I let that ring in their heads for a while and I continued. Knowledge is the tool you use to produce. Now I had their attention. Power that comes from knowledge usually makes more long-term positive change. From ignorance comes destructive power.
Power is control.
The greater your power, the more control you have over your own life. That is the real power. With this opening statement, I sought to politicize my classroom. My subject was now American History and my classes now contained sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Politics is the use of power.