Event Testimonials

"Hi Dr. Neal Lester,

I just wanted to start off this email by thanking you for coming to Carl Hayden Community High School and speaking to me and my peers about the meaning behind toys, picture frames, “costumes,” and above all, mirrors. You probably don’t remember me, but I was the girl dressed all in blue that volunteered to assist you onstage and then cried at the end ha-ha

. . .

I’m perfectly comfortable sharing my emotional response:) When I was in 3rd grade, my best friend was white with blonde hair and blue eyes. Every time we would hang out, the kids from our school would call us the rice girls. I never understood why they called us that until one of my friends told me. I felt very sad and thought it was very immature for kids to refer to me as brown rice and my friend white rice. They said it as a joke, and as a kid i normally wouldn’t have gotten offended. But for some reason, it bothered me! Then one day my friend and I were playing on the swings and a group of boys come towards us and tell me that my friend is pretty and that I’m ugly. I was confused and responded why would you say that to someone that’s incredibly rude. And the boy responded “You’re ugly because you’re brown. Your friend is pretty because she white.” His harsh words hurt me for the rest of my life. Over time, i thought he was just some jerk bully who would hurt people’s feelings for fun. So, i forgot about it. But deep down, I always had that thought in the back of my head that racism will unfortunately always be around somewhere. People somehow can never get rid of it. That crushed my childhood and kind of traumatized me in a mental way. That’s the reason i got emotional ha-ha. Thank you for hearing my story:)

. . .

Thank you, Dr. Lester! Yes! That’s specifically why i had a life realization and a connection with your lecture. I really appreciate it so much. Dr. Lester, I thank you for your job and effort to make the world a better place:)" 

(20 January 2023)