a powerful leader is made by their circumstances of where they were born and the events occurring, ie if Napoleon Bonaparte had been born in Bolivia in the 1930's he may not have risen to any form of power. Even still, many would argue that he was not a great leader as it is or that it has to do with the subject's definition of a strong leader.

This brings us to the question for the week. Working with your class, identify your favorite quote on leadership that you can find that best summarizes your belief on Leadership and share the quote along with your reasoning why. In the spirit of leadership, I will also submit my own as well.

Assata Shakur

One of my favorite quotes is, "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free." by Assata Shakur. 

This quote relates to me as a teacher by reminding me of how powerful teaching history can be, and how blinding it can be to the populace. I want to make sure that students leave my class feeling empowered, with a strong identity of who they are and the knowledge that they can change the world. Understanding the struggles that millions of Americans have gone through and still go through, or those of people all around the world, is humbling and important to think about in the relevancy of our current society in relation to governments and power. This pushes me to be a better teacher, a better mentor and a better leader.

Mr. Hillyer