0:00:01.020,0:00:05.003
You can ask anyone you want

0:00:05.003,0:00:06.636
and they will tell you

0:00:06.636,0:00:11.153
that they are sick and tired[br]of fighting for justice.

0:00:12.622,0:00:18.692
People of color and members[br]of the LGBT community are tired

0:00:18.692,0:00:21.821
of carrying the burden of speaking up

0:00:21.821,0:00:23.537
and stepping up

0:00:23.537,0:00:25.704
even when they're being silenced

0:00:25.704,0:00:27.388
and pushed back down.

0:00:28.022,0:00:29.788
And white allies

0:00:29.788,0:00:31.972
and cis allies are tired too.

0:00:33.215,0:00:36.601
Tired of being told they're doing it wrong

0:00:36.601,0:00:39.599
or that it isn't even their place[br]to show up at all.

0:00:40.867,0:00:44.299
This fatigue is impacting all of us.

0:00:45.149,0:00:46.701
And in fact,

0:00:46.701,0:00:49.515
I believe we won't succeed

0:00:49.515,0:00:52.683
until we approach justice in a new way.

0:00:54.016,0:00:58.700
I grew up in the middle[br]of the Civil Rights Movement

0:00:58.700,0:01:00.368
in the segregated South.

0:01:01.600,0:01:03.450
As a five-year-old girl,

0:01:03.450,0:01:06.368
I was very interested in ballet.

0:01:06.584,0:01:10.727
It seemed to be the five-year-old-girl[br]thing to do in the 1960s.

0:01:12.136,0:01:14.802
My mother took me to a ballet school.

0:01:15.735,0:01:17.619
You know, the kind of school[br]that had teachers

0:01:17.619,0:01:19.869
who talked about your gifts and talents

0:01:19.869,0:01:22.102
knowing that you'd never be a ballerina.

0:01:22.286,0:01:23.753
(Laughter)

0:01:24.469,0:01:25.853
When we arrived,

0:01:25.853,0:01:30.252
they said nicely that they[br]"did not accept negroes."

0:01:31.634,0:01:35.351
We got back in the car as if we were[br]just leaving a grocery store

0:01:35.351,0:01:37.041
that was out of orange juice.

0:01:38.309,0:01:40.326
We said nothing.

0:01:41.175,0:01:43.409
Just drive to the next ballet school.

0:01:44.577,0:01:49.247
They said, "We don't accept negroes."

0:01:49.824,0:01:51.659
Well, I was confused.

0:01:52.291,0:01:55.291
And I asked my mother[br]why they didn't want me.

0:01:56.507,0:02:00.925
And she said, "Well, they're just not[br]smart enough to accept you right now

0:02:00.925,0:02:03.008
and they don't know[br]how excellent you are."

0:02:03.959,0:02:06.658
(Applause and cheers)

0:02:09.491,0:02:12.875
Well, I didn't know what that meant.

0:02:13.691,0:02:14.825
(Laughter)

0:02:15.217,0:02:17.605
But I was sure it wasn't good

0:02:17.605,0:02:20.121
because I could see it[br]in my mother's eyes.

0:02:20.537,0:02:23.687
She was angry

0:02:23.687,0:02:26.054
and it looked like she was[br]on the verge of tears.

0:02:27.237,0:02:31.155
Well I decided right then and right there

0:02:31.155,0:02:33.272
that ballet was dumb.

0:02:34.171,0:02:35.688
(Laughter)

0:02:36.238,0:02:39.256
You know, I had lots of experiences[br]like that along the way,

0:02:39.256,0:02:41.388
but as I got older,

0:02:41.388,0:02:43.139
I started to get angry.

0:02:43.891,0:02:47.559
And not just angry at the outright[br]racism and injustice.

0:02:47.890,0:02:52.208
I was angry at people that stood by[br]and didn't say anything.

0:02:53.257,0:02:58.141
Like, why didn't the white parents[br]in that ballet school say,

0:02:58.141,0:03:00.242
"Uh, that's wrong.

0:03:00.508,0:03:02.124
Let that little girl dance."

0:03:03.192,0:03:04.275
Or --

0:03:04.275,0:03:06.008
(Applause)

0:03:06.008,0:03:08.991
Why didn't the white patrons[br]in the segregated restaurants say,

0:03:08.991,0:03:10.776
"Hey, that's not right.

0:03:10.776,0:03:12.325
Let that family eat."

0:03:13.226,0:03:15.542
Well, it didn't take me long to realize

0:03:15.542,0:03:18.826
that racial injustice[br]wasn't the only place

0:03:18.826,0:03:21.543
that people in the majority[br]were staying quiet.

0:03:22.593,0:03:25.744
When I'd sit in church and hear[br]some homophobic comment

0:03:25.744,0:03:27.960
being disguised as something scriptural,

0:03:27.960,0:03:30.711
I'd say, "I'm sorry,

0:03:30.711,0:03:35.511
why aren't the heterosexual[br]church-goers disrupting this nonsense?"

0:03:36.077,0:03:38.543
(Applause)

0:03:38.543,0:03:40.628
Or,

0:03:40.628,0:03:44.482
in a room filled with boomers and Gen-Xers

0:03:44.482,0:03:48.947
who started degrading their millennial[br]colleagues as being spoiled, lazy

0:03:48.947,0:03:50.180
and overconfident,

0:03:50.180,0:03:51.280
I'd say,

0:03:51.280,0:03:53.131
"I'm sorry,

0:03:53.131,0:03:57.309
why isn't someone my age[br]saying 'stop stereotyping?'"

0:03:57.873,0:03:58.973
(Audience) Yes!

0:03:58.973,0:04:01.172
(Applause)

0:04:02.371,0:04:06.189
I was used to standing up[br]on issues like this,

0:04:06.189,0:04:08.552
but why wasn't everyone else?

0:04:09.904,0:04:11.760
My fifth grade teacher,

0:04:11.760,0:04:13.707
Mrs. McFarland,

0:04:13.707,0:04:18.508
taught me that justice[br]requires an accomplice.

0:04:19.492,0:04:21.840
Not just anyone will do.

0:04:22.625,0:04:26.707
She said we need unlikely allies

0:04:26.707,0:04:29.308
if we want to see real change happen.

0:04:29.875,0:04:34.834
And for those of us experiencing[br]injustice up-front,

0:04:34.834,0:04:38.491
we need to be willing to accept the help,

0:04:38.491,0:04:41.316
because when we don't,

0:04:41.316,0:04:43.367
change takes too long.

0:04:44.299,0:04:47.899
I mean, imagine if heterosexual[br]and gay people had not come together

0:04:47.899,0:04:50.490
under the banner of marriage equality.

0:04:51.183,0:04:54.118
Or what if President Kennedy

0:04:54.118,0:04:56.651
just wasn't interested[br]in the Civil Rights Movement?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Most of our major movements[br]in this country might have been delayed

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or even dead

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if it weren't for the presence[br]of unlikely allies.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When the same people speak up

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the same ways they've always spoken up,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the most we'll ever get[br]are the same results

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
over and over again.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You know, allies often[br]stand on the sidelines

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
waiting to be called up.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But what if unlikely allies led out[br]in front of issues?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Like ...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what if Black and Native American people[br]stood in front of immigration issues?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Or what if white people led the charge

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to end racism?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause and cheers)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Or ...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what if men led the charge[br]on pay equity for women?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause and cheers)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Or ...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what if heterosexual people[br]stood in front of LGBTQ issues?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause and cheers)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And what if able-bodied people avocated[br]for people living with disabilities?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause and cheers)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You know, we can stand up for issues,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
weigh-in and advocate

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
even when it seems like the issue[br]has nothing to do with us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And actually,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
those are the issues[br]that are most compelling.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And sure,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
people will have no idea[br]why you are there,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but that's why those of us[br]facing injustice

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
must be willing to accept the help.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You know, we have to fight injustice

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with a consciousness of grace.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When white guys stand up

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for the liberation[br]of Black and Brown people,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Black and Brown people will have to be[br]willing to accept their help.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I know that's complicated,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but this is collective work

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it requires everyone to be all-in.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
One day when I was at kindergarten,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
our teacher introduced us

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to this beautiful, tall,[br]white lady named Ms. Anne.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I thought she was the prettiest[br]white lady I'd ever seen.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well, if I can be honest with you,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think it was the first time we'd ever[br]seen a white lady in our school ever.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Ms. Ann stood in front of us

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and she said she was going[br]to start teaching ballet classes

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
right there are our school.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that she was proud[br]to be our dance teacher.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was unreal.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
All of a sudden --

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(singing) I didn't think ballet[br]was dumb anymore.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You see, what I know now[br]is Ms. Ann was fully aware

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that the white ballet schools[br]would not accept black girls.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
She was incensed by that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So she came to the black neighborhood

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to start teaching[br]the dance classes herself.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And you know, it took love[br]and courage for her to do that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And where there was no justice,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
she just built it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We all survived because we stood[br]on the shoulders of our Black ancestors.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We all thrived because Ms. Ann[br]was an unlikely ally.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You know, when you add your voice

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and your actions

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to situations that you[br]don't think involve you,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you actually inspire[br]others to do the same.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Ms. Ann inspired me to always[br]be on the lookout

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for situations that weren't about me,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but where I saw injustice

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and inequality happening anyway.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I hope she inspires you too,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because to win the fight for equity,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we will all need to speak up

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and stand up.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We will all need to do that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And we will all need to do that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
even when it's hard

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and even when we feel out-of-place,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because it is your place,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it is our place.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Justice counts on all of us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Thank you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause and cheers)