Please see further down the Foreword of the new book edited by Stephanie Heuer, entitled
I Feel Like Nobody When …
I Feel Like Somebody When …

Foreword

There are only 50 sentences in this little book. Read them and recognize yourself. You could have written them. Anyone could. Chances are, you spoke them to yourself as a child. Chances are, they still apply. We never get used to the sting of being “nobodied.” At no age do we outgrow the desire to feel we’re somebody.

All that had to be done to elicit these nuggets of innocent wisdom was for a wise and caring teacher to write two short phrases on the board:

“I feel like a nobody when …”
“I feel like a somebody when … ”

In the fall of 2004, Stephanie Heuer did just that, and asked her students to complete them if they cared to. This poignant, uplifting book is the result. The words are all those of her second to fourth graders. Timeless and universal, they speak for millions of children everywhere.

Is showing others how they make us feel enough to persuade them to stop hurting us? Usually not. But it is a vital first step. As we realize that we are all hurt in the same ways, and that we are all made happy in the same ways, we do change.

Yes, education and institution-building are also required to translate the personal into the political. But knowing how others feel, and recognizing ourselves in them, is half the battle.

Ms. Heuer and her students have shown us what we must do to make our families and our schools places where human dignity is secure.

Now that we know, how can we not do this?

Robert W. Fuller
Berkeley, CA
January 2005
[Robert W. Fuller taught at Columbia University before becoming president of Oberlin College. He is the author of “Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank.”]

Quotes

Please see here a few of the quotes from Stephanie Heuer's book (please keep in mind this book is marketed to 2nd-4 graders, and was written by that age group):

I feel like nobody most of the time. My dad isn't here anymore.
I feel like somebody when my dad come back to visit. We get to play ball.

I feel like nobody when I am ignored.
I feel like somebody when I get a big hug.

I feel like nobody because I have no friends and people don't play with me.
I feel like somebody when my teacher calls on me when I raise my hand in class.

I feel like nobody when I am me.
I feel like somebody when I am you.