[Applause]
tell your story
change the conversation organized by
students TEDx youth at shc these are not
my shoes these are the shoes of Trayvon
Martin Sandra bland Eric garner and
Tamir rice I became familiar with the
scenes of violence as more and more
names added onto this list and viral
videos circulated the media at a certain
point violence and my devastation became
a familiar factor of everyday life
it was almost normal to me my life
became more in synched with those who
perished as the words I can’t breathe
continually rang in my mind the familiar
Arizona and skittles or even today as I
passed Fruitvale BART station and felt
the presence of those feet that once
walked along the Earth’s surface yet
that don’t touch the Earth’s surface
anymore simply because they were just at
the wrong place at the wrong time and
then came the protests the anger the
rage and the resilience it felt like
yelling at a wall but yet again I saw
myself in every one of them as the tear
gases have been Justus stung their eyes
just as watching our angels perish was
we were all hurting we are all hurting
at that point I felt hopeless I was in a
rage of confusion I began to ask myself
why why us what circumstances led to
this poison this poison that is violent
it wasn’t until I became a cabin leader
at the mosaic project Outdoor School
which is a non-profit focusing on
bringing kids together from diverse
backgrounds to address issues of
prejudice discrimination and racism that
I recognized what piece really looked
like it was at the mosaic project where
I realized this reality my reality is
not fair it doesn’t have to be this way
and we can work together to make a
change as I went through the week this
vision of what peace looks like became
more clear as did the complexities of
violence it was there that I saw
students from tremendously different
backgrounds listening to each other
emphasizing and quite honestly it felt
like magic so one night we didn’t
exercise what the kids wear each cabin
represented the lower middle and upper
class and the students were expected to
basically just figure it out my cabin
was upper-class and initially they’ve
asked in their wealth until they slowly
began to realize the disparity and
unfairness of what the lower-class
individual’s work afforded compared to
them compared to the plethora of
resources they had I watched as the
girls began crying because they realized
the other groups had much less than them
so they began devising plans and ways
they could make the situation more equal
slowly but surely the groups began
demanding for resources and assembled
what could be characterized as a protest
the scene was chaotic essentially though
in the end individuals who my group
talked with individuals that represented
the lower class and they devised a plan
yet because of protests and impatience
for justice to be served the plan wasn’t
followed through
the exercise ended with a couple of kids
from each class level coming together
and joining in song slowly but surely
the thick tension in the air simmered
down and everyone came together for the
common purpose of joining in solidarity
and unity to sing the m50 song so here
it is I’m gonna show you guys a little
glimpse and if you know the words please
feel free to sing along
[Music]
I don’t know what it’s like to be you
and I don’t know what you have to go
through but I can try to see the world
through your eyes put myself in your
shoes and empathize thank you thank you
so this to me was absolutely beautiful I
mean although they didn’t necessarily
solve all the problems everyone joined
together for the common purpose and they
just sang rather than just bask in their
privilege they recognized the disparity
and felt for each other they took the
initiative to make it fair it was then
that I realized only when we can connect
respect and empathize with each other
that we reach ultimate justice and peace
when people are separate from each other
they’re unable to connect the verdict
for Brown versus Board of Education to
integrate schools was decided over fifty
years ago and there was resistance as we
all know groups like the Little Rock
Nine had to be escorted by the National
Guard into schools just to get an
education so at my school San Lorenzo
High School the population is primarily
latina and Latino while a school just 15
minutes away is primarily white this is
an example for the foundation for
violent separation these two schools are
pretty much right around the corner from
each other yet they are worlds away
these two communities aren’t able to
interact so they have little to no idea
of each other’s experiences which can
then lead to fear while the Little Rock
Nine were escorted they faced intense
persecution from their white
counterparts having to be escorted by
the Arkansas National Guard to school
every day as people who’ve never even
met them burned effigies of their same
black skin yelling
spitting at them this is fear so
research and contact theory suggests
that when we bring people together from
diverse backgrounds into a collaborative
positive and non competitive environment
to address issues of prejudice
discrimination racism head-on we begin
to dismantle these aspects that lead up
to violence and war now I’m going to
show you all something up on the screen
and I want you to try your best to read
it as fast as possible if you’re able so
raise of hands how many of you guys read
Monday is the first day of the week
all right most of you so raise the hands
if you read Monday is the first day of
the week okay whew so I’m gonna show you
it again but this time take your time to
read it slowly
so it’s a pretty cool function of the
human brain that we have which allows us
to make split-second judgments in order
to survive many people read Monday is
the first day of the week because our
mind jumbles up all the words to in
order that we expect which makes sense
because we feel like we already know
what we’re about to see but the problem
is we often use this on people when we
make assumptions of what they’ll be like
based on what we already know when we
feel ourselves prejudging others it’s
important to have respect SPECT meaning
look and read meaning again look again
instead of allowing these preconceived
ideas and misconceptions guide how we
see each other take the time to look
again deeper and see the person for who
they really are just as you looked again
at the words Monday is the first day of
the week just as you looked again of the
words Monday is the first day of the
week look again at the person who you
may have prejudged and tried to see them
as an individual and not the stereotype
associated with the color of their skin
look again for Trayvon for falando for
Tamir and for Erik because no one
deserves to die because of the color of
their skin stereotyping is literally
like putting a box over someone’s head
and slapping a label on to it when our
perception is clouded by what we expect
to see of a person that is all we see a
label when we cannot connect when we
cannot see someone for who they are we
are unable to empathize with them
empathy is just like Atticus Finch once
said never really understand the person
until you consider things from their
point of view until you climb into their
skin and walk around in it but make no
mistake peace is not some far-off
alternate universe
because as Gandhi once said there is no
path to peace peace is the path and when
we practice connecting respecting and
empathizing people different than us we
are being peace teaching peace and
living peace it’s all building blocks
you see when we connect with people
different than us that we begin to
dismantle these fears and prejudices we
have by respecting by looking again when
we respect and can see people for who
they are that is when we can put
ourselves in their shoes and reach
ultimate peace now bear with me for this
next one so everyone take a look at it
one of your fingers any finger now look
at the tip of your nail if I think on
how long has it been since you clicked
your nails the seed of a redwood tree is
roughly the same size as the tip of your
nail super tiny right that redwood seed
is you this idea is the wind the Sun and
the water that helps us grow and when we
and when some of the trees have a
disease all the other redwood
surrounding it help it heal when one
passes on a circle of Redwood sprout up
we can’t see it but underneath the
surface all the roots are connected and
they all sustain each other their
interconnect interconnected and their
survival depends upon each other these
redwood seeds are us when one tree
catches fire so does the whole forest
that is the poison the violence that
spreads and is invasive this wind the
Sun and the water is the idea that helps
each of us grow yet we cannot grow on
our own we are interconnected and our
collective growth is dependent upon each
and every one of us so I ask each and
every one of you to take what you’ve
learned and allow yourself to grow and
for us take this idea let it
you let it help you grow and when you’ve
manifested it help others grow and heal
from the diseases of the past thank you
tell your story
change the conversation organized by
students TEDx youth at shc these are not
my shoes these are the shoes of Trayvon
Martin Sandra bland Eric garner and
Tamir rice I became familiar with the
scenes of violence as more and more
names added onto this list and viral
videos circulated the media at a certain
point violence and my devastation became
a familiar factor of everyday life
it was almost normal to me my life
became more in synched with those who
perished as the words I can’t breathe
continually rang in my mind the familiar
Arizona and skittles or even today as I
passed Fruitvale BART station and felt
the presence of those feet that once
walked along the Earth’s surface yet
that don’t touch the Earth’s surface
anymore simply because they were just at
the wrong place at the wrong time and
then came the protests the anger the
rage and the resilience it felt like
yelling at a wall but yet again I saw
myself in every one of them as the tear
gases have been Justus stung their eyes
just as watching our angels perish was
we were all hurting we are all hurting
at that point I felt hopeless I was in a
rage of confusion I began to ask myself
why why us what circumstances led to
this poison this poison that is violent
it wasn’t until I became a cabin leader
at the mosaic project Outdoor School
which is a non-profit focusing on
bringing kids together from diverse
backgrounds to address issues of
prejudice discrimination and racism that
I recognized what piece really looked
like it was at the mosaic project where
I realized this reality my reality is
not fair it doesn’t have to be this way
and we can work together to make a
change as I went through the week this
vision of what peace looks like became
more clear as did the complexities of
violence it was there that I saw
students from tremendously different
backgrounds listening to each other
emphasizing and quite honestly it felt
like magic so one night we didn’t
exercise what the kids wear each cabin
represented the lower middle and upper
class and the students were expected to
basically just figure it out my cabin
was upper-class and initially they’ve
asked in their wealth until they slowly
began to realize the disparity and
unfairness of what the lower-class
individual’s work afforded compared to
them compared to the plethora of
resources they had I watched as the
girls began crying because they realized
the other groups had much less than them
so they began devising plans and ways
they could make the situation more equal
slowly but surely the groups began
demanding for resources and assembled
what could be characterized as a protest
the scene was chaotic essentially though
in the end individuals who my group
talked with individuals that represented
the lower class and they devised a plan
yet because of protests and impatience
for justice to be served the plan wasn’t
followed through
the exercise ended with a couple of kids
from each class level coming together
and joining in song slowly but surely
the thick tension in the air simmered
down and everyone came together for the
common purpose of joining in solidarity
and unity to sing the m50 song so here
it is I’m gonna show you guys a little
glimpse and if you know the words please
feel free to sing along
[Music]
I don’t know what it’s like to be you
and I don’t know what you have to go
through but I can try to see the world
through your eyes put myself in your
shoes and empathize thank you thank you
so this to me was absolutely beautiful I
mean although they didn’t necessarily
solve all the problems everyone joined
together for the common purpose and they
just sang rather than just bask in their
privilege they recognized the disparity
and felt for each other they took the
initiative to make it fair it was then
that I realized only when we can connect
respect and empathize with each other
that we reach ultimate justice and peace
when people are separate from each other
they’re unable to connect the verdict
for Brown versus Board of Education to
integrate schools was decided over fifty
years ago and there was resistance as we
all know groups like the Little Rock
Nine had to be escorted by the National
Guard into schools just to get an
education so at my school San Lorenzo
High School the population is primarily
latina and Latino while a school just 15
minutes away is primarily white this is
an example for the foundation for
violent separation these two schools are
pretty much right around the corner from
each other yet they are worlds away
these two communities aren’t able to
interact so they have little to no idea
of each other’s experiences which can
then lead to fear while the Little Rock
Nine were escorted they faced intense
persecution from their white
counterparts having to be escorted by
the Arkansas National Guard to school
every day as people who’ve never even
met them burned effigies of their same
black skin yelling
spitting at them this is fear so
research and contact theory suggests
that when we bring people together from
diverse backgrounds into a collaborative
positive and non competitive environment
to address issues of prejudice
discrimination racism head-on we begin
to dismantle these aspects that lead up
to violence and war now I’m going to
show you all something up on the screen
and I want you to try your best to read
it as fast as possible if you’re able so
raise of hands how many of you guys read
Monday is the first day of the week
all right most of you so raise the hands
if you read Monday is the first day of
the week okay whew so I’m gonna show you
it again but this time take your time to
read it slowly
so it’s a pretty cool function of the
human brain that we have which allows us
to make split-second judgments in order
to survive many people read Monday is
the first day of the week because our
mind jumbles up all the words to in
order that we expect which makes sense
because we feel like we already know
what we’re about to see but the problem
is we often use this on people when we
make assumptions of what they’ll be like
based on what we already know when we
feel ourselves prejudging others it’s
important to have respect SPECT meaning
look and read meaning again look again
instead of allowing these preconceived
ideas and misconceptions guide how we
see each other take the time to look
again deeper and see the person for who
they really are just as you looked again
at the words Monday is the first day of
the week just as you looked again of the
words Monday is the first day of the
week look again at the person who you
may have prejudged and tried to see them
as an individual and not the stereotype
associated with the color of their skin
look again for Trayvon for falando for
Tamir and for Erik because no one
deserves to die because of the color of
their skin stereotyping is literally
like putting a box over someone’s head
and slapping a label on to it when our
perception is clouded by what we expect
to see of a person that is all we see a
label when we cannot connect when we
cannot see someone for who they are we
are unable to empathize with them
empathy is just like Atticus Finch once
said never really understand the person
until you consider things from their
point of view until you climb into their
skin and walk around in it but make no
mistake peace is not some far-off
alternate universe
because as Gandhi once said there is no
path to peace peace is the path and when
we practice connecting respecting and
empathizing people different than us we
are being peace teaching peace and
living peace it’s all building blocks
you see when we connect with people
different than us that we begin to
dismantle these fears and prejudices we
have by respecting by looking again when
we respect and can see people for who
they are that is when we can put
ourselves in their shoes and reach
ultimate peace now bear with me for this
next one so everyone take a look at it
one of your fingers any finger now look
at the tip of your nail if I think on
how long has it been since you clicked
your nails the seed of a redwood tree is
roughly the same size as the tip of your
nail super tiny right that redwood seed
is you this idea is the wind the Sun and
the water that helps us grow and when we
and when some of the trees have a
disease all the other redwood
surrounding it help it heal when one
passes on a circle of Redwood sprout up
we can’t see it but underneath the
surface all the roots are connected and
they all sustain each other their
interconnect interconnected and their
survival depends upon each other these
redwood seeds are us when one tree
catches fire so does the whole forest
that is the poison the violence that
spreads and is invasive this wind the
Sun and the water is the idea that helps
each of us grow yet we cannot grow on
our own we are interconnected and our
collective growth is dependent upon each
and every one of us so I ask each and
every one of you to take what you’ve
learned and allow yourself to grow and
for us take this idea let it
you let it help you grow and when you’ve
manifested it help others grow and heal
from the diseases of the past thank you
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