Know Who You Are by Rylee Breeden
With the recent passing of Jesse Jackson, the students were reminded of his association with the poem, “I Am Somebody.” They were asked to consider this concept.
RYLEE…has a fascinating discussion with her emotional alter ego.
Know Who You Are
A-“I know who I am, but who are you?”
B-“How can you know who you are when I don’t know who I am? In fact, A-“you are exactly who I am.”
B-“No, I am sad, happy, angry, and quick to react. That is not you.”
A-“But you tell me who to be, how to feel, and how to act. If I am constantly following your directions, then how am I not you?”
B-“So in another sense, you act like me? Yet you do not act like yourself. Simply because you don’t know who you are.”
A-“So what if I don’t know who I am? What am I supposed to do?”
B-“Who you are comes from your actions, no matter what I tell you to do. What matters is how you follow my directions. That’s what builds you.”
A- “I only do that because you aren’t always right, that’s not me as a person”
B- “So you do know who you are as a person? And you do know right from wrong? So you do have your own personality.”
A-“Well I guess if you put it that way”
B-“When you act on your own, you are being yourself. Your mind is not always right. I am just the basics of emotions. I am your emotional reaction. So don’t always listen to me, know who you are.”
Rylee Breeden
2/20/26