Rahfeal Gordon has come a long way from the homeless shelters and streets of Newark, New Jersey. The 25-year-old was honored this year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship for his work----giving motivational speeches to youth groups. Rahfeal Gordon tells his audience, "If nobody ever says that you're brilliant, say it to yourself every day. Look yourself in the mirror: if you have survived something, I don't care how small, how big, you've survived it," he said. Rahfeal Gordon 's speech is simple: He tells the story of his own life in three chapters. Each begins with a hip hop lyric   that he knows will be meaningful to a young audience. Gordon says he uses positive hip hop lyrics to encourage youths, especially those who grew in poverty and abuse, as he did. His talk is called "Hip Hop Saved My Life". " When I had my very dark moments in life, I would put on certain songs, whether it is from Jay-Z , Tupac, Kanye West," Gordon said. "They kept me going through the hard times. They fulfilled a certain void   that I couldn't fulfill, like not having a father or mother there, so I felt they could relate because they would tell these stories." Gordon says his childhood was happy until his father became addicted to drugs and began to beat his three brothers and mother. They left to live on the streets and in homeless shelters. Gordon says he tries now to be a voice for others, including a brother who was murdered at the age of 19.  "When I lost my brother, that was, really, a moment when things really started to take off, in the sense of saying, 'I really, really want to be that individual to help people, to help individuals,' "Gordon said. "I can't be Superman. I can't save the world, but I think that if I can help an individual, I am saving the world. " Rahfeal Gordon was honored because he   _  .
has changed the lives of young people worldwide inspires young people to better themselves encourages his students to improve the community has made great achievements in his teaching career