Featuring:
Jason Collins, former NBA Player (All-American, Stanford)
Key Takeaways
- When we step into a room and we're different from the people in it we all want to feel welcome and accepted.
- The language that you use matters - for example using gender neutral pronouns when talking about significant others.
- How you talk about people in a given community can project allyship and support or can make those people feel scared or uncomfortable.
Things to Think About
- When you walk into a room or you're around a new group of people, how do you want to feel?
- What are some examples of things that might make someone feel uncomfortable or unwelcome?
- What are some ways that you might make different types of people feel welcome?
Ways to Practice
- Pick a group of people who are different from you in some way and come up with two ways you could show acceptance through your language or behavior.
- Try to notice when people around you use language or act in ways that are unwelcoming. Can you speak up in that moment?
Watch more content from Jason Collins on P/ATH Sports:
You Create Your Own Path
Choosing Role Models
P/ATH Sports, founded by Cassidy Lichtman, is a non-profit organization that believes that healing the divisions in our society in the long run depends on teaching young people new skills around empathy, equity and empowerment. P/ATH offers free content featuring some of the most successful athletes and coaches across sports using their experience to teach lessons around how to build mindset skills, develop great team culture, break out of the boxes we get put in and how the most valuable life lessons we learn in sports can transfer off the court or field.
