[Music]
thank you so much I have always been
fascinated with stories that try to
predict the future from Star Wars to The
Hunger Games
I must admit here for the first time
publicly that as a teenager I always
imagined myself like Princess Leia
trying to save the world from the dark
side
by the time Katniss Everdeen entered my
life those dreams had evolved into
something more realistic my past as a
journalist was very clear but still
sprinkled with that same desire to try
to do something to make the world a
better place
little by little I learned that using my
voice motivates others to use theirs
leading to positive change and that is a
superpower all of us have last year in a
little over two months I covered three
hurricanes one earthquake and the worst
mass shooting at a church in US history
I traveled to more than two dozen cities
told stories of almost 2,000 people who
died and thousands more left living in
the aftermath you see when I first
started out as a reporter I thought that
finding the truth was my main goal I was
wrong that’s just my job what matters
the most to me now is to make people
care not just hear the news and think
that is so sad well fortunately it
didn’t happen to me I want to make them
understand that eventually something
like that can happen to any of us our
world is shrinking it is more and more
interconnected by culture technology
politics the good and the bad that
happens everywhere will affect us at
some point last year when I was covering
the aftermath of hurricane Harvey in
Texas I was standing in the middle of a
flooded street in Houston thinking about
the zoning laws that allowed for areas
without drainage resulting in the loss
of lives could it have been prevented
would it happen again in a different
city who knows in Mexico standing in
front of a school where 19 children died
after a devastating earthquake zoning
laws were also on my mind
Puerto Ricans desperately asking FEMA to
deliver humanitarian aid as fast as
people in Texas and Florida received it
brought to light a great disparity in
the way the US government treats its
people do we have 1st 2nd and maybe even
3rd class citizens and gun control was
front and center in the Vegas massacre
and the church shooting at Sutherland
Springs Texas there are 88.8 guns for
every 100 people in the United States
the highest per capita rate in the world
22% of Americans own one or more guns so
is this the Second Amendment debates or
a multi-million dollar industry
defending its turf I don’t dare have the
answers to these questions but I will
continue to ask them every time I get a
chance and I will work very hard for us
to remember the faces beyond the
headlines again any day it can be you or
me up there and last year it happened to
me the story hit home for six months in
my country of origin Venezuela hundreds
and thousands of people from all walks
of life took to the streets to protest
the socialist government of Nicolas
Maduro blaming his regime for the
economic crisis that resulted in
widespread food and medicine shortages
and that is where I grew up it’s where
my parents and most of my friends still
live and as I was traveling the world
covering all these other stories my
people Mahane they were running for
their lives the government security
forces responded violently to the
marches I of course requested to go
cover the story I felt I knew more than
anyone else why they were willing to die
fighting for the most basic and
essential human rights but I was told it
was too
dangerous plus there’s no American
connection for months I watched other
news outlets cover the Venezuela story
some were really good others not so much
but even as the death toll rose to over
a hundred I knew the value of the story
was fading the new cycle was spinning
with the Russia investigation and
tensions with North Korea the opioid
epidemic and other equally important
issues and after a while I honestly knew
I had to let it go for my own sanity I
especially needed not to think about it
this one day I remember I had a photo
shoot and I didn’t want to ruin the mood
so I put my phone on silent when I
finally picked it up hours later I
realized they’d have been going off for
a while and this name started popping up
all over my messages a name I hadn’t
heard in over 10 years
Reinaldo Rueda he was my high school
sweetheart and I knew that he was
happily married and had two beautiful
little girls the rest of the words
followed like a cascade of nightmares
Karolina Elena’s nephew brutally
murdered in Venezuela my first love a
victim of the violence I had failed to
cover
he was only 34 years old
Leonardo was special he was noble kind
physically he reminded me of Buzz
Lightyear from Toy Story he was a class
act with the sweetest smile his killers
tortured him so much reports say they
could barely recognize him when they
found him and after that I knew I had to
go to Venezuela I needed to be with my
parents and my friends and see what they
were living through my boss at NBC News
was naturally concerned for my safety
she made me promise not to go near the
protests report on anything or post any
information on social media about my
trip
it was torture but I had to comply and
for the first time I felt like a tourist
not a journalist I saw my beloved
country it looked like a war zone
students were dying every day and I
couldn’t say a word and I remembered a
quote by Maya Angelou there is no
greater agony than bearing an untold
story inside of you
I left Venezuela but Venezuela did not
leave me
whatever happened next I was going to do
my very best to make people care about
any given situation I had to report on I
was going to show the same passion I
wish to see in the reporters covering
Venezuela’s crisis and instead of
belonging to the imaginary Justice
League I would do justice by my stories
life went on political coverage this
weird sonic attack in Cuba the solar
eclipse of course and I kept busy until
hurricane Harvey took me by storm quite
literally we drove to Houston in the
middle of the night two hundred thousand
flooded homes in this one city alone
people being rescued from drowning
everyday shelters for those who lost
everything bursting at the seams there
were a ton of news crews in Houston the
world was watching but they were missing
a lot
my producer Peter Shaw and I decided to
drive south where smaller cities were
going through similar conditions but
fewer outlets were reporting I remember
that one day I walked into this little
hardware store it was the only place
that was open and the owner goes they
found something in the water nearby a
body what I said a body that it’s two
weeks after the storm I thought
everybody had officially been accounted
for sir can you help us find it we have
to tell this story and he draws a map
for us a map that led to the dead body
Peter and I hop in the car we drive
through the dirt road
by nothing more than this ones piece of
paper until finally we spot the police
cars they had just taken the body out of
the water people were still dying trying
to find loved ones spend cheering out to
get drinking water for their children
but their stories weren’t being told
these people were too far too few too
poor I gave it my all and in the end we
never found out who died how did they
drown that they have any family did
anyone care
the police were reluctant to give out
any information my story was incomplete
but as I worked but a Naldo was in my
thoughts I prayed for his soul I wanted
him to know that he was a great gift in
my life today you are remembered and you
are loved you will not be forgotten I
also prayed for that unknown victim
hoping that someone would be feeling his
or her loss as much as I was feeling the
Renaldo’s we weren’t even done in Texas
when they asked us to head into another
massive storm hurricane Irma and Florida
this time we were there beforehand in
place in Miami Beach as hurricane storm
winds almost blew us away
I remember the sand pounded my face and
body to the point where it was hard to
move we were live in the middle of the
Today Show on NBC and then Peter was
yelling for me to get back in the car
and so I spot him a man no jacket no
shoes probably homeless like a leaf
drifting in the wind I talked about him
on the air I had to millions of people
watched as he held on to a boarded up
TGI Fridays holding on to his life
we were about 150 feet away from him on
a parking structure trying to get down
but with the wind and the debris it felt
like a hundred and fifty miles I called
the authorities Ocean Drive and fifth
were trying to get to him but please
come fast
and when I glanced back down he was gone
disappeared without a trace I felt I had
failed again sure I told the world about
him but had I really done anything to
help him without ever knowing him this
man left a profound impression on me
I need her looked at the recording of
that day and I felt sick at how detached
I looked that’s not how I felt at all
but some people on social media even
said that I probably didn’t care because
he was homeless as human beings we are
often confronted with labels poor
immigrant gay mentally ill homeless we
see labels in others and that’s how
others see us I have several immigrants
latina short maybe not Wonder Woman but
I can find the truth without a magic
lasso and I can still rock shining
bracelets we have to remind ourselves to
see people not labels as storytellers we
have to communicate how we feel we have
to make the pain real to the viewers
because if we remain emotionless
so will the audience long gone is the
era of the cold reporter who couldn’t
express any feelings I believe that
objectivity and compassion go hand in
hand
just one week later my team was in a
different country after a magnitude 7.1
earthquake shattered Mexico City
hundreds dead children crushed in their
own school volunteers and dogs sniffling
for life there was still hope
because dozens were trapped underneath
the rubble we spent entire days on these
rescue sites broadcasting the dread but
also the hope as I was translating live
from Spanish to English I think it had
never been done before for that long
live on an American network on day four
I interviewed the father of one of the
children who died at the Enrica Rebbe
some in primary school his son’s
nickname was poquito and he was just
seven-years-old Iquitos dad told me you
know my son he was an amazing kid Oh
bleep ah so he said and now he’s gone
tears roll down his eyes as the camera
kept rolling too but at that moment
Paquita father in that church on the
outskirts of Mexico City used his voice
to make people thousands of miles away
connect to a loss that wasn’t theirs we
may not have all experienced a massive
earthquake but we all know what loss
feels like I thanked him after the
interview for opening his heart to a
stranger on the worst day of his life
and when I left Mexico City I felt I had
finally told a story the way it deserved
to be told
humbly with raw emotion that really
needed no translation in the end we are
human beings using our voice our super
power to tell the story of our kind my
team got sent on one final assignment
that summer the beautiful island of
Puerto Rico that was in one word
devastated after Hurricane Maria I spent
weeks talking to what equus who not only
lost their homes but their entire way of
life the biggest complaint that being
American citizens they weren’t being
treated as such
actually polls show that almost half of
Americans don’t know Puerto Ricans are
US citizens and I have to admit that at
that point I was physically and
emotionally exhausted I didn’t know what
else I could do news of President Trump
throwing paper towels and imitating a
Puerto Rico accent made headlines but I
know the story was getting it’s
expiration date and as much as it was
about home the United States there was
no cultural affinity one day I was
walking down this line of about 5,000
people desperate for food and ice and
water and I think
realized that I was at my wit’s end
because when they saw me recording as I
walked down they started circling around
me and some started clapping and hugging
each other and they yelled quanto Rico
Salamanca Puerto Rico Rises and that
gave me the strength to bring their
spirit to TV and social media and here
to TED talks I want to share that lesson
with you today resilience the human
ability to adapt and overcome the
circumstances and may I add doing it
gracefully when I look back at the last
year I think about all the stories I
didn’t get to cover the brutal
displacement of the Rohingya Muslims in
Myanmar the terrorist attack in
Barcelona the Middle East reaction to
the US Embassy in Jerusalem I know I
could have done so much more but today I
also know that quality over quantity is
not a cliche it is the most respectful
way to show that we care I got to spend
time I got to form a bond with the
protagonists of my stories they left an
imprint that will never fade telling
their stories was a privilege I was
willing to fight for now think about
what you are willing to fight for and go
ahead and do it all you need to do is
care enough to come forward like the
women who are saying me too and the
dreamers who refuse to yield you can
change the future you can write your own
story and be a superhero for one person
or for millions the choice is only yours
thank you so much
you
thank you so much I have always been
fascinated with stories that try to
predict the future from Star Wars to The
Hunger Games
I must admit here for the first time
publicly that as a teenager I always
imagined myself like Princess Leia
trying to save the world from the dark
side
by the time Katniss Everdeen entered my
life those dreams had evolved into
something more realistic my past as a
journalist was very clear but still
sprinkled with that same desire to try
to do something to make the world a
better place
little by little I learned that using my
voice motivates others to use theirs
leading to positive change and that is a
superpower all of us have last year in a
little over two months I covered three
hurricanes one earthquake and the worst
mass shooting at a church in US history
I traveled to more than two dozen cities
told stories of almost 2,000 people who
died and thousands more left living in
the aftermath you see when I first
started out as a reporter I thought that
finding the truth was my main goal I was
wrong that’s just my job what matters
the most to me now is to make people
care not just hear the news and think
that is so sad well fortunately it
didn’t happen to me I want to make them
understand that eventually something
like that can happen to any of us our
world is shrinking it is more and more
interconnected by culture technology
politics the good and the bad that
happens everywhere will affect us at
some point last year when I was covering
the aftermath of hurricane Harvey in
Texas I was standing in the middle of a
flooded street in Houston thinking about
the zoning laws that allowed for areas
without drainage resulting in the loss
of lives could it have been prevented
would it happen again in a different
city who knows in Mexico standing in
front of a school where 19 children died
after a devastating earthquake zoning
laws were also on my mind
Puerto Ricans desperately asking FEMA to
deliver humanitarian aid as fast as
people in Texas and Florida received it
brought to light a great disparity in
the way the US government treats its
people do we have 1st 2nd and maybe even
3rd class citizens and gun control was
front and center in the Vegas massacre
and the church shooting at Sutherland
Springs Texas there are 88.8 guns for
every 100 people in the United States
the highest per capita rate in the world
22% of Americans own one or more guns so
is this the Second Amendment debates or
a multi-million dollar industry
defending its turf I don’t dare have the
answers to these questions but I will
continue to ask them every time I get a
chance and I will work very hard for us
to remember the faces beyond the
headlines again any day it can be you or
me up there and last year it happened to
me the story hit home for six months in
my country of origin Venezuela hundreds
and thousands of people from all walks
of life took to the streets to protest
the socialist government of Nicolas
Maduro blaming his regime for the
economic crisis that resulted in
widespread food and medicine shortages
and that is where I grew up it’s where
my parents and most of my friends still
live and as I was traveling the world
covering all these other stories my
people Mahane they were running for
their lives the government security
forces responded violently to the
marches I of course requested to go
cover the story I felt I knew more than
anyone else why they were willing to die
fighting for the most basic and
essential human rights but I was told it
was too
dangerous plus there’s no American
connection for months I watched other
news outlets cover the Venezuela story
some were really good others not so much
but even as the death toll rose to over
a hundred I knew the value of the story
was fading the new cycle was spinning
with the Russia investigation and
tensions with North Korea the opioid
epidemic and other equally important
issues and after a while I honestly knew
I had to let it go for my own sanity I
especially needed not to think about it
this one day I remember I had a photo
shoot and I didn’t want to ruin the mood
so I put my phone on silent when I
finally picked it up hours later I
realized they’d have been going off for
a while and this name started popping up
all over my messages a name I hadn’t
heard in over 10 years
Reinaldo Rueda he was my high school
sweetheart and I knew that he was
happily married and had two beautiful
little girls the rest of the words
followed like a cascade of nightmares
Karolina Elena’s nephew brutally
murdered in Venezuela my first love a
victim of the violence I had failed to
cover
he was only 34 years old
Leonardo was special he was noble kind
physically he reminded me of Buzz
Lightyear from Toy Story he was a class
act with the sweetest smile his killers
tortured him so much reports say they
could barely recognize him when they
found him and after that I knew I had to
go to Venezuela I needed to be with my
parents and my friends and see what they
were living through my boss at NBC News
was naturally concerned for my safety
she made me promise not to go near the
protests report on anything or post any
information on social media about my
trip
it was torture but I had to comply and
for the first time I felt like a tourist
not a journalist I saw my beloved
country it looked like a war zone
students were dying every day and I
couldn’t say a word and I remembered a
quote by Maya Angelou there is no
greater agony than bearing an untold
story inside of you
I left Venezuela but Venezuela did not
leave me
whatever happened next I was going to do
my very best to make people care about
any given situation I had to report on I
was going to show the same passion I
wish to see in the reporters covering
Venezuela’s crisis and instead of
belonging to the imaginary Justice
League I would do justice by my stories
life went on political coverage this
weird sonic attack in Cuba the solar
eclipse of course and I kept busy until
hurricane Harvey took me by storm quite
literally we drove to Houston in the
middle of the night two hundred thousand
flooded homes in this one city alone
people being rescued from drowning
everyday shelters for those who lost
everything bursting at the seams there
were a ton of news crews in Houston the
world was watching but they were missing
a lot
my producer Peter Shaw and I decided to
drive south where smaller cities were
going through similar conditions but
fewer outlets were reporting I remember
that one day I walked into this little
hardware store it was the only place
that was open and the owner goes they
found something in the water nearby a
body what I said a body that it’s two
weeks after the storm I thought
everybody had officially been accounted
for sir can you help us find it we have
to tell this story and he draws a map
for us a map that led to the dead body
Peter and I hop in the car we drive
through the dirt road
by nothing more than this ones piece of
paper until finally we spot the police
cars they had just taken the body out of
the water people were still dying trying
to find loved ones spend cheering out to
get drinking water for their children
but their stories weren’t being told
these people were too far too few too
poor I gave it my all and in the end we
never found out who died how did they
drown that they have any family did
anyone care
the police were reluctant to give out
any information my story was incomplete
but as I worked but a Naldo was in my
thoughts I prayed for his soul I wanted
him to know that he was a great gift in
my life today you are remembered and you
are loved you will not be forgotten I
also prayed for that unknown victim
hoping that someone would be feeling his
or her loss as much as I was feeling the
Renaldo’s we weren’t even done in Texas
when they asked us to head into another
massive storm hurricane Irma and Florida
this time we were there beforehand in
place in Miami Beach as hurricane storm
winds almost blew us away
I remember the sand pounded my face and
body to the point where it was hard to
move we were live in the middle of the
Today Show on NBC and then Peter was
yelling for me to get back in the car
and so I spot him a man no jacket no
shoes probably homeless like a leaf
drifting in the wind I talked about him
on the air I had to millions of people
watched as he held on to a boarded up
TGI Fridays holding on to his life
we were about 150 feet away from him on
a parking structure trying to get down
but with the wind and the debris it felt
like a hundred and fifty miles I called
the authorities Ocean Drive and fifth
were trying to get to him but please
come fast
and when I glanced back down he was gone
disappeared without a trace I felt I had
failed again sure I told the world about
him but had I really done anything to
help him without ever knowing him this
man left a profound impression on me
I need her looked at the recording of
that day and I felt sick at how detached
I looked that’s not how I felt at all
but some people on social media even
said that I probably didn’t care because
he was homeless as human beings we are
often confronted with labels poor
immigrant gay mentally ill homeless we
see labels in others and that’s how
others see us I have several immigrants
latina short maybe not Wonder Woman but
I can find the truth without a magic
lasso and I can still rock shining
bracelets we have to remind ourselves to
see people not labels as storytellers we
have to communicate how we feel we have
to make the pain real to the viewers
because if we remain emotionless
so will the audience long gone is the
era of the cold reporter who couldn’t
express any feelings I believe that
objectivity and compassion go hand in
hand
just one week later my team was in a
different country after a magnitude 7.1
earthquake shattered Mexico City
hundreds dead children crushed in their
own school volunteers and dogs sniffling
for life there was still hope
because dozens were trapped underneath
the rubble we spent entire days on these
rescue sites broadcasting the dread but
also the hope as I was translating live
from Spanish to English I think it had
never been done before for that long
live on an American network on day four
I interviewed the father of one of the
children who died at the Enrica Rebbe
some in primary school his son’s
nickname was poquito and he was just
seven-years-old Iquitos dad told me you
know my son he was an amazing kid Oh
bleep ah so he said and now he’s gone
tears roll down his eyes as the camera
kept rolling too but at that moment
Paquita father in that church on the
outskirts of Mexico City used his voice
to make people thousands of miles away
connect to a loss that wasn’t theirs we
may not have all experienced a massive
earthquake but we all know what loss
feels like I thanked him after the
interview for opening his heart to a
stranger on the worst day of his life
and when I left Mexico City I felt I had
finally told a story the way it deserved
to be told
humbly with raw emotion that really
needed no translation in the end we are
human beings using our voice our super
power to tell the story of our kind my
team got sent on one final assignment
that summer the beautiful island of
Puerto Rico that was in one word
devastated after Hurricane Maria I spent
weeks talking to what equus who not only
lost their homes but their entire way of
life the biggest complaint that being
American citizens they weren’t being
treated as such
actually polls show that almost half of
Americans don’t know Puerto Ricans are
US citizens and I have to admit that at
that point I was physically and
emotionally exhausted I didn’t know what
else I could do news of President Trump
throwing paper towels and imitating a
Puerto Rico accent made headlines but I
know the story was getting it’s
expiration date and as much as it was
about home the United States there was
no cultural affinity one day I was
walking down this line of about 5,000
people desperate for food and ice and
water and I think
realized that I was at my wit’s end
because when they saw me recording as I
walked down they started circling around
me and some started clapping and hugging
each other and they yelled quanto Rico
Salamanca Puerto Rico Rises and that
gave me the strength to bring their
spirit to TV and social media and here
to TED talks I want to share that lesson
with you today resilience the human
ability to adapt and overcome the
circumstances and may I add doing it
gracefully when I look back at the last
year I think about all the stories I
didn’t get to cover the brutal
displacement of the Rohingya Muslims in
Myanmar the terrorist attack in
Barcelona the Middle East reaction to
the US Embassy in Jerusalem I know I
could have done so much more but today I
also know that quality over quantity is
not a cliche it is the most respectful
way to show that we care I got to spend
time I got to form a bond with the
protagonists of my stories they left an
imprint that will never fade telling
their stories was a privilege I was
willing to fight for now think about
what you are willing to fight for and go
ahead and do it all you need to do is
care enough to come forward like the
women who are saying me too and the
dreamers who refuse to yield you can
change the future you can write your own
story and be a superhero for one person
or for millions the choice is only yours
thank you so much
you
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