Change Requires Action

I attended a panel discussion on "Young Hollywood" during the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. The guest speaker was actor Nate Parker of "The Great Debaters" and the upcoming film "The Secret Live of Bees." Needless to say, the topics quickly drifted to not Hollywood youth, but America's youth and specifically African-American youth. Nate Parker is an amazing and extremely well spoken young man, and he answered every question with the passion of a man trying to change his world by "standing in the gap." He provided excellent insight on how to reach our youth and make and a positive impact on the faith and future of this nation. He explained, change requires action, if you see problems you don't like, be the change you want to see in the world. I took 3 pages of notes, so I can't post everything he said, but here are some of the most moving statements he made:

• Don't focus on competition, if it's for you, nobody can take it from you.


• People in your circle are either feeding you or eating you, and you want to surround yourself by people who are feeding you. Surround yourself with positive people that motivate you and rid your life of those who try to bring you down.
  
• In order to get people to get people to think outside of the box, you need to cut holes in the box. Let people see the outside of the box, so they see the bigger world around them. (My personal favorite!)