train in New York I was looking around
at all the different faces wondering
about people’s childhood and the
experience that shaped them when I was a
kid I used to spend a lot of time
outside one of my favorite things was
exploring the woods behind my house I’d
loved this fresh smell of cedar
wildflowers
there was this one tree that came out of
the ground at about a 45-degree angle my
friends and I used to run up the trunk
to see who could get highest without
falling off we spent hours running
around outside playing acting like kids
the first time I remember feeling like I
was different that sense of otherness
was in fifth grade I grew up in Waco
Texas and I was the only Jewish kid in
my class which isn’t surprising
according to Pew 77% of Texans identify
as Christian and only 1% Jewish but we
didn’t need statistics to feel that
reality Texas is really religious so
during the Jewish holidays my mom used
to come to school with traditional foods
and all of my friends used to sit on the
floor playing the dreidel game spending
this little top that has Hebrew letters
on the sides the way she introduced
Judaism to my classmates
made it yummy and fun and religion was
never an issue there’s no reason to
believe that things would have been
different without the food and games but
there’s definitely something to be said
for the type of understanding that
develops when you have the opportunity
to share experiences and to connect on a
level that’s deeper than labels the
concept of other nests and questions
about who belongs where and why are
weighing heavy on the world
the Syrian refugee crisis black lives
matter brexit in the US election have
exposed deep divides within our society
and increasingly we’re surrounding
ourselves with people who look and think
like us the problem is the more we
polarize and isolate ourselves from
others the more we generalize and these
generalizations are based on false
negative narratives think about it
individuals that we don’t know get
lumped into groups and our primary
source of information about these groups
is the media stories are newsworthy
because they’re not normal
most news is negative because most of
reality is normal normal people living
normal lives like me as a kid despite my
other Ness the negative narratives about
migrants and refugees in particular
drives me crazy because the number one
thing that I love about my work as an
immigration lawyer is that I’m
constantly surrounded by amazing
positive people people like Sam she came
to the United States from Mexico when
she was just seven years old and she’s
never been back to Mexico her English is
perfect she did well in school but she
couldn’t go to college because she was
undocumented so she started her own
business in digital publishing and in
2012 when President Obama passed his
first executive order to help kids like
Sam who were brought to the United
States by their parents she was finally
able to get a work permit and now her
business is thriving at the age of 31
she just hired her eighth employee if
Sam has to leave the United States all
of those workers lose their jobs and
Sam’s US citizen child loses his mom her
story flies in the face of all of the
negative narratives all the stereotypes
that we hear about Mexicans and the
undocumented but
truth is on the whole immigrants create
more jobs than they take immigrants make
up only about 13% of the US population
25 percent of US businesses are started
by immigrants that’s significant there’s
so much misunderstanding and bad
information it blows my mind because I
know countless migrants and refugees
Mexicans and Muslims beautiful talented
unique individuals who come from all
over the world
not to change this country but to
realize their full potential as humans
but facts and stories and statistics
don’t matter when people are angry and
feel threatened
this is an emotional issue have you
heard that phrase hurt people hurt
people
negativity is contagious and before you
know it we’re looking for the worst
examples to validate our frustration and
ignoring everything else I find myself
doing it too defensively like after the
election angry afraid accusatory talking
about people instead of talking with
people and generalizing that’s not the
impact that I want to have on the world
around me I want to be part of the
solution not part of the problem we are
truly at a pivotal moment in time there
are two forces at work the force that
seeks to divide us and the force that
seeks to unite us and both of these
forces come from within us fear and hope
fear is a reaction hope is an aspiration
my clients fuel my hope
just like hurt people hurt people
inspired people inspire people and
immigrants are inspiring they come here
with dreams and goals they work
and innovate forward that’s the
immigrant spirit and that’s the spirit
of Ted instead of looking for
differences or focusing on flaws we come
together seeking a new perspective with
open minds open hearts and importantly
with open ears through listening we
develop deep connection and
understanding and then we can innovate
forward together
so at this critical time it’s up to
everyone of us to define the American
spirit each one of us is responsible the
whole is a sum of its part and we are
the parts so with that in mind
over the next year I’m traveling around
the United States on a listening tour
the project is called hope Domino
recognizing that each one of us has a
domino effect on everyone around us and
the choice about how what that effect
will be is ours local and national
partners like TEDx organizers and an
organization called welcoming America
are hoping to bring people together from
different groups in their communities to
explore culture identity change and the
challenges that we face through
community events and also to identify
people who are already making a positive
impact the tour started in Kansas which
is the geographic center of the United
States I went to a town called McPherson
in September for their annual Scottish
festival which was really interesting
and my friend Shannon organized a
community event at the local public
library Shannon is a TED Edie innovative
educator so Kansas is predominantly
white rural conservative and Christian
what I found were tight-knit friendly
communities where most people know each
other feel safe and have job security so
navigating change in the form of new
residents from countries and cultures
that appear different is challenging we
were talking through that and
we intentionally involved local
immigrants in that conversation a white
woman who participated in the event said
that she really wanted to meet someone
Muslim who lives in the community so
that she could build a relationship and
get to know the culture better and two
of the immigrant women from India and
the Philippines offered to host dinner
parties
they were both bragging about what great
cooks they are and the conversation was
so interesting that after the library
closed everybody went together to the
local bar that’s what I’m talking about
when we let down our defenses and
actually get to know people we usually
find people likeable and when we seek
solutions together we inspire each other
inspired people inspire people it’s a
domino effect that’s the impact that I
want to have on the world
don’t you so what can you do
well it’s challenging times and there’s
no easy answer or quick fixes but there
are things that you can do to make a
difference
first think of yourself as an ambassador
of hope make an effort to reach out to
people who have different life
experiences and worldviews be
intentional about sharing your own
cultural foods and traditions like my
mom did
sharing promotes unity and understanding
and it’s fun second expand your horizons
come to one of our Hope domino events
we’ll have more information on the
website soon like a calendar and also
we’ll have materials that you can use to
host your own conversations and our
impact is amplified when we support each
other so let us know what you’re doing
connect with us on social media and use
the hope Domino hashtag so that we know
the awesome conversations that you’re
starting in your communities and finally
be mindful of the domino effect that
you’re creating it’s time to shift from
fear to hope I hope you’ll join me thank
you [Applause]