liz murray

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2012

For the Love of Possibility (TEDxYouth)

not – why can’t i see – but – in what ways can i see..

the what if voice…

your life begins to end the day you become silent about things that matter – martin luther king

what i want to transfer to people now – what if..

people get interested in the outcome – but i’m more interested in falling in love with possibility

no one knows what’s possible until they are already doing it..

your potential is timeless…

new moment.. new opportunity…

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2010

breaking night:

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find/follow Liz:

Murray was born in the Bronx, New York on September 23, 1980 to poor and drug-addicted parents, both of whom would later contract HIV. She became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS, and her father moved to a homeless shelter. Despite personal adversity, Murray began attending the Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan. Despite her late high school start and lack of a stable home, Murray graduated in two years. She was awarded a New York Times scholarship for needy students and was accepted into Harvard University, matriculating in the fall semester of 2000. Her older sister Lisa graduated fromPurchase College in New York State and is a school teacher for children with autism.

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homeless to harvard: wikipedia

Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story is an American TV film directed by Peter Levin. It was first released on April 7, 2003 in the United States. This movie is adapted from Liz Murray’s autobiography, Breaking Night.

book links to amazon

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quotes from movie:

i love my mother so much.

i never forgot that she loved me. even if she did. all the time. all the time. all the time.

9 min – couldn’t they see. anyone could see. she was in so much pain. and her struggle was so much on the surface… so there.. if anyone cared to look.

figure out my life. do people really do that. can they do it while they’re falling down a deep dark hole.

what’s a home anyway…. a roof, bed, a place where when you go there.. they have to take you..

but sometimes i felt like i never had a home in my life.

44 min – sometimes i feel like there’s skin on the world. and those of us who are born under it can see through it.. we just can’t get through it.

all that’s left is the gestures we make.

this wasn’t the real world. we only really live in each other’s hearts.

she lived in my heart. but i lived no where.

54 min – i need the chance to climb out of this place i’ve been born in..

i know there’s a world out there that’s better, better developed. i want to live in it.

1:01 – because of you i know that there’s another way of being

i was so close to the skin now i could touch it..

1:13 – i want to stand beside people on the sidewalk..and not be so far beneath them..

1:19 – the world moves.. you’re just a speck.. it can all happen w/o you.. situations are not conducive to what you want for yourself.. someone else’s needs.. someone else’s plight is going to be stronger than yours is.. i think people just get frustrated w how harsh life can be.. so they spend their time dwelling on that frustration.. and calling it anger.. keeping their eyes shut to the wholeness of the situation.. to all the little tiny things that have come together to make it.. what it is