Director’s Statement

Refuse to be Told You Can’t, Even by Those in Authority

The individuals featured here suffered severe hardships during childhood including hunger, poverty, abuse, and neglect. Their parents, if they had family support, didn’t have access to education, most worked for low pay and had little or no hope for advancement in life. At school, they were practically invisible, often overlooked, dismissed and marginalized; some were placed in remedial classes solely based on having a Latino last name, or grouped with students presumed to be uninterested in college prep classes, yet not even asked about their college plans.

None of it stopped them from becoming engineers, doctors, medical professors, educators, authors, research scientists and elected leaders in government. Their success, in the face of seemingly overwhelming adversity, deserves our deepest respect and fullest admiration. Their stories shine a harsh spotlight on society’s cruel indifference toward children like they once were. Encouraging audiences to reflect on why society fails kids like this and consider what it will it take to rather include them? Doesn’t every child deserve to be treated with dignity? Aren’t all children endowed with limitless human potential, no matter their background, ethnicity, family wealth or social status? We must never underestimate the indomitable human spirit or the limitless potential of another human being.