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All too often, students of color encounter obstacles on their journey to success. Many live in violent communities, attend under-resourced schools and are taught by teachers who have low expectations of them.

In the face of adversity, third-grade teacher Jasmyn Wright encourages her students to “push through.” She posted a video of a call and response exercise she does with them, which has gone viral, receiving more than 3.5 million views.

The teacher asks: “What if it’s too hard?”

Her students respond: “I’m gonna push through.”

Wright poses this question: “What if you’re too dumb?”

They respond forcefully: “That ain’t true!”

Wright, who teaches at Frederick Douglass Elementary in Philadelphia, also gives her students concrete examples—Nelson Mandela, Jackie Robinson, Michelle Obama, Rosa Parks—of Black heroes who persevered.

Wright explained to the Huffington Post what “push through” means:

“‘Push through’ means that you can conquer and get through any adversity that life introduces you to. Some things in life are inevitable and you can’t control them. However, you have control over your response and reaction to those situations. Anybody, any religion, any race, any age, any disability, any obstacle, can PUSH THROUGH. We are limitless.”

SOURCE: Huffington Post

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