my name is amal and i’m here thanks to
the value of diversity that allowed you
to organize such kind of events like
TEDx and allowed me to participate in it
despite our differences actually I’m a
jealous I’m jealous because you are
lucky to be born or to be living in a
society that appreciates and protects
diversity a society that accepts and
internalizes differences in colors
religions languages and especially ideas
and opinions while it was not the case
with me in my country I have lived the
illusion of diversity the facade or the
shell of diversity let me give you an
example in my case I grew up in a family
where my father has African appearance
my mother has blue eyes and blonde hair
whereas me together with my eight
brothers and sisters would share the
Spanish look and I don’t know from where
we inherited that well this was only the
facade
while the inner facade the real
diversity the diversity that is deeper
than our colors and wider than our
languages that is about ideas opinions
attitudes and choices was very expensive
unlike your societies in my country it
was not granted it was so expensive that
at some point in your life you have to
give it up when you grew up and you find
out that you have to be a mere unit in
number in your society that you have to
get in the simulation machine of the
regime and to adopt the one story one
history one philosophy one memory and
one party philosophy in this simulation
process they change your identity and
they construct your ideas for example we
all learn that school that the
independence or the decolonization
was a result to the second world war
heavy economic and military cost us
together with the rise of the national
movements of liberation but in the
official narrative in my country the
independence is the personal victory of
one man and of course you are not
allowed to contradict this story
publicly to the cost of being perceived
as a thankless it is loyal person or
words and at that moment face it with
assimilation machine you are presented
with two choices either to join it and
be part of it or to assume your
responsibilities of being different in
my situation I decided among other
Tunisians not to be part of it not to
believe the official narrative and even
when I believe it to keep my right to
question it to question it no matter the
cost and here I have to be honest and
tell you that when I took this decision
I didn’t calculate the real price of
diversity simply because since my
childhood I haven’t been good in math
then later in my university years the
time had come to finally pay the price
for diversity in the first year at the
Faculty of Law I met three friends with
whom I shared the same meaning of
diversity that is deeper than our colors
and wider than our dreams and they were
also ready to pay the price for it
together we established the club and
colored it the club of ideas where we
use it to invite professor’s as well as
students to come and discuss and express
their opinions and thoughts with no fear
or moral or political control were they
also discussed it and questioned it the
official anecdotes about our country
Tunisia that was that was portrayed in
the official media and in the public
narrative as the development
three that compete the old democracies
and the world economy is over prosperity
and the human rights which was not true
of course and this club was our small
success where students from all over the
campus they use it to come to the
Faculty of Law just to feel free
discussing their various opinions about
arts about philosophy about sociology
what we also discuss it and their ads
the books of history politics and poetry
that you were prohibited from reading at
that time and we start publishing small
texts with all of our non-linear ideas
that club is the poly mech because it
was spreading a new alternative
narrative and because working for
diversity was not the best thing you can
do under the dictatorship and because it
was a success we were rewarded so to say
in the Christmas of 2008 while you were
probably making nice memories with your
friends and families and exchanging nice
gifts we were also receiving gifts but
of another kind a kind the least to say
was not nice at all that Christmas some
strangers visited my home to reward me
they gathered and confiscated all of my
books not only the prohibited ones but
even my study materials like for example
the code of the criminal law they
confiscated them because they were
stupid enough to believe that I think
differently only because of books well
although they played a role in shaping
my ideas they were not the only reason
behind them I was different because as a
human being we all were born with
different dreams and various views
and I forgot to tell you that they
didn’t only take the books they took me
to they rested me because thinking
differently in my country at that time
was a crime later in the way to the jail
they promises me to get a new meaning of
diversity they sarcastically told me
we appreciate your fight for a
pluralistic country and we’ll take you
to a much more diverse venue to my
surprise they were seeing the truth in
the prison I got new completely new
meaning of diversity it was about living
as a human being in a place where there
was no humanity to live from day to day
without being harassed Rapids to survive
the everyday humiliation and to avoid
the continuous attempts of violence and
aggression diversity there means to live
with people from different places with
different colors dialects and delicacies
without being excluded or excluding them
but it was not easy for me to get to
people there because jailers in my
country they used to advise the good
criminals not to get in touch with
people who have bad ideas and by bad
here of course they mean different this
the first days of my stay there I was
just a number for the other prisoners I
was the new small girl arrested because
of her harmful ideas however despite the
mutual fear the psychological fences and
informers control I managed it to
approach some prisoners and spoil them
and maintain relation with them although
they respected me and eventually
accepted me they kept seeing it was not
good enough to be jailed or arrested for
I
years or diversity and not for a good
big crime like theft or murder
well this experience strengthened it me
more and taught me if we arrived to pay
this price nothing no longer stood in
our way toward this strong diverse and
free society although it was not the
last time I have been arrested for that
a dream December 2008 was the time where
I learned the most about diversity do
you understand now I said I’m jealous
I’m jealous because you are likely were
not faced with the same probability to
live the same experience as as me I’m a
jealous because you were lucky to be
born or to be living in a society where
diversity prevalence and because it is
granted for us now we need to appreciate
it even more we especially need to
protect it every day because if we don’t
do we might lose it again and once it
this happens believe me it will be not
easy to get it back if we are ever able
to get it back thank you for your
attention [Applause]
the value of diversity that allowed you
to organize such kind of events like
TEDx and allowed me to participate in it
despite our differences actually I’m a
jealous I’m jealous because you are
lucky to be born or to be living in a
society that appreciates and protects
diversity a society that accepts and
internalizes differences in colors
religions languages and especially ideas
and opinions while it was not the case
with me in my country I have lived the
illusion of diversity the facade or the
shell of diversity let me give you an
example in my case I grew up in a family
where my father has African appearance
my mother has blue eyes and blonde hair
whereas me together with my eight
brothers and sisters would share the
Spanish look and I don’t know from where
we inherited that well this was only the
facade
while the inner facade the real
diversity the diversity that is deeper
than our colors and wider than our
languages that is about ideas opinions
attitudes and choices was very expensive
unlike your societies in my country it
was not granted it was so expensive that
at some point in your life you have to
give it up when you grew up and you find
out that you have to be a mere unit in
number in your society that you have to
get in the simulation machine of the
regime and to adopt the one story one
history one philosophy one memory and
one party philosophy in this simulation
process they change your identity and
they construct your ideas for example we
all learn that school that the
independence or the decolonization
was a result to the second world war
heavy economic and military cost us
together with the rise of the national
movements of liberation but in the
official narrative in my country the
independence is the personal victory of
one man and of course you are not
allowed to contradict this story
publicly to the cost of being perceived
as a thankless it is loyal person or
words and at that moment face it with
assimilation machine you are presented
with two choices either to join it and
be part of it or to assume your
responsibilities of being different in
my situation I decided among other
Tunisians not to be part of it not to
believe the official narrative and even
when I believe it to keep my right to
question it to question it no matter the
cost and here I have to be honest and
tell you that when I took this decision
I didn’t calculate the real price of
diversity simply because since my
childhood I haven’t been good in math
then later in my university years the
time had come to finally pay the price
for diversity in the first year at the
Faculty of Law I met three friends with
whom I shared the same meaning of
diversity that is deeper than our colors
and wider than our dreams and they were
also ready to pay the price for it
together we established the club and
colored it the club of ideas where we
use it to invite professor’s as well as
students to come and discuss and express
their opinions and thoughts with no fear
or moral or political control were they
also discussed it and questioned it the
official anecdotes about our country
Tunisia that was that was portrayed in
the official media and in the public
narrative as the development
three that compete the old democracies
and the world economy is over prosperity
and the human rights which was not true
of course and this club was our small
success where students from all over the
campus they use it to come to the
Faculty of Law just to feel free
discussing their various opinions about
arts about philosophy about sociology
what we also discuss it and their ads
the books of history politics and poetry
that you were prohibited from reading at
that time and we start publishing small
texts with all of our non-linear ideas
that club is the poly mech because it
was spreading a new alternative
narrative and because working for
diversity was not the best thing you can
do under the dictatorship and because it
was a success we were rewarded so to say
in the Christmas of 2008 while you were
probably making nice memories with your
friends and families and exchanging nice
gifts we were also receiving gifts but
of another kind a kind the least to say
was not nice at all that Christmas some
strangers visited my home to reward me
they gathered and confiscated all of my
books not only the prohibited ones but
even my study materials like for example
the code of the criminal law they
confiscated them because they were
stupid enough to believe that I think
differently only because of books well
although they played a role in shaping
my ideas they were not the only reason
behind them I was different because as a
human being we all were born with
different dreams and various views
and I forgot to tell you that they
didn’t only take the books they took me
to they rested me because thinking
differently in my country at that time
was a crime later in the way to the jail
they promises me to get a new meaning of
diversity they sarcastically told me
we appreciate your fight for a
pluralistic country and we’ll take you
to a much more diverse venue to my
surprise they were seeing the truth in
the prison I got new completely new
meaning of diversity it was about living
as a human being in a place where there
was no humanity to live from day to day
without being harassed Rapids to survive
the everyday humiliation and to avoid
the continuous attempts of violence and
aggression diversity there means to live
with people from different places with
different colors dialects and delicacies
without being excluded or excluding them
but it was not easy for me to get to
people there because jailers in my
country they used to advise the good
criminals not to get in touch with
people who have bad ideas and by bad
here of course they mean different this
the first days of my stay there I was
just a number for the other prisoners I
was the new small girl arrested because
of her harmful ideas however despite the
mutual fear the psychological fences and
informers control I managed it to
approach some prisoners and spoil them
and maintain relation with them although
they respected me and eventually
accepted me they kept seeing it was not
good enough to be jailed or arrested for
I
years or diversity and not for a good
big crime like theft or murder
well this experience strengthened it me
more and taught me if we arrived to pay
this price nothing no longer stood in
our way toward this strong diverse and
free society although it was not the
last time I have been arrested for that
a dream December 2008 was the time where
I learned the most about diversity do
you understand now I said I’m jealous
I’m jealous because you are likely were
not faced with the same probability to
live the same experience as as me I’m a
jealous because you were lucky to be
born or to be living in a society where
diversity prevalence and because it is
granted for us now we need to appreciate
it even more we especially need to
protect it every day because if we don’t
do we might lose it again and once it
this happens believe me it will be not
easy to get it back if we are ever able
to get it back thank you for your
attention [Applause]
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