[Music]
so I have a confession to make I am
hopelessly in love with the idea of
world peace so much so that I dream
about it would you dare to dream with me
this evening can you close your eyes for
just one moment imagine falling asleep
in the comfort of your very own home not
having to worry about your safety and
security outside of these four walls
imagine waking up to a whole new world a
new Fantastic point of view a world free
from war hatred genocide and poverty a
world where justice is judicious empathy
is endemic and love is lawyer
long-lasting and liberated liberating
this is the world that I dream of what
does this world look like what does it
taste like what does it sound like what
is it feel like and what does it smell
now that we’ve envisioned this utopian
the human experience open your eyes now
you may ask what can we do to get to
this place
that’s a wonderful question I’m glad
that you asked vision is the vehicle my
friend vision is the actor power of
sensing that which will or may come to
be not to be confused with the active
power of sensing with the eyes the
vision that I’m speaking of requires no
sight the Friesian that I’m speaking of
those three things but also requires
three things of the visionary the first
thing their vision does is vision
creates humility by requiring patience
in my short yet full lifetime I’ve come
to understand that you can’t change the
world by starting with the world one of
the largest challenges with traditional
leadership and vision is that we are
often tasked with changing our
communities our countries in our world
before we begin the most important work
on ourselves vision and social change
are much like values and beliefs it
begins at home I remember the moment
when it finally sunk in that I couldn’t
change the world by myself I was a music
education student who was eager to enter
the classroom and shape the young
leaders of tomorrow for music yes I was
that in turn that overzealous intern
that teachers talked about in the
teachers lounge because I thought that I
could do it by myself you
that was me after entering the classroom
and working with students from various
backgrounds it finally sunk in I can’t
change the lives of my students because
I can’t control their lives outside of
the classroom they sleep in class
because they’re up late at night taking
care of their siblings while their
parents are at work they lash out
against their teachers because they just
witnessed their father being deported
right before their very eyes they hurt
their peers because hurt people hurt
people and my students had seen their
fair share of pain it was in this moment
that I became humbled because I
recognized that their problems their
challenges and their lived experiences
were much larger than me it was then
that I learned patience I recognized
that if I was going to help them in any
way the best way that I could help them
was starting with myself because you
can’t pour from an empty picture I also
recognize that if I was going to be the
solution to their problems I needed to
understand why I was first and foremost
part of the problem because I thought
that I could do it alone being part of
something much larger than me required
me to perfectly situate myself in the
struggle for soldiers to social change
and think critically about the ways I’m
implementing the knowledge that I’m
gaining along the way the second thing
that now that vision does is that vision
shapes the future by requiring wisdom a
wise person once said I think they were
philosopher if I remember correctly it
is better to be thought of as a fool
than to open your mouth and remove all
doubt and if that being said I will not
remove all that in my talk here tonight
the world that we wish to see tomorrow
can only be created by our actions today
the things that we wish to see happen in
our world I’ve learned that through my
lived experience I’ve come to define
wisdom as knowledge exercised but more
specifically knowledge exercised
appropriately and I think it’s important
to mention appropriately because
knowledge exercised in a vacuum serves
no purpose outside of self righteousness
as an educator the most important
journey that I think that I’ve learned
is that people don’t care how much you
know until they know how much you care
well my journey is a visionary I’ve also
learned that the understanding and
implementation of vision can be found in
the five W’s of knowledge who will this
knowledge impact what is this knowledge
when will this knowledge be implemented
and this is critically important because
it shapes how the knowledge will be
perceived but also how effective it will
be where would this knowledge be
implemented and more specifically what
is your sphere of influence and last but
most certainly not least why is this
knowledge important and why should it
matter to others and in most cases my
why is because people matter so the last
thing that vision does is vision brings
people together by requiring a
preference for the people and there’s no
better way to show a preference for the
people then to have a seat so tonight
we’re going to do just that
let’s have a seat I’ve got some things
to come to my chest now before we begin
this portion of my talk I think it’s
important to provide a bit of a
disclaimer
now while asking someone to have a seat
may be quite the neighbourhood statement
it is my hope that we’re able to use the
phrase metaphorically to shed light on
the ways that we can combat power and
privilege by leveraging empathy personal
relationships and the human experience
far too long has power and privilege run
rampant in our lives
our communities and in our world far too
long have we valued the contributions of
the marginalized while systematically
dismissing their untended existence in
truth far too long have we stood proudly
in our power and privilege without
recognizing our positionality it’s the
impact of our words our actions and our
inaction so tonight I ask you to have a
seat
and let’s talk about power privilege in
positionality has anyone ever been asked
to have a seat or have several seats
anyone truthfully I have according to
the urban dictionary have a seat is a
pejorative phrase meaning a phrase
expressing contempt or disapproval that
calls for the person being asked to sit
down to take a moment to consider what
they’ve just said or done or possibly
examine their lives as a whole now while
asking somebody to have a seat may just
be throwing a little bit of shade I can
hear my cousin saying now little Shay
they never hurt nobody so with these
things in mind let’s dig a little bit
deeper to understand how we can use this
phrase to combat power privilege in
positionality according to the english
oxford dictionary power is the capacity
or ability to direct or influence the
sequence of events or the behavior of
another privilege is a special right or
an immunity granted only to a particular
person or group positionality is the
fact or quality of being in relation to
other things when a person experiences
the negative impact of their power and
privilege for the first time they go
through a moment of crisis according to
Erikson this is a psychosocial crisis or
a turning point that can only be
resolved by balancing the internal self
and the external environment Rene
Brown’s research on vulnerability and
shame gives us a great lens to explore
this conflict the internal self promote
shame whereas the external environment
promotes guilt
while guilt and shame sounds synonymous
brené Brown believes that shame is a
focus on self and guilt is a focus on
behavior you access the individuals to
sit in the experience of others and
practice empathy not sympathy sympathy
is experiencing compassion and sorrow or
pity where’s empathy asks us to stand in
the shoes of another now while sympathy
is not inherently problematic it is
synonymous with the half-baked work of
social justice that we far too long
engaged in as a global community so to
provide a more clear illustration of the
critical difference between empathy and
sympathy let’s talk about the Golden
Rule the Golden Rule asks us to treat
others how we want to be treated now I
would liken the Golden Rule to sympathy
because it places you and your emotions
at the center of the experience instead
of evaluating the impact of those things
on others empathy my friends is the
platinum and the Platinum rule asks us
to treat others how they want to be
now I would like in the Platinum rule to
sympathy because it requires that we
listen and listen critically not to
respond but to understand it requires
that we be courageous and that we are
also vulnerable and brené Brown believes
that vulnerability is our most accurate
measurement of courage I remember the
moment when have a seat has a concept
hit me score in the face I was
participating in the leadership
development experience and I was giving
an oscar-worthy reenactment of male
privilege in society now I thought that
my acting was quite exquisite until I
saw the facial expression of my fellow
actors
she seemed hopeless and helpless and
hurt it was in that moment that I
realized the true impact of my actions
acting or not walking away from the skit
I felt like a fresh hot pile of insecure
toxic masculinity the facilitator of the
experience did a great job of trying to
console me but I asked him not to
because I recognized that I needed to
sit in this experience and feel the
weight of this guilt because sitting in
this uncomfortable place would require
me to change my thoughts her actions and
ultimately changed my character it will
require me to let go of the power and
privilege that I held on to so strongly
as a man it were required that I
challenged the notion that my
masculinity can only be defined by my
strength not realizing that the true
strength came from staying seated and
challenging that belief because if
you’re better able to understand and
empathize with experiences of the
oppressed and their problems become your
challenges and your challenges become
our solutions and our visions our
visions create the social justice and
equity that we pride ourselves on as a
global community our visions value
people not for what they can produce but
simply because they were born into lived
experiences that they have up until this
moment our visions value resistance
because resistance creates growth and
anything not growing is dead so tonight
I challenge you to have a seat and to
stay there I challenge you because
having a seat is not a test for the weak
and faint at heart it is a task for a
strong for the wise and for the powerful
because having as it does not make you
strong but staying seated does staying
seated requires that you relinquish your
power accept your privilege into gesture
positionality
it requires you to think critically
about the moments that you failed and
hurt others with the
and privileges that you hold I have the
great opportunity to work here at NYU
Abu Dhabi in my vision of world peace is
one that I get to live out each and
every day
the humbling realization that my most
contribution of World Peace are the
students that I serve helps me to do the
work that I do their ability to have
critical conversations that foster
conscious bridge-building begins with
the wisdom that I share with them today
but let’s be clear my vision of world
peace is rooted in everyone’s freedom
because in the words of the Reverend dr.
Martin Luther King jr. if no one is free
if everyone is not free then no one is
free I’m reminded of a poem often
recited by my late grandfather whom I
lost a few days after my wedding last
year and the poem was written by the
doctor Benjamin Elijah Mays six
president of Morehouse College and
spiritual and intellectual mentor to the
Reverend dr. Martin Luther King jr. I’ve
only just a minute only 60 seconds in it
forced upon me Kent refused it didn’t
sick it didn’t choose it but it’s up to
me to use it I must suffer if I lose it
given account if I abused it just a tiny
little minute but eternity is in it if
we’ve all been given just one minute to
be the bold visionaries that our world
needs most my question to you tonight is
what will you do with your minute [Applause]
so I have a confession to make I am
hopelessly in love with the idea of
world peace so much so that I dream
about it would you dare to dream with me
this evening can you close your eyes for
just one moment imagine falling asleep
in the comfort of your very own home not
having to worry about your safety and
security outside of these four walls
imagine waking up to a whole new world a
new Fantastic point of view a world free
from war hatred genocide and poverty a
world where justice is judicious empathy
is endemic and love is lawyer
long-lasting and liberated liberating
this is the world that I dream of what
does this world look like what does it
taste like what does it sound like what
is it feel like and what does it smell
now that we’ve envisioned this utopian
the human experience open your eyes now
you may ask what can we do to get to
this place
that’s a wonderful question I’m glad
that you asked vision is the vehicle my
friend vision is the actor power of
sensing that which will or may come to
be not to be confused with the active
power of sensing with the eyes the
vision that I’m speaking of requires no
sight the Friesian that I’m speaking of
those three things but also requires
three things of the visionary the first
thing their vision does is vision
creates humility by requiring patience
in my short yet full lifetime I’ve come
to understand that you can’t change the
world by starting with the world one of
the largest challenges with traditional
leadership and vision is that we are
often tasked with changing our
communities our countries in our world
before we begin the most important work
on ourselves vision and social change
are much like values and beliefs it
begins at home I remember the moment
when it finally sunk in that I couldn’t
change the world by myself I was a music
education student who was eager to enter
the classroom and shape the young
leaders of tomorrow for music yes I was
that in turn that overzealous intern
that teachers talked about in the
teachers lounge because I thought that I
could do it by myself you
that was me after entering the classroom
and working with students from various
backgrounds it finally sunk in I can’t
change the lives of my students because
I can’t control their lives outside of
the classroom they sleep in class
because they’re up late at night taking
care of their siblings while their
parents are at work they lash out
against their teachers because they just
witnessed their father being deported
right before their very eyes they hurt
their peers because hurt people hurt
people and my students had seen their
fair share of pain it was in this moment
that I became humbled because I
recognized that their problems their
challenges and their lived experiences
were much larger than me it was then
that I learned patience I recognized
that if I was going to help them in any
way the best way that I could help them
was starting with myself because you
can’t pour from an empty picture I also
recognize that if I was going to be the
solution to their problems I needed to
understand why I was first and foremost
part of the problem because I thought
that I could do it alone being part of
something much larger than me required
me to perfectly situate myself in the
struggle for soldiers to social change
and think critically about the ways I’m
implementing the knowledge that I’m
gaining along the way the second thing
that now that vision does is that vision
shapes the future by requiring wisdom a
wise person once said I think they were
philosopher if I remember correctly it
is better to be thought of as a fool
than to open your mouth and remove all
doubt and if that being said I will not
remove all that in my talk here tonight
the world that we wish to see tomorrow
can only be created by our actions today
the things that we wish to see happen in
our world I’ve learned that through my
lived experience I’ve come to define
wisdom as knowledge exercised but more
specifically knowledge exercised
appropriately and I think it’s important
to mention appropriately because
knowledge exercised in a vacuum serves
no purpose outside of self righteousness
as an educator the most important
journey that I think that I’ve learned
is that people don’t care how much you
know until they know how much you care
well my journey is a visionary I’ve also
learned that the understanding and
implementation of vision can be found in
the five W’s of knowledge who will this
knowledge impact what is this knowledge
when will this knowledge be implemented
and this is critically important because
it shapes how the knowledge will be
perceived but also how effective it will
be where would this knowledge be
implemented and more specifically what
is your sphere of influence and last but
most certainly not least why is this
knowledge important and why should it
matter to others and in most cases my
why is because people matter so the last
thing that vision does is vision brings
people together by requiring a
preference for the people and there’s no
better way to show a preference for the
people then to have a seat so tonight
we’re going to do just that
let’s have a seat I’ve got some things
to come to my chest now before we begin
this portion of my talk I think it’s
important to provide a bit of a
disclaimer
now while asking someone to have a seat
may be quite the neighbourhood statement
it is my hope that we’re able to use the
phrase metaphorically to shed light on
the ways that we can combat power and
privilege by leveraging empathy personal
relationships and the human experience
far too long has power and privilege run
rampant in our lives
our communities and in our world far too
long have we valued the contributions of
the marginalized while systematically
dismissing their untended existence in
truth far too long have we stood proudly
in our power and privilege without
recognizing our positionality it’s the
impact of our words our actions and our
inaction so tonight I ask you to have a
seat
and let’s talk about power privilege in
positionality has anyone ever been asked
to have a seat or have several seats
anyone truthfully I have according to
the urban dictionary have a seat is a
pejorative phrase meaning a phrase
expressing contempt or disapproval that
calls for the person being asked to sit
down to take a moment to consider what
they’ve just said or done or possibly
examine their lives as a whole now while
asking somebody to have a seat may just
be throwing a little bit of shade I can
hear my cousin saying now little Shay
they never hurt nobody so with these
things in mind let’s dig a little bit
deeper to understand how we can use this
phrase to combat power privilege in
positionality according to the english
oxford dictionary power is the capacity
or ability to direct or influence the
sequence of events or the behavior of
another privilege is a special right or
an immunity granted only to a particular
person or group positionality is the
fact or quality of being in relation to
other things when a person experiences
the negative impact of their power and
privilege for the first time they go
through a moment of crisis according to
Erikson this is a psychosocial crisis or
a turning point that can only be
resolved by balancing the internal self
and the external environment Rene
Brown’s research on vulnerability and
shame gives us a great lens to explore
this conflict the internal self promote
shame whereas the external environment
promotes guilt
while guilt and shame sounds synonymous
brené Brown believes that shame is a
focus on self and guilt is a focus on
behavior you access the individuals to
sit in the experience of others and
practice empathy not sympathy sympathy
is experiencing compassion and sorrow or
pity where’s empathy asks us to stand in
the shoes of another now while sympathy
is not inherently problematic it is
synonymous with the half-baked work of
social justice that we far too long
engaged in as a global community so to
provide a more clear illustration of the
critical difference between empathy and
sympathy let’s talk about the Golden
Rule the Golden Rule asks us to treat
others how we want to be treated now I
would liken the Golden Rule to sympathy
because it places you and your emotions
at the center of the experience instead
of evaluating the impact of those things
on others empathy my friends is the
platinum and the Platinum rule asks us
to treat others how they want to be
now I would like in the Platinum rule to
sympathy because it requires that we
listen and listen critically not to
respond but to understand it requires
that we be courageous and that we are
also vulnerable and brené Brown believes
that vulnerability is our most accurate
measurement of courage I remember the
moment when have a seat has a concept
hit me score in the face I was
participating in the leadership
development experience and I was giving
an oscar-worthy reenactment of male
privilege in society now I thought that
my acting was quite exquisite until I
saw the facial expression of my fellow
actors
she seemed hopeless and helpless and
hurt it was in that moment that I
realized the true impact of my actions
acting or not walking away from the skit
I felt like a fresh hot pile of insecure
toxic masculinity the facilitator of the
experience did a great job of trying to
console me but I asked him not to
because I recognized that I needed to
sit in this experience and feel the
weight of this guilt because sitting in
this uncomfortable place would require
me to change my thoughts her actions and
ultimately changed my character it will
require me to let go of the power and
privilege that I held on to so strongly
as a man it were required that I
challenged the notion that my
masculinity can only be defined by my
strength not realizing that the true
strength came from staying seated and
challenging that belief because if
you’re better able to understand and
empathize with experiences of the
oppressed and their problems become your
challenges and your challenges become
our solutions and our visions our
visions create the social justice and
equity that we pride ourselves on as a
global community our visions value
people not for what they can produce but
simply because they were born into lived
experiences that they have up until this
moment our visions value resistance
because resistance creates growth and
anything not growing is dead so tonight
I challenge you to have a seat and to
stay there I challenge you because
having a seat is not a test for the weak
and faint at heart it is a task for a
strong for the wise and for the powerful
because having as it does not make you
strong but staying seated does staying
seated requires that you relinquish your
power accept your privilege into gesture
positionality
it requires you to think critically
about the moments that you failed and
hurt others with the
and privileges that you hold I have the
great opportunity to work here at NYU
Abu Dhabi in my vision of world peace is
one that I get to live out each and
every day
the humbling realization that my most
contribution of World Peace are the
students that I serve helps me to do the
work that I do their ability to have
critical conversations that foster
conscious bridge-building begins with
the wisdom that I share with them today
but let’s be clear my vision of world
peace is rooted in everyone’s freedom
because in the words of the Reverend dr.
Martin Luther King jr. if no one is free
if everyone is not free then no one is
free I’m reminded of a poem often
recited by my late grandfather whom I
lost a few days after my wedding last
year and the poem was written by the
doctor Benjamin Elijah Mays six
president of Morehouse College and
spiritual and intellectual mentor to the
Reverend dr. Martin Luther King jr. I’ve
only just a minute only 60 seconds in it
forced upon me Kent refused it didn’t
sick it didn’t choose it but it’s up to
me to use it I must suffer if I lose it
given account if I abused it just a tiny
little minute but eternity is in it if
we’ve all been given just one minute to
be the bold visionaries that our world
needs most my question to you tonight is
what will you do with your minute [Applause]
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