| kionispeakspublicresume2020.pdf |
Sharing what I've learned is my passion.
Children who read are children who know, believe, and act as if they have limitless possibilities. They have an internal source of power and freedom that no one can ever take away from them. My mission is to share this love, this joy, this precious gift with as many young readers as possible. —JRS
Like many people, I went to schools that had the phrase "knowledge is power" plastered on the walls in nearly every classroom, hallway, stairwell, and cafeteria. By age 8, I understood that access to knowledge, especially for those of us who didn't have much money, was to be gained between the pages of a book. So I kept my nose in them thangs! I wanted to know everything, to go everywhere, and to meet all kinds of people. As a "library kid," books allowed me to do travel, learn and grow without spending a dime.
I was sad to learn that not everyone shared this joy with me. As I grew older, I began to see clearly the ways in which people suffer because reading is difficult for them, and/or not central to their lives. It hurt me to see that people suffer because of personal difficulties with reading. It angered me to see disadvantaged people develop flat out disregard for the books; I knew then that those people would miss opportunities because they hated reading. It was not lost on me that people who find reading difficult often dislike reading as adults. As a child, I vowed to do my part to prevent this fate for as many young people as possible. I set about learning all the ways a person can become a professional reading cheerleader.
I was sad to learn that not everyone shared this joy with me. As I grew older, I began to see clearly the ways in which people suffer because reading is difficult for them, and/or not central to their lives. It hurt me to see that people suffer because of personal difficulties with reading. It angered me to see disadvantaged people develop flat out disregard for the books; I knew then that those people would miss opportunities because they hated reading. It was not lost on me that people who find reading difficult often dislike reading as adults. As a child, I vowed to do my part to prevent this fate for as many young people as possible. I set about learning all the ways a person can become a professional reading cheerleader.
Reading is important because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything."
—Tomie dePaola
Giving your child the gift of reading is about way more than ensuring academic success or ensuring that he or she gets a good job and lives a better life. Reading is fun, empowering, and uplifting. When we read books, we develop empathy; we expand our minds and our possibilities. Reading puts everyone on equal footing because it is the simplest way to access knowledge. A love of reading can help children learn to problem solve. Readers know that if they don't know something, they can visit a library, open up a book or a browser, and begin to find out. With reading, your child can see the world and be prepared to interact with it. New people, new places, and new concepts will be familiar because they were encountered in a book first.
Reading ---> Knowledge = Power
therefore,
Reading --> Power
^Real Power belongs to and comes from Our Creator
therefore,
Reading --> Power
^Real Power belongs to and comes from Our Creator
Real power is the ability to use what we think, what we believe is possible (faith), and our substantive relationship with Alaha, our Creator, from whom the breath of all life comes, to shape our realities. In doing so, we have the ability to heal ourselves, our families, and our nations. Ultimately, my dedication to reading is an outpouring of my mission to cultivate a life of faith in God.
Being born into a non-religious household and a poly-religious family where all major religions were represented, respected, and explored, I was free to develop my own relationship with God outside of dogma. That freedom to explore quickly revealed to me the most profound and expansive power of All That Is, and I have been deeply in love from a young age.
As an adult, everything I create, teach, explore, and share is under-girded by the path of "the mystic." Simply put, God is One, God is in everything, and everything belongs to our Creator. If we surrender to this authority, learn the science of energy (spirit, the unseen, metaphysical reality, and abide by it, we enter into a great journey of evolving our souls and constantly returning home to Love, whereas God is Love. God is also all Knowledge and all Power. Our job is to align with Source, however we define It, and choose to use that alignment for the good of all people, starting with ourselves. Capisce?
So, I do a lot of learning, reading, and living. My task is to apply what I learn about the spiritual reality to the material one you're reading this from in order to effect great change in my life, my family, and the world around me. When and where it's suitable, my work is an outpouring of my desire for you, your children, and your community to do the same: Love God, know God, and trust God's power within.
In the face of society's seemingly insurmountable problems (global warming, overpopulation, water shortages), we will succeed because of people who read. People who read are people who think, dream, imagine, and (re)create the world in their own image. They have the power (knowledge) to do so.
Reading (and loving it) is the great equalizer. Let’s empower ourselves, our children, and one another together.
Being born into a non-religious household and a poly-religious family where all major religions were represented, respected, and explored, I was free to develop my own relationship with God outside of dogma. That freedom to explore quickly revealed to me the most profound and expansive power of All That Is, and I have been deeply in love from a young age.
As an adult, everything I create, teach, explore, and share is under-girded by the path of "the mystic." Simply put, God is One, God is in everything, and everything belongs to our Creator. If we surrender to this authority, learn the science of energy (spirit, the unseen, metaphysical reality, and abide by it, we enter into a great journey of evolving our souls and constantly returning home to Love, whereas God is Love. God is also all Knowledge and all Power. Our job is to align with Source, however we define It, and choose to use that alignment for the good of all people, starting with ourselves. Capisce?
So, I do a lot of learning, reading, and living. My task is to apply what I learn about the spiritual reality to the material one you're reading this from in order to effect great change in my life, my family, and the world around me. When and where it's suitable, my work is an outpouring of my desire for you, your children, and your community to do the same: Love God, know God, and trust God's power within.
In the face of society's seemingly insurmountable problems (global warming, overpopulation, water shortages), we will succeed because of people who read. People who read are people who think, dream, imagine, and (re)create the world in their own image. They have the power (knowledge) to do so.
Reading (and loving it) is the great equalizer. Let’s empower ourselves, our children, and one another together.
