[Applause]
with every moon and every Sun there’s a
death another gun as its pulled on the
trek to these European Shores numbered
days take a chance another life this is
Frank’s heart still bleeding hope on
these European Shores dodging bombs
finding boats all these bodies trying to
float shivering on the wasteland of
these European Shores another king
another queen prevented coz of melanin
from living amongst our European Shores
all the stories all the tears all the
mothers trying to rear their scared
little children on these European Shores
running kids hiding teens dodging police
don’t get seen trying to survive on
these European Shores with every truck
there’s a door prized open lucky draw a
smugglers become heroes on these
European Shores bouncing woman looks
like me except that I can cross the sea
from a sick twist of fate of these
European Shores praying in your homes
but your money sending drones that make
these people flee to our European shores
every odd stacked against them every
border to prevent them what must it be
to run to ever shutting doors why aren’t
we tearing off the hinge welcoming
letting in our sibling soldiers from
terror troubled Shores
no more days no more Sun no more running
it is done this is blood we’ve helped
shed
in this global funded war everything
I’ve just shared with you is something
I’ve seen from my time spent in refugee
camps in Calais I’ve been involved in
the crisis for two years now and it’s
changed my life forever
now before I go on I just like to start
by sharing some stats with you because
they don’t really add up with this
damning portrayal that we see in the
media so some of you might be quite
surprised to know that the total number
of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK
doesn’t even total to one percent not
even close in fact not point to four
percent of the UK is full up with
refugees and our out of control numbers
across Europe are actually only eleven
percent of the total global population
of refugees eight out of ten hosting
countries are in Africa this is
something I would really like you to
bear in mind the next time you see a
headline from our horrific ly biased
media so why I got involved in the
crisis simply from seeing the same stuff
we all have and baby island Kerdi being
washed up on the shore was the last
straw for me so we turned up in Calais
one weekend no experience no training I
wasn’t even going on behalf of an
organization just a human on behalf of
humanity and two years on I’m still
going back because I’ve seen what we’re
capable of when we come together
just last month I met the sweetest
fourteen-year-old boy he’s from
Afghanistan he’d been locked in solitary
confinement for two months without
daylight he also had a fractured skull
from being beaten in the head with a
metal pole that metal pole wasn’t struck
upon him by other refugees it was in
fact the police still when we met him he
had nothing but love and smiles for us
there is a family of four who crossed
the Mediterranean to get to Europe only
by the time I met them there are a
family of three they lost their daughter
when they crossed to the sea
the very sea that we Holiday Inn I’ve
had fully grown men collapse onto me as
they recall seeing their mothers fathers
wives killed in front of them there is
only me now sister they say and I’ve
seen scars on the bodies of pregnant
women being beaten by the authorities
simply because they have different
papers to me women that actually look
pretty similar to me meaning that I have
to have my passport on me at all times
when I go to the camps for protection
from the same beating the passport that
I just received in a lottery at birth
the same lottery that you received yours
and you think these people have so many
reasons to choose hate or anger
bitterness resentment the treatment that
they receive for their simple one of
safety and yet they only choose love
that fierce moving mountains reason
we’re alive kind of love and it’s this
that’s kept me going back because
despite living in squalor amongst rats
with a world that has genuinely turned
its back on them they still smile they
still share love with each other and
they have an immense amount of hope the
strength of a connection that I’ve made
in a day or even a few hours with
complete strangers is the most powerful
part of being alive I’ve learnt that now
and yet most of us miss out on this
don’t we
bit weird hanging around talking to
strangers
in fact the first piece of advice we
receive as children is don’t talk to
strangers
and it’s then that you can see we’ve
actually invested in the opposite of
unity we’ve become so afraid of each
other and this has governed the way we
are now and it’s this that’s so damaging
I have nothing but respect and love for
these people who I now call my friends
they’re people that have inspired me
they’ve made me look at my own life and
actually also the rest of the world it
was the end of 2016 where a lot of these
things intensified for me Breck sighted
here Trump had been elected and the toll
of displaced people due to war had risen
to 65 million it’s now 65 and a half
that’s the whole of the UK and so I
turned to a friend for some guidance
he’s 78 he’s very much that an active
activist and I felt some sort of comfort
in being able to turn to him to see if
things were really as bad as they felt
he hesitated before he answered me and
then he said actually yes
I feel they are now I’m not sure what I
expected him to say and you probably
think I feel pretty deflated after that
thanks Luke but what surprised me more
than his frankness was my own reaction I
felt this huge surge rise up within me
and somehow I understood that we are
here all of us in these exact times for
a reason and that feeling that I felt
within me was that of love that same
powerful love that our friends in the
camp choose over everything and for some
reason love’s come to be known as this
fluffy thing and doesn’t really account
for much when in reality is the very
thing that we’re all here because of
love is quite simply an energy force and
if you look closely enough you’ll see
this reflected in you everywhere so let
me help you
we’re currently spinning on a planet at
a thousand miles an hour yet we can’t
feel it on a round planet that’s 70%
water yet the water doesn’t fall out and
we circle a 4.6 billion year old border
fire there’s just floating in the sky
and then there’s another floating ball
that controls our tide and trees breathe
out oxygen so that we can breathe it in
and here we are
these weirdo bones covered in skin
things that can walk talk eat dance
laugh cry and we rarely even acknowledge
the fact that we’re all part of this
crazy energy miracle it’s so crazy in
fact it sounds like I’m itching it up so
why when we live on a planet so
intricately designed do we have any
doubt that we are here for a reason to
this perspective becomes really real
when being in the camps and is actually
also what makes it really hard to adjust
coming home because everything’s just
business as usual here like life is fine
like there aren’t thousands of people
I’ve just left children without parents
men and women sleeping on frozen ground
all just thirty miles from our doorsteps
and to think if this was the UK America
Australia Canada France
if these nations were suddenly seeking
refuge with the world react the same
then the tell me why this is happening
I came to the point where volunteering
wasn’t enough anymore I could feel this
pressure sat in me and whilst I was
trying to figure out one earth little
old me could do I asked myself what’s
hurting you most about this yes and I
realized it was apathy apathy was
hurting the most
with the show of hands how many of you
have seen or heard something about the
state of humanity that is upset you it
doesn’t matter what it’s about keep
those hands up if you’ve seen something
like this more than once or twice or
five times
how much more do we need to see to take
action in times where we are so
technically connected more than we have
ever been we’ve become so disconnected
from that which makes us human
so I decided apathy is the thing that
we’ve got to kill and it’s not an easy
easy thing and I don’t believe that it’s
actually that people don’t care I know
that’s not true
is that the feeling of helplessness has
become so overwhelming that it’s become
the norm to just think you know what can
I do and so instead of doing something
we choose nothing
I’ve actually got a friend who I met up
with recently and they said to me oh you
know what you sometimes make me feel
well bad I look at what you’ll do in
your going out there and helping people
they’ll just think not done anything for
the world and then I feel like well you
know the world’s always gonna have
problems it always had so it’s not not
much point really is there this is
apathy at its worst we all fall into
that habit and me also I’m included in
this but is that okay is it is it
acceptable to just say the world always
had problems sure if we continue doing
what we’ve always done we’re gonna get
what we always have right it’s time now
for us to remember the power that each
of us can make individually especially
those of us who have a roof over our
head some food in the fridge and some
money in the bank that makes us the top
10% of people in the world so if we
don’t do anything about it who does
we’ve not been given all of this
privilege just for our own lives and
jobs mortgages and Netflix and chill
we’ve been given this power to influence
not only our governments but each other
too and although I know I know it might
seem it the crazy politicians and there
are enough of them right now they’re not
our biggest problem apathy is apathy in
action and silence are actually the
wider enemies of a bigger picture and
it’s this that we can no longer stand
for so to do something about this I
decided to start a movement and it’s a
movement could stand for humanity the
dam for Humanity came out of nowhere I
never planned to do this I was just
going along to volunteer in the camps
but it’s something that I realized can
help us it can help us bridge the gap
from those in need and those that care
but just feel a bit helpless and don’t
really know where to start so each of
you have a card on your chair and I’d
like you to just take a moment to think
about one issue that you really care
about it can be anything it doesn’t have
to be refugees Ted audience at home you
can do this too and just think about one
thing that you can do to make a
difference to that issue it’s a pledge
to do something for the sake of humanity
so it could be that it really breaks
your heart when you see a homeless
person
so rather than worrying about whether
you should give them change or rushing
by your thinking or feeling guilty
because you don’t have anything to give
why don’t we make a pledge to spend five
minutes a week a month just having a
chat with them find out their name make
that connection or loneliness in the
aging population there could be an
elderly person who lives on your road
you know lives alone they could really
do with your company just once a week
for a cup of tea if these little ways
that we have to come home to each other
and remember each other because whilst
our governments and world leaders are
not leaving us anything to feel proud of
at the moment we can be proud of each
other
remember that’s what we’re here for
but actually they don’t speak for us we
speak for ourselves once you’ve made
your pledge take a photo of your pledge
card with it and upload it to social
media
tagging stand for humanity and you might
inspire another to do the same because
once we do this once we start coming
together showing a compassion our love
for each other we start changing the
world instead of passively accepting the
state of the world the way it is we
invite possibility in because just like
everything else in this planet was made
for a reason we too were made for these
times and whilst my friend did say that
this was the worst he’d seen things in
his 78 years
he also said but there are far more of
us on the good side now thank you
you
with every moon and every Sun there’s a
death another gun as its pulled on the
trek to these European Shores numbered
days take a chance another life this is
Frank’s heart still bleeding hope on
these European Shores dodging bombs
finding boats all these bodies trying to
float shivering on the wasteland of
these European Shores another king
another queen prevented coz of melanin
from living amongst our European Shores
all the stories all the tears all the
mothers trying to rear their scared
little children on these European Shores
running kids hiding teens dodging police
don’t get seen trying to survive on
these European Shores with every truck
there’s a door prized open lucky draw a
smugglers become heroes on these
European Shores bouncing woman looks
like me except that I can cross the sea
from a sick twist of fate of these
European Shores praying in your homes
but your money sending drones that make
these people flee to our European shores
every odd stacked against them every
border to prevent them what must it be
to run to ever shutting doors why aren’t
we tearing off the hinge welcoming
letting in our sibling soldiers from
terror troubled Shores
no more days no more Sun no more running
it is done this is blood we’ve helped
shed
in this global funded war everything
I’ve just shared with you is something
I’ve seen from my time spent in refugee
camps in Calais I’ve been involved in
the crisis for two years now and it’s
changed my life forever
now before I go on I just like to start
by sharing some stats with you because
they don’t really add up with this
damning portrayal that we see in the
media so some of you might be quite
surprised to know that the total number
of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK
doesn’t even total to one percent not
even close in fact not point to four
percent of the UK is full up with
refugees and our out of control numbers
across Europe are actually only eleven
percent of the total global population
of refugees eight out of ten hosting
countries are in Africa this is
something I would really like you to
bear in mind the next time you see a
headline from our horrific ly biased
media so why I got involved in the
crisis simply from seeing the same stuff
we all have and baby island Kerdi being
washed up on the shore was the last
straw for me so we turned up in Calais
one weekend no experience no training I
wasn’t even going on behalf of an
organization just a human on behalf of
humanity and two years on I’m still
going back because I’ve seen what we’re
capable of when we come together
just last month I met the sweetest
fourteen-year-old boy he’s from
Afghanistan he’d been locked in solitary
confinement for two months without
daylight he also had a fractured skull
from being beaten in the head with a
metal pole that metal pole wasn’t struck
upon him by other refugees it was in
fact the police still when we met him he
had nothing but love and smiles for us
there is a family of four who crossed
the Mediterranean to get to Europe only
by the time I met them there are a
family of three they lost their daughter
when they crossed to the sea
the very sea that we Holiday Inn I’ve
had fully grown men collapse onto me as
they recall seeing their mothers fathers
wives killed in front of them there is
only me now sister they say and I’ve
seen scars on the bodies of pregnant
women being beaten by the authorities
simply because they have different
papers to me women that actually look
pretty similar to me meaning that I have
to have my passport on me at all times
when I go to the camps for protection
from the same beating the passport that
I just received in a lottery at birth
the same lottery that you received yours
and you think these people have so many
reasons to choose hate or anger
bitterness resentment the treatment that
they receive for their simple one of
safety and yet they only choose love
that fierce moving mountains reason
we’re alive kind of love and it’s this
that’s kept me going back because
despite living in squalor amongst rats
with a world that has genuinely turned
its back on them they still smile they
still share love with each other and
they have an immense amount of hope the
strength of a connection that I’ve made
in a day or even a few hours with
complete strangers is the most powerful
part of being alive I’ve learnt that now
and yet most of us miss out on this
don’t we
bit weird hanging around talking to
strangers
in fact the first piece of advice we
receive as children is don’t talk to
strangers
and it’s then that you can see we’ve
actually invested in the opposite of
unity we’ve become so afraid of each
other and this has governed the way we
are now and it’s this that’s so damaging
I have nothing but respect and love for
these people who I now call my friends
they’re people that have inspired me
they’ve made me look at my own life and
actually also the rest of the world it
was the end of 2016 where a lot of these
things intensified for me Breck sighted
here Trump had been elected and the toll
of displaced people due to war had risen
to 65 million it’s now 65 and a half
that’s the whole of the UK and so I
turned to a friend for some guidance
he’s 78 he’s very much that an active
activist and I felt some sort of comfort
in being able to turn to him to see if
things were really as bad as they felt
he hesitated before he answered me and
then he said actually yes
I feel they are now I’m not sure what I
expected him to say and you probably
think I feel pretty deflated after that
thanks Luke but what surprised me more
than his frankness was my own reaction I
felt this huge surge rise up within me
and somehow I understood that we are
here all of us in these exact times for
a reason and that feeling that I felt
within me was that of love that same
powerful love that our friends in the
camp choose over everything and for some
reason love’s come to be known as this
fluffy thing and doesn’t really account
for much when in reality is the very
thing that we’re all here because of
love is quite simply an energy force and
if you look closely enough you’ll see
this reflected in you everywhere so let
me help you
we’re currently spinning on a planet at
a thousand miles an hour yet we can’t
feel it on a round planet that’s 70%
water yet the water doesn’t fall out and
we circle a 4.6 billion year old border
fire there’s just floating in the sky
and then there’s another floating ball
that controls our tide and trees breathe
out oxygen so that we can breathe it in
and here we are
these weirdo bones covered in skin
things that can walk talk eat dance
laugh cry and we rarely even acknowledge
the fact that we’re all part of this
crazy energy miracle it’s so crazy in
fact it sounds like I’m itching it up so
why when we live on a planet so
intricately designed do we have any
doubt that we are here for a reason to
this perspective becomes really real
when being in the camps and is actually
also what makes it really hard to adjust
coming home because everything’s just
business as usual here like life is fine
like there aren’t thousands of people
I’ve just left children without parents
men and women sleeping on frozen ground
all just thirty miles from our doorsteps
and to think if this was the UK America
Australia Canada France
if these nations were suddenly seeking
refuge with the world react the same
then the tell me why this is happening
I came to the point where volunteering
wasn’t enough anymore I could feel this
pressure sat in me and whilst I was
trying to figure out one earth little
old me could do I asked myself what’s
hurting you most about this yes and I
realized it was apathy apathy was
hurting the most
with the show of hands how many of you
have seen or heard something about the
state of humanity that is upset you it
doesn’t matter what it’s about keep
those hands up if you’ve seen something
like this more than once or twice or
five times
how much more do we need to see to take
action in times where we are so
technically connected more than we have
ever been we’ve become so disconnected
from that which makes us human
so I decided apathy is the thing that
we’ve got to kill and it’s not an easy
easy thing and I don’t believe that it’s
actually that people don’t care I know
that’s not true
is that the feeling of helplessness has
become so overwhelming that it’s become
the norm to just think you know what can
I do and so instead of doing something
we choose nothing
I’ve actually got a friend who I met up
with recently and they said to me oh you
know what you sometimes make me feel
well bad I look at what you’ll do in
your going out there and helping people
they’ll just think not done anything for
the world and then I feel like well you
know the world’s always gonna have
problems it always had so it’s not not
much point really is there this is
apathy at its worst we all fall into
that habit and me also I’m included in
this but is that okay is it is it
acceptable to just say the world always
had problems sure if we continue doing
what we’ve always done we’re gonna get
what we always have right it’s time now
for us to remember the power that each
of us can make individually especially
those of us who have a roof over our
head some food in the fridge and some
money in the bank that makes us the top
10% of people in the world so if we
don’t do anything about it who does
we’ve not been given all of this
privilege just for our own lives and
jobs mortgages and Netflix and chill
we’ve been given this power to influence
not only our governments but each other
too and although I know I know it might
seem it the crazy politicians and there
are enough of them right now they’re not
our biggest problem apathy is apathy in
action and silence are actually the
wider enemies of a bigger picture and
it’s this that we can no longer stand
for so to do something about this I
decided to start a movement and it’s a
movement could stand for humanity the
dam for Humanity came out of nowhere I
never planned to do this I was just
going along to volunteer in the camps
but it’s something that I realized can
help us it can help us bridge the gap
from those in need and those that care
but just feel a bit helpless and don’t
really know where to start so each of
you have a card on your chair and I’d
like you to just take a moment to think
about one issue that you really care
about it can be anything it doesn’t have
to be refugees Ted audience at home you
can do this too and just think about one
thing that you can do to make a
difference to that issue it’s a pledge
to do something for the sake of humanity
so it could be that it really breaks
your heart when you see a homeless
person
so rather than worrying about whether
you should give them change or rushing
by your thinking or feeling guilty
because you don’t have anything to give
why don’t we make a pledge to spend five
minutes a week a month just having a
chat with them find out their name make
that connection or loneliness in the
aging population there could be an
elderly person who lives on your road
you know lives alone they could really
do with your company just once a week
for a cup of tea if these little ways
that we have to come home to each other
and remember each other because whilst
our governments and world leaders are
not leaving us anything to feel proud of
at the moment we can be proud of each
other
remember that’s what we’re here for
but actually they don’t speak for us we
speak for ourselves once you’ve made
your pledge take a photo of your pledge
card with it and upload it to social
media
tagging stand for humanity and you might
inspire another to do the same because
once we do this once we start coming
together showing a compassion our love
for each other we start changing the
world instead of passively accepting the
state of the world the way it is we
invite possibility in because just like
everything else in this planet was made
for a reason we too were made for these
times and whilst my friend did say that
this was the worst he’d seen things in
his 78 years
he also said but there are far more of
us on the good side now thank you
you
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