Philadelphia International Airport after
the infamous Muslim ban was passed I
being Muslim and simply just human was
devastated when I heard of this ban it
showed discrimination in our society and
in our government and I for one would
not stand for it so I stood there with
America’s flag in my hand and I spoke
for what I believe needed changing and
that itself is a dream come true the man
my father whose shoulders I’m proudly
raised up upon was once this 17 year old
now imagine being 17 years old
in a foreign country where you barely
speak that language all you know about
this country is from the limited
television access you get in the Middle
East in the 1980s which amounted to your
favorite television show chips
California Highway Patrol because this
is what’s up you navigate the transition
from Amman Jordan to Raleigh North
Carolina
so once the 17 year old realized that
the United States was not the land of
high-speed chases and adventures reality
set in he had no money in his pocket and
barely spoke English and got the only
job that he could get which was cleaning
the floors at Subway but from cleaning
the floors at Subway he learned how to
make sandwiches and for making
sandwiches he worked the register and
from working the register he became
manager and for managing he owned his
own subway and then from owning your own
subway you end in 2017 with 13 I hopped
700 employees and the father of three
children whom you sent prestigious high
so now you’re all probably inspired by
this story of an immigrant but you’re
wondering how does this apply to me how
does this apply to each of you I was
born in the United States and I was
raised here and I speak English and I’ve
never seen ships California Highway
Patrol so does the American Dream exist
for a girl like me does it exist for
each one of you James Truslow Adams in
the 1930s a man that was born and raised
in the United States to find the
American dream as life should be richer
and fuller for each based on potential
and ability so I did a quick search of
what people my age thought of the
American Dream in a study conducted by
the Harvard Institute of Politics
it was found that almost 50 percent of
Millennials believe that the American
Dream is dead I cannot find this farther
from the truth as long as we have the
ability to speak up and use our voice to
change what we believe me it’s changing
the American Dream is very much alive
but I can easily tell you what the
American Dream is not it is not one size
fits all it is not having one uniform
dream for a big house and fancy cars and
a lot of money it is not having a
checklist where you know where the next
step is because let’s be honest life
gets in the way you don’t know where
your next step is going to be but the
fact of the American Dream is that
progress is available and is well here
and now so what is the here and now of
the American Dream why is the United
States the place of progress well you
hear all the time this is the land of
the free and the home of the brave so
why is it that we are constantly
questioning how free we are in this
country no matter what we can and cannot
do free speech is the most liberating
tool that we have as Americans take the
protest that I attended sample on the
day that I stood at the Philadelphia
International Airport there was a family
of Syrian refugees detained this family
spent years in brutal conditions
months trying to apply to find safe
haven in the United States only to be
turned away when they got here they had
no voice so I stood with America in my
hands and I was their voice and I didn’t
only fight for what I believe their
rights were but for the America that I
know and I loved and that itself is a
dream and change followed but it can
also look different take women’s
progress for example a century go women
did not have the right to vote now we
are holding office take black lives
matter whether you agree with this
movement or not the fact that we can
stand up and fight for what we believe
needs changing is the ultimate sign of
progress people will tell you that
discrimination is a sign that we are
lacking progress in our society and
they’re constantly doubting the
melting-pot theory that America is the
place where people mesh together into
one culture but I would argue we are not
a melting pot we are more like a stew
where there’s many ingredients but each
one is just as important as the other
and each one has the potential to do
whatever it can so if each person is
different and each person has the
potential to live the American dream
then how can we measure progress how can
we measure someone’s success we often
make the mistake of looking at someone
who has a lot of money in a big house
and expensive cars and we automatically
label them as successful we don’t know
where they started or where they’re
ended you have no idea the journey that
they traveled I would argue that this
looks more like success someone that was
homeless and became valedictorian this
is the power of ambition you might
already look at someone who’s
valedictorian and say that they’re
successful but this man who started out
as homeless traveled with an
unimaginable journey and I would argue
is more successful than any billionaire
but can it also look smaller
it can be the person in front of you at
a supermarket or someone at a fast-food
restaurant because you have no idea
where they started they could have been
homeless they could have battled an
addiction
and now they are providing for
themselves and possibly their families
this is success and this is exact reason
that I don’t say that I live the
American Dream just because my father
did because you can’t be born into
success if success is the measure of
your own progress so what is the point
of me proving to you that the American
Dream exists it is because pessimism
staggers progress if we don’t believe
that we have the ability to change we
will never change so use your voice
change what you believe needs changing
and remember the American Dream exists
for each one of you but it will look
different thank you [Applause]