It's OK2D and Nothing Less
One thing we emphasize around these parts is that it’s Okay to Dream. The OK2D tour has been structured around Oliver’s impactful life experiences while providing students with a tangible example of surviving adversity and poverty. This comprehensive assembly guides students through essential life skills through the tools of self-awareness, ownership, imagination, and the success iceberg. The most powerful thing about the OK2D experience is its design which engages students' imagination through Oliver’s illustration of his life experiences. What is interesting about imagination is that it is the ability to envision something, whether it is imagining someone else’s experience or a future that has not happened yet. Through Oliver’s verbal illustration, he has engaged students in visualizing his experience and the imagination required to create his desired future. In other words, he makes the faculty of imagination tangible. Now we usually do not use words like faculty, but when considering imagination, defined as “the faculty or action of forming new ideas or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.” In this definition of imagination, faculty is considered an inherent mental or physical power”- aka this power is already in you. The OK2D tour experience reminds students and you of the power of imagination we all innately have and how to use adversity as the fuel to surpass their present reality and create a desired future. Oliver and the Dream Team have influenced student achievement and success throughout the Inland Empire within the past seven years by igniting dreams and fueling imagination.
Living the Dream
So yes, Oliver's story is the focus of the OK2D tour, but we, the Dream Team, are living our dream as well. Oliver is the face of what each of us, in our own way, are actively doing. Reframing education, dreaming, and imagination, all of the things we have lacked in some way and provide it to our community. Most, if not all of us, are I.E. born and raised and know what dreams have begun and ended in our community. We now exist in spaces and conversations that were once unbelievable. Now, they are a present reality. The administrations that used to be intimidating now refer to us because our collective dreams are resounding; we are the educated, the knowledgeable, and we are the culture. Our dreams are beginning to come true, and thankfully, the OK2D tour it's a constant reminder to be fully present in it.
It Ok to Do What You Have the Ability to
While the Okay to Dream tour was designed to remind students young and old of the importance of imagination and their dreams, in 2017, tragedy served as a powerful reminder. On November 11, 2017, Oliver’s nephew, King Messiah Horn, and the face of the OK2D tour passed away unexpectedly. We emphasize acting on our dreams through imagination with the complete understanding that tomorrow is not promised. While King was the face of the movement, he became the dedication to the movement. The OK2D tour is fully dedicated to King as a reminder of the gift of life you still have and the powerful imagination that you still have access to. You will find that adversity in all of its painful forms can add to the fuel that creates imagination. King reminds us of how purposeful life can be if you were given the time and if you got yourself, YOU are more than enough. So when we speak about the things that remind us of how powerful our imagination is, remember that dreaming and imagination are only the beginning. Purposeful action puts a stamp on that shit.
Consider King and us as your call to action to dream, imagine, and achieve with that in mind.
"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender ." - Tupac
*Definitions provided by Oxford Languages