[Music]
are we obliged to advocate whether you
feel you can or you can’t you could or
you should I have five easy steps to
guide you through your advocacy journey
one lock down those motivations advocacy
at the core is a deeply embedded sense
of purpose for its defined by an act
that aims to influence the decisions
within social economic and political
systems and institutions no small Act
and if done right it’s a life’s work to
establish some role models Taniya Hodge
is the Australian rules football
executive however she wants to see
Aboriginal people represented in the
Australian Constitution Melilla
your sassy was shot in the head and 15
years old going to school she lived to
receive the Nobel Prize Elon Musk was to
build a city of a million people on Mars
while Bryan Stevenson represents young
black men young black boys in America’s
criminal justice system products of mass
incarceration on an astronomical scale
similar to the incarceration rates of
Aboriginal males in Australia Bryan’s
grandmother was born a slave yet Rosa
Parks told him that his life’s work was
gonna make him tired
tired tired three understand your
historical context my grandfather took
my mother to sit-ins in Chicago in the
1960s if you’re not familiar with
sit-ins that’s where a group of people
will go to a place like a restaurant or
a cafe or library and sit hoping to be
served
usually humiliated and unceremoniously
shown the door and potentially arrested
my father was killed in police custody
in 1987 I was eight years old and he was
unarmed my stepfather spent 30 years in
a major American corporation
marginalized in middle management
dutifully providing for middle-class
family in middle America and to me I
represent the first generation born with
the entitlements of civil liberties that
we all understand as basic human rights
voting education access the crappy diner
food focus that’s number four focus
those benefits of your historical
context focus those beliefs and those
observations now I’m a sports
administrator and I do believe in the
power of sport as a viable and extremely
constructive tool for social political
and economic engagement you what do you
believe in
now we can sit back and let those
beliefs simmer or we could challenge
them I prefer to sit back let you reveal
yourself
let your sincerity surface and let the
venom bubble over if that’s the case and
as far as observations whether it’s a
right or a privilege or a choice or an
obligation it doesn’t really matter it’s
all about perception because what a
right up-close can be perceived as a
privilege from afar number five a way
forward I stood on the shoulders of a
middle manager and I saw away I couldn’t
stomach another 50 years for incremental
step forward now some of you are
different you’re probably more selfless
you could commit your life for minimum
recognition minimum reward operating
under common misconceptions and
distorted perceptions are we obligated
to advocate I don’t know but hopefully
now we understand how to you lock in
those motivations make them unshakable
you establish some role models or become
one yourself you understand your
historical context and the histories of
people around you you focus all those
beliefs and all those observations to
push a way forward more simply put as an
advocate first you take a step in and
then you take a few steps back and then
you step up now many of you you may not
need anyone to speak up for you you may
not need anything
to understand your perspective but if
you do and you can’t find the words you
don’t have the voice tell me about it
tell somebody because we’re all
advocates thank you
you
are we obliged to advocate whether you
feel you can or you can’t you could or
you should I have five easy steps to
guide you through your advocacy journey
one lock down those motivations advocacy
at the core is a deeply embedded sense
of purpose for its defined by an act
that aims to influence the decisions
within social economic and political
systems and institutions no small Act
and if done right it’s a life’s work to
establish some role models Taniya Hodge
is the Australian rules football
executive however she wants to see
Aboriginal people represented in the
Australian Constitution Melilla
your sassy was shot in the head and 15
years old going to school she lived to
receive the Nobel Prize Elon Musk was to
build a city of a million people on Mars
while Bryan Stevenson represents young
black men young black boys in America’s
criminal justice system products of mass
incarceration on an astronomical scale
similar to the incarceration rates of
Aboriginal males in Australia Bryan’s
grandmother was born a slave yet Rosa
Parks told him that his life’s work was
gonna make him tired
tired tired three understand your
historical context my grandfather took
my mother to sit-ins in Chicago in the
1960s if you’re not familiar with
sit-ins that’s where a group of people
will go to a place like a restaurant or
a cafe or library and sit hoping to be
served
usually humiliated and unceremoniously
shown the door and potentially arrested
my father was killed in police custody
in 1987 I was eight years old and he was
unarmed my stepfather spent 30 years in
a major American corporation
marginalized in middle management
dutifully providing for middle-class
family in middle America and to me I
represent the first generation born with
the entitlements of civil liberties that
we all understand as basic human rights
voting education access the crappy diner
food focus that’s number four focus
those benefits of your historical
context focus those beliefs and those
observations now I’m a sports
administrator and I do believe in the
power of sport as a viable and extremely
constructive tool for social political
and economic engagement you what do you
believe in
now we can sit back and let those
beliefs simmer or we could challenge
them I prefer to sit back let you reveal
yourself
let your sincerity surface and let the
venom bubble over if that’s the case and
as far as observations whether it’s a
right or a privilege or a choice or an
obligation it doesn’t really matter it’s
all about perception because what a
right up-close can be perceived as a
privilege from afar number five a way
forward I stood on the shoulders of a
middle manager and I saw away I couldn’t
stomach another 50 years for incremental
step forward now some of you are
different you’re probably more selfless
you could commit your life for minimum
recognition minimum reward operating
under common misconceptions and
distorted perceptions are we obligated
to advocate I don’t know but hopefully
now we understand how to you lock in
those motivations make them unshakable
you establish some role models or become
one yourself you understand your
historical context and the histories of
people around you you focus all those
beliefs and all those observations to
push a way forward more simply put as an
advocate first you take a step in and
then you take a few steps back and then
you step up now many of you you may not
need anyone to speak up for you you may
not need anything
to understand your perspective but if
you do and you can’t find the words you
don’t have the voice tell me about it
tell somebody because we’re all
advocates thank you
you
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