[Applause]
Wow so the first time that I was ever
here in the Carolinas I found my way to
the frontlines of protests that were
unfolding in Charlotte and I knew that
there was going to be a need for a
peacekeeper and someone to step in as a
leader in the midst of such a volatile
situation that was unfolding there and
you know it’s very difficult going in
especially being from California and
showing up in Charlotte on the front
lines and not knowing anyone there and
there’s hundreds of protesters all
downtown and the police had set up their
their lines and you know as I was
running in to the the protest everyone
was running out because a protester had
just been shot in the face by another
protestor and so the anger and the
tension that was unfolding there that
night it was unlike any other protest I
had ever been to before and so right
away I tried to create a barrier between
the police and the protesters because
people were throwing bottles and rocks
and bricks at the police officers and so
I decided well I’ll try to open up and
engage in some dialogue with some people
and stand there on the front lines and
so you know that night there were a
number of police lines like that they
were blocking a number of the
intersections and it became very tough
to communicate when you have hundreds of
people not only shouting but throwing
things and so I decided I was going to
try to lead by recruiting other
peacekeepers there on the front lines
and so oftentimes when I show up at
these things I try and identify who’s
the biggest scariest looking guy that’s
there on the front lines and say hey I’m
going to need you on my side just in
case things get really out of hand I’m a
slim guy but together you know enough of
us can keep the peace out here
and so there was a gentleman who was
standing on the side I watched that
someone bumped into him and he said hey
and then the guy he apologized the
number of times and he just stood there
I figured okay that’s the guy that I
want on my side because they they
respect this guy and so I went and found
him and I got him to throw up the peace
sign as well and try to call the crowd
and in doing so if you notice we’re
standing under an overpass there and as
he’s got his peace sign up I noticed
that there were a number of protesters
three guys that had picked up one of
those cement parking stops when you go
to park a car and they were going up to
the overpass and they were planning to
drop the cement block down on the row of
officers that were beneath us and so I
rush over there and I’m shouting at them
saying hey man you guys know that if you
drop that on the cops down there you’re
probably going to kill a couple of
officers and they said that’s right they
took one of ours so we’re going to take
two of theirs
and it really made me realize that this
whole back and forth violence we’re
never going to be able to solve anything
without open dialog of peacekeepers
being there on the front lines and so
the entire night I’m running around
trying to put out small fires literally
– they were actually fires being set as
well as just the things that were
unfolding there and you know it was
difficult being a stranger in that town
and trying to have a voice but I was
surprised that it worked out and
fortunately there was a police officer
who recognized me as I was walking by
and he had asked me for a hug and that
moment kind of turned things around
where the protesters who were
cooperating with me and listening to me
for some time they saw me as a traitor
because I hugged this riot police
officer that was in full gear and in
doing so you know they start shouting
back and forth at at the cops they’re
disrespecting me calling me a sellout
and all sorts of things and I knew that
at that moment I could either rush back
to my car and hurry up
out of there I can stand and fight for
peace and so in doing so I really I’d
well I had to match their voice level so
I wouldn’t necessarily say I was
shouting at them but whatever was
shouting at you you can’t be very timid
in trying to respond to them so as I’m
responding to them I was able to
actually deescalate that situation and
get them to stop throwing rocks and
things at the police officers and so you
know so we hugged it out things were
cool between myself and the officer but
actually even these protesters who
wanted to fight me at a point we
eventually shook hands and hugged it out
as well and I was able to bring the
peace to that situation and I realized
that you know it doesn’t take much to be
a leader when you show up in the
situation just being able to really turn
people around through dialogue and
positive interaction and communication
and so I always encourage people to you
know when you’re in a situation where
there’s a leader that’s needed never
hesitate to rise up and be that person I
think we often look around trying to
find well is someone going to step up
and try to calm this down oh the police
are here is someone going to calm this
situation down and you know so this
situation that took place here it always
reminds me of a story that I heard back
at September 11th actually and we all
remember the images of the planes that
hit the two towers and the plane that
hit the the Pentagon but what we don’t
see is a plane that hit the Capitol
building and the reason why we don’t see
that is because of a leader in a hero
who stepped up that was on one of the
planes as he took a phone call from his
wife and some of you may know this story
and for those of you that don’t
there was a gentleman or a number of
gentlemen that were on flight 93 that
was headed for either the Capitol
building or the White House and there
was a gentleman on the phone who called
his wife in the uim nor he let her know
that his plane had been hijacked and she
said yeah and they’re using those planes
to hit targets and he said well they
turned our plane around that was headed
for San Francisco and their enroute back
to the east
host and they told us that there’s a
bomb on board and they’ve already
stabbed someone on the plane and so you
know she had let him know well
don’t draw any attention to yourself
just have a seat be quiet and you know
things would be okay and he realized at
that moment that things aren’t going to
be okay and he needed to step up as a
leader to make sure that that plane
wasn’t going to hit the target and you
know as I read through the telephone
transcripts of what that call was like
it broke my heart as he asked his wife
where are the kids and she said they’re
having breakfast and she said they’d
like to talk to you and he said no not
right now we’re going to take this plane
back and in doing so he rallied up the
support of a few other men that were
there on the plane and the recorder one
of the the last things that they heard
was the as the guys had rallied up and
they were trying to get through the
doors to fight the terrorists and you
can hear the terrorists shouting hold
the doors because there’s men trying to
get in here and then you hear the
fighting and then you know they were
able to prevent that plane from hitting
the Capitol building there and you know
the the famous words that I always
remember from them was the okay you guys
ready let’s roll and it took that
leadership of someone being able to step
up and say these planes are being used
as weapons to kill people and thousands
of people were killed there but a leader
was able to step up and not only fight
for peace and be brave but to make sure
that they were saving the lives of other
Americans and so in recent weeks now I
found myself out on the front lines of
protests again in Washington DC that
were taking place outside the
inauguration and same thing now I
figured okay now I’m here in Washington
DC and that was my first time ever in my
life being in Washington DC and same
thing people are throwing rocks and
bottles and bricks actually at the
police officers there and I knew a
peacekeeper is going to be needed and
someone’s going to have to take charge
and be a leader at these protests where
things are just out of
and so same thing that day I rallied up
the support of other men that were
standing around in Washington DC and let
them know you know all these bricks that
were seen on the ground and trash cans
and bottles that are being thrown at
these police officers we can stand as a
barrier to prevent things from being
thrown at the police and we can go and
talk to the protesters as well to try to
bring peace and deescalate that
situation and you know I’m just one slim
guy if it shows up at these things and
I’m able to sometimes turn the situation
around just by not only opening up
dialogue and communication but rising to
the call when a leader is needed and
someone needed to be able to bring peace
to these situations and you know I look
at all of the people around not only in
this room but across the nation and I
see how much we’re all calling for
change and it just seems like we’re all
waiting for that leader to rise up
everyone as certain is in search of a
leader but we’re not looking within
ourselves to be that leader and there’s
a countless amount of followers of very
few leaders in this world that are
really willing to step up and create
change and so now when I travel around I
always encourage people you know you can
change the world and you can create the
change that you want to see rather than
saying I wish that guy would step up and
do something or being in a situation and
saying I hope that woman is going to say
something why not you be that person and
step up and do it and we can make this
[Music] you