Asynchronous Video Submission Instructions for Students

Please choose one of the five quotations provided below. For your chosen quotation, complete the following tasks:

Step 1.  Deep Dive Research: Go beyond the information given here. Research the quotation's precise context, the full speech (if applicable), and the speaker's life and motivations in greater detail.

Step 2.  Submission: Submit your speech to your district and/or teacher coach following their video according to the class guidelines.

Impromptu quotations 

(Remember to only choose 1 quotation)

1. Quotation: "The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives."

*   Historical Context: Born into slavery, Biddy Mason won her freedom in a landmark California court case in 1856. She became a wealthy real estate entrepreneur and one of the most prominent philanthropists in Los Angeles history.

*   Background on Speaker: Biddy Mason (August 15, 1818 - January 15, 1891) was an African-American nurse and a Californian real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist. She was one of the founders of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, California. Enslaved upon birth, she developed a variety of skills and developed knowledge of medicine, child care, and livestock care. A California court granted her and her daughters freedom in 1856.

2. Quotation: "Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world."

*   Historical Context: Dolores Huerta (born 1930) is a renowned American labor leader, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez. She coined the phrase "Sí, se puede" and played a pivotal role in negotiating contracts, securing rights for agricultural workers, and advocating for women's and minority rights.

*   Background on Speaker: Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, Dolores Clara Fernandez Huerta is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement. Born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta was the second of three children of Alicia and Juan Fernandez, a farm worker and miner who became a state legislator in 1938. 

3. Quotation: "The stars don't look bigger, but they do look brighter."

*   Historical Context: A Los Angeles native and Stanford alumna, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. The quote comes from an interview Dr. Ride did with Scholastic in 1998, where she was answering questions from students about her experiences in space. She was describing the literal, physical difference of looking at the cosmos through the windows of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

*   Background on Speaker: Dr. Sally Ride (1951–2012) was an American physicist and NASA astronaut who became the first American woman in space on June 18, 1983, aboard the Shuttle Challenger. A trailblazer for women in STEM, she flew two shuttle missions, operated the robotic arm, and later founded Sally Ride Science to promote education.

4. Quotation: "I cannot prevent anyone from getting angry, or calling for violence, or despising the establishment. But I can hope that they will also look at the other side and find a better way."

*   Historical Context: As one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. (serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors), Harvey Milk’s rhetoric often balanced the urgency of civil rights with a pragmatic call for strategic, hopeful action. The quote is drawn from Milk’s most famous address, commonly known as the "Hope Speech." He delivered versions of this speech several times, most notably at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978.

*   Background on Speaker: Harvey Milk (1930–1978) was a pioneering American LGBTQ+ rights activist and the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, he championed human rights and neighborhood issues before being assassinated just over a year into his term.

5. Quotation: "I have come to persuade my people to return to their own traditions."

*   Historical Context: A Tongva medicine woman and resistance leader, Toypurina led a 1785 revolt against the Mission San Gabriel. The quote is a modernized translation of testimony Toypurina gave during her military trial in late 1785. After a failed uprising at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (located in present-day San Gabriel, CA), she was captured and interrogated by Spanish Governor Pedro Fages.

*   Background on Speaker: Toypurina (1760–1799) was a powerful Kizh (Tongva) medicine woman and spiritual leader from the village of Jachivit. Highly respected for her wisdom and perceived supernatural powers, she became a central figure in the indigenous resistance against Spanish colonization and the mission system in Alta California.