People who made a difference

During the lessons with our 13-14 year-old students we talked about people who really made a difference in the history of civil rights with a particular focus on black rights. We studied the life and history of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Barack Obama through texts, real videos and films.

After class presentations and various discussions, we asked the students to write their opinions. Here are the questions we gave them and some abstracts taken from their answers. We've decided to publish the original texts, including mistakes, therefore we would like our readers to turn a blind eye to grammar and spelling. (During this activity, the students had access to the Internet and could use online dictionaries.)

Enjoy your reading!

You have learnt about people who fought for something important in their lives and did great things not only for themselves, but also for their people and the whole world. Do you know anyone else, famous or not, who “made or makes a difference”? In what way?

I think that, in this moment, doctors and nurses are making the difference in our country because they are risking their lives everyday to help people in hospitals. I see them as superheroes because they are doing everything they can to save lives, day and night, with ordinary actions. Teachers are heroes too because they are trying their best to continue their difficult task: helping students.

(Sara)

Yes, I know another person who made a difference in the whole world. This person is called Mother Teresa of Calcutta and she was a Catholic nun of Albanian origin who worked tirelessly among the poor of Calcutta in India. The Nobel Peace Prize was also recognized and she was proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis.

(Luca)

I strongly believe that everybody in the world makes a difference in some way and this difference can be a good one or not. The progress of the human race is conditioned by the choices that people make. I also think that anyone can contribute to this progress, all we have to do is have the courage to express our ideas and don’t be afraid of what other people might think.

(Sofia)

Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama had in their lives a lot of contact with people, with the different cultures who live on the world. They can understand what people feel, what they want, because they were a part of them. So they did became good leaders, because they known what people think and what people want.

(Jacopo)

I think that my professors are fighting to make we happy and make our days not boring: they do a challenge in which the classes of my school must challenge each other and at the end there is a “party”. They give us challenges each week and then we deliver our papers and then they make a ranking. In this way they, despite the difficult situation in which we find ourselves, make sure that the day is more fun and "alive".

(Andrea)

I know the history of Mohamed Salah, an egyptian footballer, that he lived in a poor zone of Egypt and he spent a big part of his gaining for build better homes for his country. With this gesture, I think he made a difference for his country, trough was a little gesture.

(Leonardo)

In this period I think that there are some people that are help our country, for example the doctors. They aren’t famous but in this moment they are saving some humans life and they are making different for the future of Italy.

(Sofia)

Rereading this question I thought of people who really made a difference and came to mind the doctors of the world. In this terrible time of coronavirus many people are dying, even if healthy In fact the "spot" of the moment in Italy is #Andràtuttobene. To prevent the virus from spreading even more you need to stay at home. I think that doctors are making a difference because they are saving a lot of people, with coronavirus, all over the world.

(Riccardo)

During his childhood, B. Obama understood the importance of respect for other cultures. Are you interested in other countries and other cultures? Do you think that learning languages helps you understand different people and cultures? Why?

I think that spending all your life in the same country and not knowing different cultures is very “bad”, because probably when you will see a person with a different culture or different ethnicity you will be kinda “scared” and you will judge by appearance and that’s a bad thing, because you cannot judge a person by the color of the skin or ethnicity. Moreover, learning different languages and cultures could be useful for your future job and many other things.

(Arianna)

I’m really interested in other countries, and I would love to travel in some of them, especially in South Korea. I’ve learned Korean for almost two year, but before meeting an actual Korean person I didn’t know much about their culture, so I think learning a language doesn’t mean knowing their culture, unless you actually meet someone that speak that language, or you actually search about their culture.

(Alice)

I’m quite interested in others countries and other cultures. I think that learning languages, especially english, helps me understand different people and cultures because if you know a international language (English), you can communicate in all the countries of the world and you can understand the people and their cultures. For example some years ago I went in New York and I had some difficulties because I didn’t speak good English.

(Alessandro)

Yes, I am interested in other countries and other cultures and I think learning languages helps me a lot to understand people from different cultures because I believe that by learning the language we can understand a small part of their culture and thus we can broaden our horizons. For example, Barack Obama at the beginning did not accept the fact of being multicultural, but over the years he accepted it and took a great advantage of it, that of having more possibilities.

(Matilde)

I am very interested in the cultures of other countries because I like to travel a lot and then because you can discover many new things maybe the lifestyle of some people.I also think that learning languages is very important to get closer perhaps to foreign people who arrive in Italy; for example, if a foreigner has to take some food or something else but he doesn’t know how to express, if I know languages, I could help him to express himself better.

(Camilla)

Since I was a child I have always been attracted to foreign culture and their languages. In fact I think that to fully understand a culture it is necessary to learn the foreign language, this is important in order to understand the locals. So you can imagine being like them, as if there were no differences. For example, to learn English, I find it necessary to travel, make cultural exchanges or simply meet someone who is a native speaker.

(Greta)

Knowing that in the world there are other cultures and not only ours is very useful because it helps us to be more open minded. In fact sometimes we are afraid of the unknown and if we know other cultures and languages we can learn how to understand and most importantly respect someone different than us.

(Sofia)

Knowing other cultures is always important and interesting, because each is different, with different things and people. And I think that the more things and people you know and understand can make you more open-minded.

(Anna)

I think that learning foreign languages helps you understand their culture because foreign languages make you get a little into the mentality of the country and it is more difficult to define them as foreigners.

(Edoardo)

A person with other culture and language is looked “bad” but if we know her we can understand that she is a good person and maybe we have something in common.

(Elena)

For all of my life I always admired other cultures and other countries as well. Understand other cultures and learn what other people do every day is beautiful, and sometimes others do a thing that you wouldn’t expect and maybe in Italy this thing it’s not appreciated.

(Samuel)

Since I was little, I always loved to travel and discover new cultures and new languages. For me, it’s very important to know other places and cities and their origins, because there are so many people in the world all different and with different stories and lives. It’s wonderful to try to join their societies because each of us is used to living in own reality, and we judge others without really know who they are and what they do. Before judging others, it’s better to know other people and their cultures.

(Camilla)

Dear Obama,

I want to tell you that your ideas are great for me!

I think that you had a lot of courage when you applied for president even you is an African American person.

You are one of the most charismatic person in the world and I like your slogan: “Yes, we can!” and when I found out it, it helped me when I was sad because it gives me a lot of positivity. (Elena)

I would like to ask him how he understood what was the right way for him and also how he become what he has become today... a civil rights leader.

(Lorenzo)

What is discrimination? Does discrimination exist in your country?

A lot of women are discriminated: at work they are paid less than men and many of them are compared to objects and not to humans. Then, a lot of immigrants are discriminated: a lot of people don’t want them in our country and they want them to return them to their own, where there can be war and many of other bad things.

(Arianna)

Discrimination is when a person receive a different treatment from another person. I think that we are all humans and if you are black or white, Christian or mussulman it doesn’t matter. So the discrimination is a behavior, a series of action it isn’t an opinion. Discrimination it could be a word, a speech, a law or a rule. A think that discrimination exist all over the world, in my country exist because there were some episodes to the landing of migrants.

(Rebecca)

Discrimination is when a person hasn’t the same rights of an another person and when there are the stereotypes. Yes in my country there are the discrimination, for example some people believe that men are better than women, for me this think is wrong because men and women are equal. Another example are the stereotypes about the black peoples, the poor peoples and the disabled people. I hope in the future there will be the equality between people.

(Riccardo)

I think that every day also in my country, that is Italy, there are continuous episodes of discrimination and racism towards black people. In our country still in 2020 there are people who think that black people cannot live in our country and don’t find it right that they have our same rights.

(Lorenzo)

I think everyone has the right to be and do what they want without the fear of being judged by others.

(Riccardo)

For example I think there is discrimination against people who arrived in Italy from Africa and other countries: somebody thinks that they come here to rob, they think they don’t want to work. Another discrimination is against women also in our country: they are played less than men. If they have a family their career stops so it is difficult for them to occupe important positions. Also at school sometimes there are some discrimination: I think that bullying is a terrible form of discrimination.

(Vera)

I think that discrimination is the worst thing the humans created. Discrimination divide people, but all people are a part of one race: the humanity race. There aren’t different races, there aren’t black people and white people, there are only people. [...] women are discriminated too. Men think that women exist to serve them, but this is not true. Women had the same rights of men, but a lot of people in this world don’t understand it. In Italy there are a lot of them too.

(Jacopo)

If you don’t like yourself or you think that you’re different from the others, it is not helpful when people judge you.

(Matilde)

The difference is not a bad thing, it is just being different that makes us who we are.

(Emma)

Discrimination is usually based on stereotypes or preconceptions that people have about a particular category, even though this convictions are usually not true.

(Sofia)

The discrimination is poisonous, because it separates people and increases the racial hate against the different people

(Leonardo)

Discrimination is something too bad to describe. But i describe it like cigarette: The more you use and the more you like doing that, and the most of the time you know that you’re doing the wrong thing.

(Pier Paolo)

Rosa Parks was a brave woman. She was courageous enough to refuse the segregation rules set by government. What is courage? Is it important in your life? Are you a brave person?

Courage is to have strength of mind, courage is strength to go forward in difficult situation like this one, not to lose the calm. Is important in life to deal with problems, there isn’t courage without fear.

(Rebecca)

For me courage is the power to tell everyone what you want without worrying of the thought of the other people.I think that in life it’s very important to be courageous.

(Miliena)

In my opinion, courage is a difficult feeling. I don’t know if I’m a brave person because in some moments I don’t know how to deal with problems. It is important because being brave means knowing how to say what you think without fear of being made fun of. A moment in my life in which I showed courage was at a soccer training when my companions shouted at me because I was wrong but I proved strong and I played more than before.

(Gaia)

Courage is when you are able to say what you think without being afraid of other people’s opinion, when you fight for something that you really believe in and when you care about others more than yourself, making their problems your problems. I think that I am a brave person because when I see an injustice I always try to fix it and when I think that something is incorrect I put a lot of effort to make it correct. I can’t compare myself to Rosa Parks or Nelson Mandela but in my little I try to change everything I think should be changed. For example at school I try to be friendly and be a friend of everybody.

(Sara)

Courage is the power to not stop in front of difficulties. It’s very important for me and for all people. We will all need a lot of courage to recover this difficult period we are all living.

(Rebecca)

I think that courage is a thing that everyone have. Is the capacity of do something that maybe you are scared of but that you do anyway because you believe in it and it’s so important in life. Yes, I am a brave person because if I think that something is right the majority of times I fight to realised it.

(Valentina)

The courage is saying or doing the things that you think are right, without the other people influence. Often I say what I really think, but sometimes I’m scared of people’s judgment. Anyway, every times I try to be brave and don’t worry about people’s judgement, even it’s not possible always. For example, when I have to talking about a very important thing, often I can do it but sometimes prevails the fear of people’s judgement.

(Alison)

In my opinion, courage is something incredible, because if you have the courage you can face the difficulties of life. Courage is very important in my life, because it allows me to face things, the problem is that very often I don’t have it. I’m not a very brave person because of my somewhat closed character. Some examples of courage in real life are: when there is a problem, a challenge it allows you to face them, or when you want to say, by doing something, courage helps you.

(Tommaso)

Martin Luther King had a dream of freedom and equality for all. What is your dream? Write your own speech with a dream you have for the future of your country.

I dream that our country will be able to overcome this coronavirus crisis: to see people on the street without a mask, to be able to stay less than a meter away, to be able to see their friends again and simply to go out. The coronavirus has caught us unprepared and I think we will get out of it in a short time but in any case this fact has made us understand that anything can happen and only by staying united (in this case at a distance) will we be able to get out of this very complicated situation.

(Sara)

I have a dream for my country, is to eliminated all different between south and north of my country. People have too many prejudices and stereotypes about people based on where they come from, this thing bothers me very much, the person they nicknamed people based on their city.

(Sofia)

I have a dream, a dream of equality and peace in Italy, a dream were there isn’t stereotypes and discrimination for what do you wear, for what do you eat or what do you say. [...] I hope those discriminations and stereotypes stop to exist in the future, and Italy will become a better country to live in.

(Samuel)

I have a dream for my country, my dream is that all the people not only in my country, but even in all the world have a house and food for live even if they haven’t money, I think it is unfair that someone else have nothing in the same country. I hope that everyone has a job, an house and the same rights.

(Riccardo)

I have a dream for my country: I wish that there weren’t difference between the people, I wish that an Italian person don’t blame a person that he has different origin only because he’s different. I wish that Italian people respect the rules imposed by the state yet. For example in coronavirus period not all the people respect rules and all the Italian must stay at home.

(Elena)

I dream of equality for all races...if a person needs help, he should be helped. If immigrants come here there will be a reason. Italy as the whole world has a duty to help them and only in this way can this “violence” be definitively fought after so many years.

(Federico)

I have a dream that one day all the people will be kind to each others and that they will not judging others for their skin color. I wanna that one day all the people will live in harmony and will not be ashamed of themselves, because all of us are beautiful in own way

(Camilla)

I have a dream, which one day my country can do all the normal things. We are like a prisoner because we stay all at home for the Covid-19. We want go out to play with our friends because we are noticing the network life is bored than the real life which you can give a hug to another person. We want the freedom. We can defeat the Covid-19 staying unite and together. I want only wich, one day we can find a cure for this virus.

(Paolo)

I have a dream. My dream is to get out of this bad situation, with few victims. My dream is that all people who go out, understand the mistake they make. My dream is that all the people who cannot see their grandparents come back to embrace them. I hope this dream will happen.

(Lorenzo)

Who do you admire the most? Why? What did he/she do? What do you think of him/her?

Martin Luther King is the person that I admire the most because he was really brave and he fought not only for himself but for all of his country. I liked the way he was able to share his ideas without using violence. He taught me that if you really want something to happen you have to make it happen yourself. [...] I share all his ideas and I think that he is a good example to follow in life.

(Sara)

I admire Rosa Parks very much because she is a courageous woman who has made herself known. [...] I really like her because with a small gesture she did a great thing, this shows that it takes little to make a difference, no big gestures are needed, everyone in their own small way can help.

(Emma)

The person I admire the most is Obama because, basing on his personal experience, he realized that the most important thing to obtain a multicultural society is the respect for the culture of each people.

(Vera)

My favourite character is Nelson Mandela because, first of all he was the first black president in South Africa and I admire him for his determination and courage. I think he was a true and right person who fought against the Apartheid. I think the most important thing of him is which he fought using peace.

(Paolo)

I admire the most Martin Luther King because I think that he is really wise and brave. He risked his own life fighting against the racial discrimination, in fact he believe in freedom and he thought that we should not be judged by the color of our skin but by our personality.

(Daniela)

I admire the most Rosa Parks, because she had a lot of courage, she fought for her liberty even though she knew the risks. She refused to give her seat on the bus to a white man, breaking the law. She was one of the first women to make a difference, not just for herself but for all nation and for the freedom from racial laws.

(Sofia)

I really admire the doctors right now and I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes because they could be infected and are risking their lives to save the world. I think that in this moment they have become heroes in two months and they are dying for us.

(Simone)

The people that I admire the most is Nelson Mandela, also called Madiba, because he was the first who have decided to gain freedom without use any type of weapon or aggressive behavior, but only with strike and other type protest and he was the first black president of the South African history.He also get arrested and spent more than twenty years in prison.

(Marco)

I admire the most Barack Obama because he is a great person and he is sympathetic. He was the 44th president of USA from 2008 to 2016 and he was the first black afro-American president too. The most important thing that Obama did was the fight for the sanity because in USA only people that have much money are able to receive care in the hospitals. I think that he was one of the best president of USA and he was more capable than the actual.

(Matteo)

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation. Does any form of racism exist today? Make some real life examples and describe.

Today there isn’t racial system but there are racist events. I play football and one example is when one players receive insults for his dark-skinned and this event is published by mass media and to resolve problem the fans can’t longer go to the stadium.

(Marcello)

The racism exists today, for example Italian people think that people coming from foreign countries, (especially North Africa or East Europe) are stealing jobs from them and are bringing more violence. This thought is wrong because all people have the same rights and the richest countries despise poor countries but this way is wrong. Many people want to fight racism but it isn’t easy, on various occasions important people, for example football players before a football match, they make banners to fight racism but they are useless.

(Tommaso)

Imagine you are writing a letter to one of the “people who made a difference”: what do you want to tell them?

The first thing I want to tell you is I am very proud of you. They are people like you who have brought hope of a better world. [...] I hope there will still be people like you in the world. Goodbye heroes without a mask.

(Sofia)

Dear Obama,

I want to tell you that your ideas are great for me! I think that you had a lot of courage when you applied for president even you is an African American person. You are one of the most charismatic person in the world and I like your slogan: “Yes, we can!” and when I found out it, it helped me when I was sad because it gives me a lot of positivity.

(Elena)

I want to tell them that I appreciate them and I think that without their help the world would still be a worse place than it was before they had contributed to improve it. If I had been in their place I would never be able to do all the things that they did with the same effectiveness.

(Beatrice)

If I had to write a letter to one of these 3 fantastic characters I think I would choose Obama because he is a more current character than the other two and also because I really admire his actions and the fact that he has always tried to valorize all human rights. I would like to ask him how he understood what was the right way for him and also how he become what he has become today... a civil rights leader.

(Lorenzo)

Dear Martin Luther King,

I write this letter to support your political ideal, I’m so happy for your ideal and I hope one day it will help people to understand who much it’s important for better future of all of us; I like your ideal because, for me, it’s the right thing to do to help black people they are the same as any other population, I’m not a black person but I don’t hate the black, I have no reason for that.

(Stefano)

Hi Mr Obama I wanted to say thank you for how you revolutionized the world and not only your country, you were able to make many people understand, including me, that among the various "races of people" there is no difference and that we must not believe ourselves superior because we are all on the same level.

(Tommaso)

Dear Barack Obama,

I’m writing to you this letter because I would like to tell you that I appreciate very much your fantastic ideas. I think that your ideas have been useful in order to try to avoid war with Islamic world, as well as to protect environment.

In addition to this, I read that you play basketball. Since I play basketball in a team here in Milan It would be a pleasure for me to play one times basketball with you. I’m sure that I will win!!!

I hope that you will read this letter and you will have time to answer me. Best regards

(Matteo)

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