gotta realize I’m talking about the gray
area and so many really Kumasi what is
the gray here you mean tell me before
you talk now I’m gonna say now okay we
must understand the importance of the
gray area
I mean I’m either too mean and you know
horrible or I’m too kind
I’m either not comprehending a single
word you say or I’m overanalyzing widget
every single detail and by that I mean
hi how are you what are you accusing me
of I’m either not getting a single thing
done or I’m an overachiever we’re all
the parents just point at me and say I
want you to be like her see what I said
right here was black or white no gray
black white no great you guys getting
run getting here okay extreme extreme no
in-between so I have a few things that
will you know that has to be discussed
when it comes to the gray area and of
course as expected the first of them
will have to be our political background
we are victims
we are occupied we are oppressed we are
sad and we cry out for our losses we try
to drag ourselves into the green what is
the gray and what what society tells you
it’s perfect as always top the best
everything is going great that’s perfect
but in reality perfect is actually a
balance of the good and the bad the
happy and sad so when we try to drag
ourselves into the gray area we’re
trying to drag ourselves into the
balanced area because obviously there’s
no balance at all right now so how can
we drag ourselves into the gray area
without being constantly pulled back
into the black or white which is what an
occupation really is we can implement
the grey within ourselves and then
implement it on that small portion or a
big portion of
xiety that we affect and in that since
individual with individual individual
individual makes a group we can together
walk through a stronger better and
greater future the second thing I want
to discuss was flaws no no I’m not
talking about what society call us flaws
I’m not talking about the big nose or
anything else I’m talking about what you
think is a flaw and what do you think is
a flaw it’s something that affects you
in a bad way and if like everyone around
you as well so flaws in the black or
white you choose keyword choose to avoid
recognizing you choose to avoid
accepting you choose to avoid solving
and curing those flaws why because you
are afraid afraid of what you are afraid
of being thrown out of the black or
white because Society makes you believe
that if you are not weak than you’re
strong if you are not strong than you’re
weak you are afraid of being called sick
rather than healthy so many of us and I
don’t mean us as Palestinians anymore I
mean us as humans so many of us have
certain disorders PTSD ADHD personality
disorder eating disordered yeah we
choose to avoid recognizing them we
choose to avoid solving them because we
are afraid of being called sick I’m here
to tell you that within the gray area
you recognize it you accept it and you
fix it another place in the gray area
that has to be discussed is traditions
and cultures on your way here believe it
or not you went through a gray area how
I’ll get to it listen when I was in
third grade we would go in Ohio and I
get in the car and we’re passing by
these houses and of course they’re gonna
start processing what I’m saying and I
see these houses and they’re all like
organized in parallel I’m like whoa okay
this is this is amazing okay and even
those old houses
the old houses were still kind of the
same house everything else it was it was
unbelievable and I never really
understood here in Palestine why these
artsy fartsy people out here taking
pictures of all the houses they say I’m
you have everything 50 times better in
the u.s. why would you take pictures of
everything here why do you come here to
begin with and then I came back and I
recognized it the way those traditional
houses stand amongst the tall modern
glass buildings the way the way the old
thing stands among the modern and the
small stands amongst it all the
confusion the mess the mess is what
makes this place beautiful the gray area
it’s what makes this place beautiful and
now they take my next point and it’s
your relationship with your tradition
and your culture now we know that you’re
either too attached to your culture too
much too much complete Arab and you hang
on to those illogical things like if you
break your leg you go eat for nothing or
you are too free and you’re a Western
wannabe you just don’t have an
in-between but I’m here to tell you that
you’re not supposed to be this or that
imagine yourself as a flower flowers
imagine yourself as a flower that has
roots holding it down and those roots
are the cultures and traditions they’re
holding you down and the flower thrives
and blooms that’s it progressing
that’s it moving on and not hanging on
to the illogical stuff you want to be
that flower you want to be in between
you want to be great you don’t want to
be black you don’t wanna be what you
want to be great that’s your
relationship with your culture and
that’s how it should be that’s how
that’s how we should move on another
thing I want to talk about mom this
one’s for you hmm
once every time I say I want something
my mom goes meza don’t want something
too much heavy tea so once don’t want
something too much hey baby
we do want something too much let’s say
I want to get at 20 out of 20 and God
forbid I get a 15 out of 20 or a 5 out
of 20 chemistry if I get that five
hundred twenty and I wanted that twenty
eight twenty so bad I will fall into a
hole of hopelessness despair depression
probably you know start eating ice cream
for lunch dinner everything that’s
because I didn’t get what I wanted
that’s because I made everything I made
a want a need this is the extreme but
then at the same time over here if I
don’t want anything at all what’s life
without a purpose you want something you
have to have something you have to have
a purpose you got to aim for something
you have to set a goal so you got to be
in between you got to want something but
then also don’t make it a need want
something in the gray area another thing
loved ones see before I made my speech
here I was practicing in the bathroom
and I was saying keep your loved ones in
the gray area and the girl I was saying
it to she goes my mom in the green yeah
of course not I have to be too attached
I have to love her too much I’m here to
tell you no I’m sorry again mom no you
can’t be too attached her why I mean
keep in mind grey comes in shades some
shades leading more to the black side
some shades leaning more to the white
side you have to keep everyone in your
life in that gray area because if you’re
too attached to someone and then god
forbid they died or you break up with
them or you just lose them you lost part
of yourself as well
and we all know this every breakup story
everyone who loves someone so much and
so attached to them and they those
people walk out of their lives
depression clubs but on the other hand
you don’t want to be shallow fake Drake
where you at you don’t want to be too
fake
and without love what is life life has
no meaning it’s worthless now so what do
you do
you keep them in the gray area you love
them you feel you you keep them there
for you but then you’re not too attached
you’re not too attached and that leads
me to my last point the gray area keeps
you grateful you know when life’s going
great
well like – great like any second
there’s a train wreck and you know it’s
coming last week was an amazing week for
me I was on top of the world every night
award I was coming home you know all my
friends with me it was great man it was
amazing I used to get full marks last
week used to and and then my small
sister my hyperactive small sister it
comes in how does me and that’s really
rare but I didn’t care
I’m like okay honey I gotta go get good
gotta go okay I have to leave but see
that’s a thing when you’re too happy and
you’re black or white when you’re when
you’re just living way up you forget to
appreciate the little things in life and
I mean this with all my heart my little
sister when she used to hug me before
that week I used to oh my god it was the
happiest person on earth
it was unbelievable and so being in the
gray air you having that perfect balance
between sadness and happiness noticing
the sadness because of happiness and
noticing the happiness because of
sadness being in this in between keeps
you grateful and so before I advise you
to do it I might as well do it myself
every time I want to decide extreme
extreme when we go in-between I’m gonna
walk down that grey path because even
though it seems like a pretty grey path
it’s actually a path of gold thank you
[Music] [Applause]