0:00:00.917,0:00:04.059
On the red tiles in my family's den

0:00:04.083,0:00:08.226
I would dance and sing[br]to the made-for-TV movie "Gypsy,"

0:00:08.250,0:00:10.393
starring Bette Midler.

0:00:10.417,0:00:12.976
(Singing) "I had a dream.

0:00:13.000,0:00:16.893
A wonderful dream, papa."

0:00:16.917,0:00:21.559
I would sing it with the urgency[br]and the burning desire of a nine-year-old

0:00:21.583,0:00:24.684
who did, in fact, have a dream.

0:00:24.708,0:00:28.476
My dream was to be an actress.

0:00:28.500,0:00:31.851
And it's true that I never saw[br]anyone who looked like me

0:00:31.875,0:00:33.393
in television or in films,

0:00:33.417,0:00:38.518
and sure, my family and friends[br]and teachers all constantly warned me

0:00:38.542,0:00:42.417
that people like me[br]didn't make it in Hollywood.

0:00:44.417,0:00:46.601
But I was an American.

0:00:46.625,0:00:51.059
I had been taught to believe[br]that anyone could achieve anything,

0:00:51.083,0:00:54.518
regardless of the color of their skin,

0:00:54.542,0:00:57.309
the fact that my parents[br]immigrated from Honduras,

0:00:57.333,0:00:59.500
the fact that I had no money.

0:01:00.583,0:01:03.768
I didn't need my dream to be easy,

0:01:03.792,0:01:06.167
I just needed it to be possible.

0:01:07.833,0:01:09.333
And when I was 15,

0:01:11.125,0:01:14.226
I got my first professional audition.

0:01:14.250,0:01:17.768
It was a commercial[br]for cable subscriptions

0:01:17.792,0:01:19.934
or bail bonds, I don't really remember.

0:01:19.958,0:01:21.101
(Laughter)

0:01:21.125,0:01:24.750
What I do remember[br]is that the casting director asked me,

0:01:26.000,0:01:31.458
"Could you do that again,[br]but just this time, sound more Latina."

0:01:32.917,0:01:35.226
"Um, OK.

0:01:35.250,0:01:37.934
So you want me[br]to do it in Spanish?" I asked.

0:01:37.958,0:01:42.583
"No, no, do it in English,[br]just sound Latina."

0:01:44.917,0:01:50.375
"Well, I am a Latina,[br]so isn't this what a Latina sounds like?"

0:01:51.333,0:01:53.934
There was a long and awkward silence,

0:01:53.958,0:01:55.476
and then finally,

0:01:55.500,0:01:59.101
"OK, sweetie, never mind,[br]thank you for coming in, bye!"

0:01:59.125,0:02:03.726
It took me most of the car ride home[br]to realize that by "sound more Latina"

0:02:03.750,0:02:07.059
she was asking me[br]to speak in broken English.

0:02:07.083,0:02:09.101
And I couldn't figure out why the fact

0:02:09.125,0:02:14.476
that I was an actual,[br]real-life, authentic Latina

0:02:14.500,0:02:16.309
didn't really seem to matter.

0:02:16.333,0:02:18.184
Anyway, I didn't get the job.

0:02:18.208,0:02:22.018
I didn't get a lot of the jobs[br]people were willing to see me for:

0:02:22.042,0:02:24.476
the gang-banger's girlfriend,

0:02:24.500,0:02:27.268
the sassy shoplifter,

0:02:27.292,0:02:29.601
pregnant chola number two.

0:02:29.625,0:02:31.143
(Laughter)

0:02:31.167,0:02:35.476
These were the kinds of roles[br]that existed for someone like me.

0:02:35.500,0:02:39.809
Someone they looked at[br]and saw as too brown, too fat,

0:02:39.833,0:02:43.559
too poor, too unsophisticated.

0:02:43.583,0:02:45.559
These roles were stereotypes

0:02:45.583,0:02:49.226
and couldn't have been further[br]from my own reality

0:02:49.250,0:02:51.851
or from the roles I dreamt of playing.

0:02:51.875,0:02:55.809
I wanted to play people[br]who were complex and multidimensional,

0:02:55.833,0:02:59.768
people who existed in the center[br]of their own lives.

0:02:59.792,0:03:04.518
Not cardboard cutouts that stood[br]in the background of someone else's.

0:03:04.542,0:03:07.434
But when I dared to say that[br]to my manager --

0:03:07.458,0:03:11.143
that's the person I pay[br]to help me find opportunity --

0:03:11.167,0:03:14.184
his response was,

0:03:14.208,0:03:19.625
"Someone has to tell that girl[br]she has unrealistic expectations."

0:03:21.625,0:03:23.684
And he wasn't wrong.

0:03:23.708,0:03:26.143
I mean, I fired him, but he wasn't wrong.

0:03:26.167,0:03:28.309
(Laughter)

0:03:28.333,0:03:32.934
(Applause)

0:03:32.958,0:03:38.143
Because whenever I did try to get a role[br]that wasn't a poorly written stereotype,

0:03:38.167,0:03:39.434
I would hear,

0:03:39.458,0:03:42.559
"We're not looking[br]to cast this role diversely."

0:03:42.583,0:03:47.101
Or, "We love her,[br]but she's too specifically ethnic."

0:03:47.125,0:03:52.000
Or, "Unfortunately, we already have[br]one Latino in this movie."

0:03:53.125,0:03:58.250
I kept receiving the same message[br]again and again and again.

0:03:59.167,0:04:04.750
That my identity was an obstacle[br]I had to overcome.

0:04:06.167,0:04:08.684
And so I thought,

0:04:08.708,0:04:10.518
"Come at me, obstacle.

0:04:10.542,0:04:14.893
I'm an American. My name is America.

0:04:14.917,0:04:19.142
I trained my whole life for this,[br]I'll just follow the playbook,

0:04:19.166,0:04:20.892
I'll work harder."

0:04:20.916,0:04:23.559
And so I did, I worked my hardest

0:04:23.583,0:04:27.351
to overcome all the things[br]that people said were wrong with me.

0:04:27.375,0:04:30.684
I stayed out of the sun[br]so that my skin wouldn't get too brown,

0:04:30.708,0:04:34.684
I straightened my curls into submission.

0:04:34.708,0:04:36.559
I constantly tried to lose weight,

0:04:36.583,0:04:39.309
I bought fancier[br]and more expensive clothes.

0:04:39.333,0:04:41.226
All so that when people looked at me,

0:04:41.250,0:04:46.458
they wouldn't see a too fat,[br]too brown, too poor Latina.

0:04:47.708,0:04:50.393
They would see what I was capable of.

0:04:50.417,0:04:53.042
And maybe they would give me a chance.

0:04:55.792,0:04:59.684
And in an ironic twist of fate,

0:04:59.708,0:05:04.458
when I finally did get a role[br]that would make all my dreams come true,

0:05:06.000,0:05:10.208
it was a role that required me[br]to be exactly who I was.

0:05:11.167,0:05:14.559
Ana in "Real Women Have Curves"

0:05:14.583,0:05:18.417
was a brown, poor, fat Latina.

0:05:20.125,0:05:24.518
I had never seen anyone[br]like her, anyone like me,

0:05:24.542,0:05:28.934
existing in the center[br]of her own life story.

0:05:28.958,0:05:30.851
I traveled throughout the US

0:05:30.875,0:05:33.101
and to multiple countries with this film

0:05:33.125,0:05:38.559
where people, regardless of their age,[br]ethnicity, body type,

0:05:38.583,0:05:41.143
saw themselves in Ana.

0:05:41.167,0:05:44.976
A 17-year-old chubby Mexican American girl

0:05:45.000,0:05:49.750
struggling against cultural norms[br]to fulfill her unlikely dream.

0:05:50.750,0:05:54.268
In spite of what[br]I had been told my whole life,

0:05:54.292,0:06:00.559
I saw firsthand that people actually did[br]want to see stories about people like me.

0:06:00.583,0:06:03.809
And that my unrealistic expectations

0:06:03.833,0:06:07.893
to see myself authentically[br]represented in the culture

0:06:07.917,0:06:10.125
were other people’s expectations, too.

0:06:11.250,0:06:12.726
"Real Women Have Curves"

0:06:12.750,0:06:17.559
was a critical, cultural[br]and financial success.

0:06:17.583,0:06:20.792
"Great," I thought, "We did it!

0:06:21.750,0:06:24.518
We proved our stories have value.

0:06:24.542,0:06:27.375
Things are going to change now."

0:06:30.042,0:06:32.976
But I watched as very little happened.

0:06:33.000,0:06:35.101
There was no watershed.

0:06:35.125,0:06:38.726
No one in the industry[br]was rushing to tell more stories

0:06:38.750,0:06:44.625
about the audience that was hungry[br]and willing to pay to see them.

0:06:46.792,0:06:50.750
Four years later,[br]when I got to play Ugly Betty,

0:06:51.750,0:06:54.851
I saw the same phenomenon play out.

0:06:54.875,0:06:58.976
"Ugly Betty" premiered in the US[br]to 16 million viewers

0:06:59.000,0:07:03.208
and was nominated[br]for 11 Emmys in its first year.

0:07:04.792,0:07:09.226
(Applause)

0:07:09.250,0:07:13.601
But in spite of "Ugly Betty's" success,

0:07:13.625,0:07:17.059
there would not be another television show

0:07:17.083,0:07:19.434
led by a Latina actress

0:07:19.458,0:07:22.083
on American television for eight years.

0:07:24.667,0:07:26.601
It's been 12 years

0:07:26.625,0:07:30.226
since I became the first and only Latina

0:07:30.250,0:07:33.208
to ever win an Emmy in a lead category.

0:07:34.333,0:07:36.684
That is not a point of pride.

0:07:36.708,0:07:39.226
That is a point of deep frustration.

0:07:39.250,0:07:42.018
Not because awards prove our worth,

0:07:42.042,0:07:45.851
but because who we see[br]thriving in the world

0:07:45.875,0:07:48.601
teaches us how to see ourselves,

0:07:48.625,0:07:51.226
how to think about our own value,

0:07:51.250,0:07:53.934
how to dream about our futures.

0:07:53.958,0:07:55.893
And anytime I begin to doubt that,

0:07:55.917,0:08:01.018
I remember that there was a little girl,[br]living in the Swat Valley of Pakistan.

0:08:01.042,0:08:03.934
And somehow, she got[br]her hands on some DVDs

0:08:03.958,0:08:05.934
of an American television show

0:08:05.958,0:08:09.708
in which she saw her own dream[br]of becoming a writer reflected.

0:08:11.250,0:08:14.768
In her autobiography, Malala wrote,

0:08:14.792,0:08:16.643
"I had become interested in journalism

0:08:16.667,0:08:20.018
after seeing how my own words[br]could make a difference

0:08:20.042,0:08:24.018
and also from watching[br]the "Ugly Betty" DVDs

0:08:24.042,0:08:27.059
about life at an American magazine."

0:08:27.083,0:08:34.143
(Applause)

0:08:34.167,0:08:37.893
For 17 years of my career,

0:08:37.917,0:08:43.183
I have witnessed the power our voices have

0:08:43.207,0:08:46.250
when they can access[br]presence in the culture.

0:08:47.292,0:08:48.934
I've seen it.

0:08:48.958,0:08:51.684
I've lived it, we've all seen it.

0:08:51.708,0:08:54.893
In entertainment, in politics,

0:08:54.917,0:08:58.726
in business, in social change.

0:08:58.750,0:09:03.375
We cannot deny it --[br]presence creates possibility.

0:09:04.917,0:09:06.934
But for the last 17 years,

0:09:06.958,0:09:09.726
I've also heard the same excuses

0:09:09.750,0:09:13.643
for why some of us can access[br]presence in the culture

0:09:13.667,0:09:15.208
and some of us can't.

0:09:17.042,0:09:18.768
Our stories don't have an audience,

0:09:18.792,0:09:22.184
our experiences won't resonate[br]in the mainstream,

0:09:22.208,0:09:25.958
our voices are too big a financial risk.

0:09:27.625,0:09:30.226
Just a few years ago, my agent called

0:09:30.250,0:09:33.226
to explain to me why[br]I wasn't getting a role in a movie.

0:09:33.250,0:09:35.226
He said, "They loved you

0:09:35.250,0:09:38.893
and they really, really do want[br]to cast diversely,

0:09:38.917,0:09:44.417
but the movie isn't financeable[br]until they cast the white role first."

0:09:46.708,0:09:49.393
He delivered the message[br]with a broken heart

0:09:49.417,0:09:53.250
and with a tone that communicated,[br]"I understand how messed up this is."

0:09:54.667,0:10:00.601
But nonetheless, just like[br]hundreds of times before,

0:10:00.625,0:10:02.875
I felt the tears roll down my face.

0:10:03.875,0:10:07.934
And the pang of rejection rise up in me

0:10:07.958,0:10:10.268
and then the voice of shame scolding me,

0:10:10.292,0:10:13.833
"You are a grown woman,[br]stop crying over a job."

0:10:15.208,0:10:19.268
I went through this process for years[br]of accepting the failure as my own

0:10:19.292,0:10:23.333
and then feeling deep shame[br]that I couldn't overcome the obstacles.

0:10:24.750,0:10:26.458
But this time, I heard a new voice.

0:10:27.750,0:10:30.792
A voice that said, "I'm tired.

0:10:31.917,0:10:33.559
I've had enough."

0:10:33.583,0:10:35.184
A voice that understood

0:10:35.208,0:10:39.500
my tears and my pain[br]were not about losing a job.

0:10:40.417,0:10:44.101
They were about what[br]was actually being said about me.

0:10:44.125,0:10:48.018
What had been said about me my whole life

0:10:48.042,0:10:51.018
by executives and producers

0:10:51.042,0:10:54.059
and directors and writers[br]and agents and managers

0:10:54.083,0:10:57.018
and teachers and friends and family.

0:10:57.042,0:10:59.667
That I was a person of less value.

0:11:00.750,0:11:04.351
I thought sunscreen[br]and straightening irons

0:11:04.375,0:11:08.458
would bring about change[br]in this deeply entrenched value system.

0:11:10.500,0:11:13.434
But what I realized in that moment

0:11:13.458,0:11:19.226
was that I was never actually asking[br]the system to change.

0:11:19.250,0:11:24.833
I was asking it to let me in,[br]and those aren't the same thing.

0:11:26.375,0:11:29.393
I couldn't change[br]what a system believed about me,

0:11:29.417,0:11:32.417
while I believed what[br]the system believed about me.

0:11:33.458,0:11:34.934
And I did.

0:11:34.958,0:11:36.851
I, like everyone around me,

0:11:36.875,0:11:42.625
believed that it wasn't possible[br]for me to exist in my dream as I was.

0:11:43.625,0:11:47.250
And I went about[br]trying to make myself invisible.

0:11:50.250,0:11:54.684
What this revealed to me[br]was that it is possible

0:11:54.708,0:11:59.726
to be the person[br]who genuinely wants to see change

0:11:59.750,0:12:05.667
while also being the person whose actions[br]keep things the way they are.

0:12:08.500,0:12:12.059
And what it's led me to believe[br]is that change isn't going to come

0:12:12.083,0:12:15.018
by identifying the good guys[br]and the bad guys.

0:12:15.042,0:12:17.851
That conversation[br]lets us all off the hook.

0:12:17.875,0:12:20.375
Because most of us[br]are neither one of those.

0:12:21.500,0:12:23.101
Change will come

0:12:23.125,0:12:25.059
when each of us has the courage

0:12:25.083,0:12:29.309
to question our own fundamental[br]values and beliefs.

0:12:29.333,0:12:34.542
And then see to it that our actions[br]lead to our best intentions.

0:12:36.542,0:12:39.601
I am just one of millions of people

0:12:39.625,0:12:43.476
who have been told[br]that in order to fulfill my dreams,

0:12:43.500,0:12:45.684
in order to contribute[br]my talents to the world

0:12:45.708,0:12:48.833
I have to resist the truth of who I am.

0:12:50.042,0:12:53.851
I for one, am ready to stop resisting

0:12:53.875,0:12:58.625
and to start existing[br]as my full and authentic self.

0:13:00.417,0:13:03.059
If I could go back and say anything

0:13:03.083,0:13:07.559
to that nine-year-old,[br]dancing in the den, dreaming her dreams,

0:13:07.583,0:13:09.101
I would say,

0:13:09.125,0:13:11.250
my identity is not my obstacle.

0:13:12.292,0:13:14.250
My identity is my superpower.

0:13:15.250,0:13:17.601
Because the truth is,

0:13:17.625,0:13:19.708
I am what the world looks like.

0:13:20.667,0:13:23.643
You are what the world looks like.

0:13:23.667,0:13:28.768
Collectively, we are[br]what the world actually looks like.

0:13:28.792,0:13:31.893
And in order for our systems[br]to reflect that,

0:13:31.917,0:13:34.875
they don't have to create a new reality.

0:13:35.833,0:13:39.375
They just have to stop[br]resisting the one we already live in.

0:13:40.667,0:13:41.934
Thank you.

0:13:41.958,0:13:46.458
(Applause)