so we humans are very complicated from
birth were all fed these labels these
names that were met to refer to one
another by we’re taught to believe that
they’re true we try to fight them but
eventually we all end up swallowing them
digesting their meaning and accepting
their value as an example my name is
Maya which means great and Latin truth
and Japanese it’s a name of a Hindu god
and is the daughter of the Greek Tyne
Atlas it’s the national bird of the
Philippines and is the name of an
advanced ancient civilization however
the name that I feel is most important
for this talk is the Sanskrit
translation which means illusion the
thing about the word illusion is that
it’s truly hard to grasp or believe it’s
funny to see how people grapple with the
difficulty of placing me into these
little boxes especially when they hear
my name look at the color of my hair my
skin for seconds there they’re confused
curious they’re unable to quickly place
me in one of society’s groups or give me
a label these assumptions stereotypes
labels and the need to classify are all
just illusions yet
they carry so much meaning with all of
us in mind I began to question the
difference between respect and prejudice
and the impact that labeling everyone
with these various names and labels
truly has on our personal identities I
believe that everyone deserves respect
which to me is practicing non judgement
because without respect for each other’s
differences with assumptions and
stereotypes our personal identities
become illusions difficult to grasp my
name is part of my identity and my
identity it tells my story however when
people feel the need to classify me I
begin to question my identity I want
people to know the real me the story of
a young girl with countless aspirations
one that wants to save her every moment
and take pictures of everything someone
that loves learning about herself as she
plays parts with others someone that
loves her family her friends and just
wanted to be treated like everyone else
however as a young girl
one question haunted me searing my
thoughts and stained
innocence what if people perceive me
counter to my true identity
preconceptions and stereotypes have
falsely painted humans as terrorists
colonizers do superficials painting a
name that doesn’t belong upon people
that are just different are people
painting a name on me that doesn’t
belong something that does not fit with
my identity for example a survey was
conducted on the subject of religions
and terrorism the results of the
experiment illuminate so many of the
illusions that we make concrete about
3/4 of the surveys population believe
that Christians that commit acts of
crime are not actually Christian however
what surprised me was that only half of
the same people believe that Muslims
that commit active crime are not
actually Muslim would this brought to my
attention was the prejudice that
surrounds religion in this case the
double standard about Islam truly
bothered and disturbed me as a Muslim I
remember a couple years ago my family
and I decided to take a trip to Thailand
before we went on that trip I was so
excited couldn’t wait to meet all these
new people go to these cultural museums
and experience and learn about life in a
new culture I even have a picture
writing an alpha and one beside a baby
tiger at the time I thought these
activities are amazing
scary amazing likely unethical towards
the animals but didn’t realize that at
the time I remember on our first day
there my cousins and I were sitting at
the beach eating 9 which is this really
good tide shifts not long after we saw a
group of men and woman walked towards my
mother and her friend
they seemed fascinated as at her shop
I’m not exactly sure what their
emotional towards or what point they
were trying to make but what I can’t say
is that I my cousin’s my mother and her
friend all felt as though they are
making assumptions labels and
generalizations what did the high job
mean to them that day even at my younger
age I realized that I lost some
innocence about society I realized that
the physicality of the hijab is going to
be much more than just an illusion of
prejudice or labels if so what did they
think of me to them would I always be
that little girl that’s part of an
oppressed family would they ever see me
the way that I see myself a girl with
countless aspirations
I’ve grown up since then I see an
eyewitness prejudice towards Islam in
the news in movies and even towards my
family but remember at the beginning of
my talk when I told you that my favorite
meaning of my name was the word illusion
well here’s the thing about illusions
when you know where to look you can
never be blind to them again I observe
prejudice all the time now the illusion
of ignorance is long gone the illusion
of innocence is long gone the picture my
mother wanted to paint for my brother
and I the society she wanted us to grow
up in a society that respects each
other’s differences in discounts
prejudice that illusion has only
unraveled further since then however not
all is gone when confronted with the
situation my mother could have done the
easiest thing possible at the time
however giving up a piece of her
identity completely unraveling her kids
mindsets by unraveling her hijab
meanwhile turning my world upside down
making me believe that we have no choice
but abide by the pressures of society or
she could have stood up for what she
believes on which is what she did not
given to the negative thoughts that
emerged when we hear the words Muslim I
see someone wearing the hijab to me this
trip was a critical event in my life I
became aware of all the assumptions
labels and names that were fed who knows
maybe we too have become hyper aware of
prejudice towards Islam the hijab that
some give a sideways glance and jump to
conclusions maybe we too are too quick
to judge here’s a thing about prejudice
though it’s a learned trait how can we
unlearn it how can we develop respect
for each other as our greatest social
endeavor well despite our diverse
beliefs we’re all human we should never
allow one’s differences religion culture
race or gender to define them after all
they’re all merely illusions thank you [Applause]
birth were all fed these labels these
names that were met to refer to one
another by we’re taught to believe that
they’re true we try to fight them but
eventually we all end up swallowing them
digesting their meaning and accepting
their value as an example my name is
Maya which means great and Latin truth
and Japanese it’s a name of a Hindu god
and is the daughter of the Greek Tyne
Atlas it’s the national bird of the
Philippines and is the name of an
advanced ancient civilization however
the name that I feel is most important
for this talk is the Sanskrit
translation which means illusion the
thing about the word illusion is that
it’s truly hard to grasp or believe it’s
funny to see how people grapple with the
difficulty of placing me into these
little boxes especially when they hear
my name look at the color of my hair my
skin for seconds there they’re confused
curious they’re unable to quickly place
me in one of society’s groups or give me
a label these assumptions stereotypes
labels and the need to classify are all
just illusions yet
they carry so much meaning with all of
us in mind I began to question the
difference between respect and prejudice
and the impact that labeling everyone
with these various names and labels
truly has on our personal identities I
believe that everyone deserves respect
which to me is practicing non judgement
because without respect for each other’s
differences with assumptions and
stereotypes our personal identities
become illusions difficult to grasp my
name is part of my identity and my
identity it tells my story however when
people feel the need to classify me I
begin to question my identity I want
people to know the real me the story of
a young girl with countless aspirations
one that wants to save her every moment
and take pictures of everything someone
that loves learning about herself as she
plays parts with others someone that
loves her family her friends and just
wanted to be treated like everyone else
however as a young girl
one question haunted me searing my
thoughts and stained
innocence what if people perceive me
counter to my true identity
preconceptions and stereotypes have
falsely painted humans as terrorists
colonizers do superficials painting a
name that doesn’t belong upon people
that are just different are people
painting a name on me that doesn’t
belong something that does not fit with
my identity for example a survey was
conducted on the subject of religions
and terrorism the results of the
experiment illuminate so many of the
illusions that we make concrete about
3/4 of the surveys population believe
that Christians that commit acts of
crime are not actually Christian however
what surprised me was that only half of
the same people believe that Muslims
that commit active crime are not
actually Muslim would this brought to my
attention was the prejudice that
surrounds religion in this case the
double standard about Islam truly
bothered and disturbed me as a Muslim I
remember a couple years ago my family
and I decided to take a trip to Thailand
before we went on that trip I was so
excited couldn’t wait to meet all these
new people go to these cultural museums
and experience and learn about life in a
new culture I even have a picture
writing an alpha and one beside a baby
tiger at the time I thought these
activities are amazing
scary amazing likely unethical towards
the animals but didn’t realize that at
the time I remember on our first day
there my cousins and I were sitting at
the beach eating 9 which is this really
good tide shifts not long after we saw a
group of men and woman walked towards my
mother and her friend
they seemed fascinated as at her shop
I’m not exactly sure what their
emotional towards or what point they
were trying to make but what I can’t say
is that I my cousin’s my mother and her
friend all felt as though they are
making assumptions labels and
generalizations what did the high job
mean to them that day even at my younger
age I realized that I lost some
innocence about society I realized that
the physicality of the hijab is going to
be much more than just an illusion of
prejudice or labels if so what did they
think of me to them would I always be
that little girl that’s part of an
oppressed family would they ever see me
the way that I see myself a girl with
countless aspirations
I’ve grown up since then I see an
eyewitness prejudice towards Islam in
the news in movies and even towards my
family but remember at the beginning of
my talk when I told you that my favorite
meaning of my name was the word illusion
well here’s the thing about illusions
when you know where to look you can
never be blind to them again I observe
prejudice all the time now the illusion
of ignorance is long gone the illusion
of innocence is long gone the picture my
mother wanted to paint for my brother
and I the society she wanted us to grow
up in a society that respects each
other’s differences in discounts
prejudice that illusion has only
unraveled further since then however not
all is gone when confronted with the
situation my mother could have done the
easiest thing possible at the time
however giving up a piece of her
identity completely unraveling her kids
mindsets by unraveling her hijab
meanwhile turning my world upside down
making me believe that we have no choice
but abide by the pressures of society or
she could have stood up for what she
believes on which is what she did not
given to the negative thoughts that
emerged when we hear the words Muslim I
see someone wearing the hijab to me this
trip was a critical event in my life I
became aware of all the assumptions
labels and names that were fed who knows
maybe we too have become hyper aware of
prejudice towards Islam the hijab that
some give a sideways glance and jump to
conclusions maybe we too are too quick
to judge here’s a thing about prejudice
though it’s a learned trait how can we
unlearn it how can we develop respect
for each other as our greatest social
endeavor well despite our diverse
beliefs we’re all human we should never
allow one’s differences religion culture
race or gender to define them after all
they’re all merely illusions thank you [Applause]
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