Knowing who you are and what you love key to success, Stedman Graham tells students

WARREN

Author and speaker Stedman Graham spent about 90 minutes Wednesday at one of Warren’s four Pre-K to Grade 8 schools helping middle-school students think about who they are and what they love.

Understanding that can be the tool that propels them from being among the 99 percent of people who are followers to the 1 percent who are leaders.

“Most people are followers. What do followers do? They have to be told everything to do. And 99 percent of those people have to be told everything to do every single day because they don’t think for themselves,” he said.

Graham is giving the talk each day this week to a different group of Warren Pre-K to Grade 8 students and to students at Warren G. Harding High School and to adults each night at 6 p.m.

His talk is part of the Live Sonima tour, paid for by the Sonima Foundation, that also includes concerts by performer Caroline Jones. Graham, boyfriend of Oprah Winfrey, will give his talk at about 100 schools this year.

What matters is “Who are you? Do you know who you are?” Most people “don’t think. They react” because they’re followers. “They do what everybody else does...to feel accepted.”

That’s why it’s necessary to have an identity.

Read more about his own story and how he overcame his obstacles in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.