[Music]
hello how are you all this section is
doing a bit better than good to Rick’s
point I think it’s wine in the barrels
which is awesome so I agree with him I’m
really excited to be here not only is it
is it a beautiful reminder of just how
much growth there is in your wild
flowers like everything has been
manicured so well and this school is
absolutely stunning I love that this is
a place where kids can come and get
their education and which speaks so much
to the theme of today’s talk so I want
to dedicate this to my three little
humans who are probably watching on
livestream
one of them’s probably like I can’t see
move you’re in the way don’t touch that
they opened a Word document but they
they caused me to constantly reimagine
so fella Lacy and Breyer this is for you
I want to tell you that the quality
campaigns viral videos and numerous
sound bites vowing the resilient
comeback of kindness and humanity make
my mouth break into a smile that’s wider
than the Tahitian sunrise itself but the
truth is I spend so much of my free time
reminiscing and dreaming about if I
could be a kid again do you remember for
that that that first day of school after
waiting from a long summer break your
Chris backpack your new lunchbox the
stickers folders and the few unnecessary
items that you conned your parents into
buying you that first day you know was
always epic there was no division just a
race
to the sandbox of the lunch line or the
sheer panic when you realize that all
three Tiffany’s in your class at
birthdays in the same week you know
growing up we were all friends
her hair was fire-engine red his
freckles were the size of peanut M&Ms
her olive skin red cheeks long legs my
chubby fingers and the only difference
the only difference between us was the
decals on our folders and our bicycles
so when when did the playground become a
battlefield a space of lines and groups
and silos mimicking these now divided
states we live in when the seasons
changed from sandbox compassion to
bullying and gossip I can remember
thinking the universe for the few that
bothered to stand by me and help me off
the ground they were the friends that
didn’t let their own popularity eclipsed
their humanity they were the ones that
provided a safe haven when Ian and
Michael came back from Spring Break as
more than just friends they were the
ones that respected Evelyn in her
transition and sunset to Edward
they were the ones that protected Sean
and Michelle even before the media
decided that black lives matter they
were the ones that kept my covenant when
I I couldn’t bear the thought of coming
out because staying in that was for
girls like me who had yellow bellies I
want to tell you that being different is
a journey worth living and I want to
tell you that coming out was the only
way that I really started fitting in and
I want to tell you that my voice doesn’t
tremble when I see an unfamiliar space
or a face but then this poem would
probably be fiction and I promised
myself that I would give an earnest
effort into telling you the truth
we the highlighted minority the ally the
queer the quietly flamboyant the
culturally reserved the wild children of
this acronym society we do have to stand
up you cannot fret about your posture
being straight because the color the
color lives in the slant it lives in the
bent spines in the bellies that aren’t
just yellow they’re chock full of
rainbows we do have to root ourselves
in this battleground we have to crawl
through the concrete to break the
cemented ideals of this manufactured
equality we have to return to the
sandbox to the monkey bars to the
kickball courts we must take the joy in
these midday birthdays sweets the days
where the daylight allows us to play
outside a little bit longer than usual I
ask that you never grow weary and your
well doing you the gay the free the
black the indigenous the breasts to the
womb that disenchanted the outlasted
because this this is not a fight this
this is not a war this this is our
legacy and our birthright so may we fill
the air with a song of solidarity and
may this song become your battle cry
off-key pitch slight and let always
exploding with heart may you always fall
in love with those most unlike you may
you kiss their spirit with gratitude and
fraternity because this world it has all
of the elements that we all miss but new
the backpack the lunch pails the sandbox
eager to be filled with every caste and
hue because we are the same you know you
and I she that identifies he him that is
they we that bellow and laugh in this
air of the binary construct I say we
don’t need it I say we reimagine it
I reckon that we reroute this cycle I
reckon that we destroy the status quo
see I reckon that we summon equality to
come before technology I reckon that we
unhinge a reality and reimagine our
future because I too I too have had a
dream I to remember the younger me that
understood that kindness was key it is
time to recess to recess to return to
hope it is time to summon the promise
that every single sunrise brings forth
so may we all move forward may we do so
robust may we do so with intention may
we always summon and beckon joy and
remember to be human
may we all imagine that thank you [Applause]
hello how are you all this section is
doing a bit better than good to Rick’s
point I think it’s wine in the barrels
which is awesome so I agree with him I’m
really excited to be here not only is it
is it a beautiful reminder of just how
much growth there is in your wild
flowers like everything has been
manicured so well and this school is
absolutely stunning I love that this is
a place where kids can come and get
their education and which speaks so much
to the theme of today’s talk so I want
to dedicate this to my three little
humans who are probably watching on
livestream
one of them’s probably like I can’t see
move you’re in the way don’t touch that
they opened a Word document but they
they caused me to constantly reimagine
so fella Lacy and Breyer this is for you
I want to tell you that the quality
campaigns viral videos and numerous
sound bites vowing the resilient
comeback of kindness and humanity make
my mouth break into a smile that’s wider
than the Tahitian sunrise itself but the
truth is I spend so much of my free time
reminiscing and dreaming about if I
could be a kid again do you remember for
that that that first day of school after
waiting from a long summer break your
Chris backpack your new lunchbox the
stickers folders and the few unnecessary
items that you conned your parents into
buying you that first day you know was
always epic there was no division just a
race
to the sandbox of the lunch line or the
sheer panic when you realize that all
three Tiffany’s in your class at
birthdays in the same week you know
growing up we were all friends
her hair was fire-engine red his
freckles were the size of peanut M&Ms
her olive skin red cheeks long legs my
chubby fingers and the only difference
the only difference between us was the
decals on our folders and our bicycles
so when when did the playground become a
battlefield a space of lines and groups
and silos mimicking these now divided
states we live in when the seasons
changed from sandbox compassion to
bullying and gossip I can remember
thinking the universe for the few that
bothered to stand by me and help me off
the ground they were the friends that
didn’t let their own popularity eclipsed
their humanity they were the ones that
provided a safe haven when Ian and
Michael came back from Spring Break as
more than just friends they were the
ones that respected Evelyn in her
transition and sunset to Edward
they were the ones that protected Sean
and Michelle even before the media
decided that black lives matter they
were the ones that kept my covenant when
I I couldn’t bear the thought of coming
out because staying in that was for
girls like me who had yellow bellies I
want to tell you that being different is
a journey worth living and I want to
tell you that coming out was the only
way that I really started fitting in and
I want to tell you that my voice doesn’t
tremble when I see an unfamiliar space
or a face but then this poem would
probably be fiction and I promised
myself that I would give an earnest
effort into telling you the truth
we the highlighted minority the ally the
queer the quietly flamboyant the
culturally reserved the wild children of
this acronym society we do have to stand
up you cannot fret about your posture
being straight because the color the
color lives in the slant it lives in the
bent spines in the bellies that aren’t
just yellow they’re chock full of
rainbows we do have to root ourselves
in this battleground we have to crawl
through the concrete to break the
cemented ideals of this manufactured
equality we have to return to the
sandbox to the monkey bars to the
kickball courts we must take the joy in
these midday birthdays sweets the days
where the daylight allows us to play
outside a little bit longer than usual I
ask that you never grow weary and your
well doing you the gay the free the
black the indigenous the breasts to the
womb that disenchanted the outlasted
because this this is not a fight this
this is not a war this this is our
legacy and our birthright so may we fill
the air with a song of solidarity and
may this song become your battle cry
off-key pitch slight and let always
exploding with heart may you always fall
in love with those most unlike you may
you kiss their spirit with gratitude and
fraternity because this world it has all
of the elements that we all miss but new
the backpack the lunch pails the sandbox
eager to be filled with every caste and
hue because we are the same you know you
and I she that identifies he him that is
they we that bellow and laugh in this
air of the binary construct I say we
don’t need it I say we reimagine it
I reckon that we reroute this cycle I
reckon that we destroy the status quo
see I reckon that we summon equality to
come before technology I reckon that we
unhinge a reality and reimagine our
future because I too I too have had a
dream I to remember the younger me that
understood that kindness was key it is
time to recess to recess to return to
hope it is time to summon the promise
that every single sunrise brings forth
so may we all move forward may we do so
robust may we do so with intention may
we always summon and beckon joy and
remember to be human
may we all imagine that thank you [Applause]
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