Liz Murray: Change the World From Where You Stand

Rebirth With J.R. Martinez

Liz Murray’s “Homeless to Harvard” story has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, made into a Lifetime original movie and chronicled in her book “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard”. Liz grew up with two parents addicted to drugs and eventually became homeless at the age of 15. She learned through hardship the power of perseverance and successfully graduated from Harvard University. Not only does Liz share her incredible story, but she also talks about gratitude, mentorship and that “no one gets to where they are going alone”. She is the co-founder of The Arthur Project which provides mentorship to underserved youth in NYC. Liz is a wife, mother, advocate and overall beautiful human being doing the work to make the world a better place.

Key Takeaways

• “No one gets to where they’re going alone!”
• Liz shares her story. Her parents were addicts and couldn't stop.
• People will grow into the conversations you create around them. Liz grew up in a conversation about survival.
• “People can’t give you what they don’t have.”
• Despite growing up in survival mode, Liz had a lot of angels (mentors) around her.
• Liz shares her story about her neighbor, Arthur, who always took the time to care.
• Due to the instability in her life, Liz was sent to a group home and Arthur tried to adopt her.
• Unfortunately, Arthur passed away suddenly and later that same year, Liz’s mother died from AIDs, both devastating Liz.
• Despite having to shoplift for food and being a dropout, Arthur’s voice and all the positive things he told her stayed present in her head. She didn’t give up on herself. She went back to school despite being homeless. She finished 4 years of high school in 2 years.
• Does my past have to determine my future? Can I start over?
• “When you’re embraced by a community, people hear you and hold you accountable for your actions.” You get to be held to a standard and you finally feel accepted.
• Liz was shocked when she got into Harvard. While homeless, she was featured in the NYTimes.
• People think, ‘why bother?’ and they shut down. “Cynicism is the atrophy of your heart.”
• Liz realizes that she will spend the rest of her life healing from her trauma.
• “Grief is love with no place to go.”
• Liz shares the story of her first speaking engagement. She was bewildered by their specific request.
• It can be so easy to give up when faced with immense adversity. Why is our world set up to dehumanize ourselves?
• When something feels wrong, Liz recognizes that she can’t be the only person who has felt this way. She seeks out knowledge to learn more.
• “The way you really heal is you have to face what happened. The only way out is through. It’s never going to go away if we don’t tell the truth.”
• Liz talks about racism and the historic oppression Black Americans have faced throughout U.S. history.
• This is not a theory we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with human lives.
• How can you make the world a better place? “It first starts where you stand and fix what you can control”
• What are you silently agreeing on? If you want change, you have to be willing to give up what we have, to have the world that we want.

Continue On Your Journey

Thearthurproject.org

Liz on Facebook

Liz on Twitter

Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

JRmartinez.com

J.R. on Instagram

J.R. on Facebook

J.R. on Twitter

J.R. Youtube Channel

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, please head over to iTunes and leave a review. Help others discover the REBIRTH podcast so they, too, can be inspired and motivated by the stories shared in these episodes.