WEBVTT

00:00:00.667 --> 00:00:04.726
You can ask anyone you want

00:00:04.750 --> 00:00:06.434
and they will tell you

00:00:06.458 --> 00:00:11.042
that they are sick and tired
of fighting for justice.

00:00:12.417 --> 00:00:18.518
People of color and members
of the LGBT community are tired

00:00:18.542 --> 00:00:21.518
of carrying the burden of speaking up

00:00:21.542 --> 00:00:23.226
and stepping up

00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:25.476
even when they're being silenced

00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:27.643
and pushed back down.

00:00:27.667 --> 00:00:29.476
And white allies

00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:32.042
and cis allies are tired too.

00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:36.309
Tired of being told they're doing it wrong

00:00:36.333 --> 00:00:39.750
or that it isn't even their place
to show up at all.

00:00:40.542 --> 00:00:44.893
This fatigue is impacting all of us.

00:00:44.917 --> 00:00:46.476
And in fact,

00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:49.268
I believe we won't succeed

00:00:49.292 --> 00:00:52.792
until we approach justice in a new way.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:53.750 --> 00:00:58.351
I grew up in the middle
of the civil rights movement

00:00:58.375 --> 00:01:00.333
in the segregated South.

00:01:01.375 --> 00:01:03.143
As a five-year-old girl,

00:01:03.167 --> 00:01:06.351
I was very interested in ballet.

00:01:06.375 --> 00:01:11.000
It seemed to be the five-year-old-girl
thing to do in the 1960s.

00:01:11.833 --> 00:01:15.000
My mother took me to a ballet school.

00:01:15.583 --> 00:01:17.809
You know, the kind of school
that had teachers

00:01:17.833 --> 00:01:19.768
that talked about your gifts and talents

00:01:19.792 --> 00:01:22.018
knowing that you'd never be a ballerina.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:22.042 --> 00:01:24.184
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:24.208 --> 00:01:25.559
When we arrived,

00:01:25.583 --> 00:01:30.417
they said nicely that they
"did not accept Negroes."

00:01:31.458 --> 00:01:35.226
We got back in the car as if we were
just leaving a grocery store

00:01:35.250 --> 00:01:37.292
that was out of orange juice.

00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.851
We said nothing ...

00:01:40.875 --> 00:01:43.417
just drove to the next ballet school.

00:01:44.333 --> 00:01:48.917
They said, "We don't accept Negroes."

00:01:49.625 --> 00:01:52.018
Well, I was confused.

00:01:52.042 --> 00:01:55.458
And I asked my mother
why they didn't want me.

00:01:56.208 --> 00:02:00.768
And she said, "Well, they're just
not smart enough to accept you right now

00:02:00.792 --> 00:02:02.851
and they don't know
how excellent you are."

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:02.875 --> 00:02:04.143
(Cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:04.167 --> 00:02:07.750
(Applause and cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:09.083 --> 00:02:12.726
Well, I didn't know what that meant.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:14.476
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:17.268
But I was sure it wasn't good

00:02:17.292 --> 00:02:20.226
because I could see it
in my mother's eyes.

00:02:20.250 --> 00:02:23.518
She was angry

00:02:23.542 --> 00:02:26.167
and it looked like she was
on the verge of tears.

00:02:27.125 --> 00:02:30.851
Well, I decided right then and right there

00:02:30.875 --> 00:02:33.167
that ballet was dumb.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:33.542 --> 00:02:34.917
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:35.917 --> 00:02:39.018
You know, I had lots of experiences
like that along the way,

00:02:39.042 --> 00:02:41.059
but as I got older,

00:02:41.083 --> 00:02:43.601
I started to get angry.

00:02:43.625 --> 00:02:48.101
And not just angry
at the outright racism and injustice.

00:02:48.125 --> 00:02:52.042
I was angry at people
that stood by and didn't say anything.

00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:57.893
Like, why didn't the white parents
in that ballet school say

00:02:57.917 --> 00:02:59.934
"Uh, that's wrong.

00:02:59.958 --> 00:03:01.625
Let that little girl dance."

00:03:02.708 --> 00:03:03.976
Or why --

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.309
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:05.333 --> 00:03:08.643
Why didn't the white patrons
in the segregated restaurants say

00:03:08.667 --> 00:03:10.393
"Hey, that's not right.

00:03:10.417 --> 00:03:12.167
Let that family eat."

00:03:12.958 --> 00:03:15.184
Well, it didn't take me long to realize

00:03:15.208 --> 00:03:18.726
that racial injustice
wasn't the only place

00:03:18.750 --> 00:03:22.351
that people in the majority
were staying quiet.

00:03:22.375 --> 00:03:25.518
When I'd sit in church and hear
some homophobic comment

00:03:25.542 --> 00:03:27.601
being disguised as something scriptural,

00:03:27.625 --> 00:03:30.518
I'd say, "I'm sorry,

00:03:30.542 --> 00:03:35.351
why aren't the heterosexual
churchgoers disrupting this nonsense?"

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:35.375 --> 00:03:38.018
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:38.042 --> 00:03:39.292
Or ...

00:03:40.292 --> 00:03:44.309
in a room filled with boomers and Gen-Xers

00:03:44.333 --> 00:03:47.018
who started degrading
their millennial colleagues

00:03:47.042 --> 00:03:49.934
as being spoiled, lazy and overconfident,

00:03:49.958 --> 00:03:52.934
I'd say, "I'm sorry,

00:03:52.958 --> 00:03:57.208
why isn't someone my age
saying 'stop stereotyping?'"

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:57.667 --> 00:03:58.934
(Audience) Yes!

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:58.958 --> 00:04:02.143
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:02.167 --> 00:04:05.893
I was used to standing up
on issues like this,

00:04:05.917 --> 00:04:08.542
but why wasn't everyone else?

00:04:09.625 --> 00:04:11.518
My fifth grade teacher,

00:04:11.542 --> 00:04:13.393
Mrs. McFarland,

00:04:13.417 --> 00:04:18.542
taught me that justice
requires an accomplice.

00:04:19.250 --> 00:04:22.309
Not just anyone will do.

00:04:22.333 --> 00:04:26.476
She said we need unlikely allies

00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:29.559
if we want to see real change happen.

00:04:29.583 --> 00:04:34.934
And for those of us
experiencing injustice up front,

00:04:34.958 --> 00:04:38.184
we need to be willing to accept the help,

00:04:38.208 --> 00:04:40.934
because when we don't,

00:04:40.958 --> 00:04:43.083
change takes too long.

00:04:44.083 --> 00:04:47.768
I mean, imagine if heterosexual
and gay people had not come together

00:04:47.792 --> 00:04:50.851
under the banner of marriage equality.

00:04:50.875 --> 00:04:53.226
Or what if President Kennedy

00:04:53.250 --> 00:04:56.083
just wasn't interested
in the civil rights movement?

00:04:57.125 --> 00:05:02.809
Most of our major movements
in this country might have been delayed

00:05:02.833 --> 00:05:04.726
or even dead

00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:09.042
if it weren't for the presence
of unlikely allies.

00:05:10.083 --> 00:05:12.351
When the same people speak up

00:05:12.375 --> 00:05:15.601
in the same ways they've always spoken up,

00:05:15.625 --> 00:05:18.434
the most we'll ever get
are the same results

00:05:18.458 --> 00:05:21.042
over and over again.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:21.833 --> 00:05:24.601
You know, allies often
stand on the sidelines

00:05:24.625 --> 00:05:27.101
waiting to be called up.

00:05:27.125 --> 00:05:32.018
But what if unlikely allies
led out in front of issues?

00:05:32.042 --> 00:05:33.393
Like ...

00:05:33.417 --> 00:05:37.417
what if Black and Native American people
stood in front of immigration issues?

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.917
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:42.208 --> 00:05:46.643
Or what if white people led the charge

00:05:46.667 --> 00:05:48.684
to end racism?

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:48.708 --> 00:05:52.708
(Applause and cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:53.625 --> 00:05:54.976
Or ...

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.476
what if men led the charge
on pay equity for women?

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:03.476
(Applause and cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:04.934
Or ...

00:06:04.958 --> 00:06:10.726
what if heterosexual people
stood in front of LGBTQ issues?

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:10.750 --> 00:06:14.851
(Applause and cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:14.875 --> 00:06:18.643
And what if able-bodied people advocated

00:06:18.667 --> 00:06:21.226
for people living with disabilities?

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:21.250 --> 00:06:25.101
(Applause and cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:25.125 --> 00:06:27.768
You know, we can stand up for issues,

00:06:27.792 --> 00:06:30.101
weigh in and advocate

00:06:30.125 --> 00:06:34.375
even when it seems like the issue
has nothing to do with us.

00:06:35.125 --> 00:06:36.434
And actually,

00:06:36.458 --> 00:06:39.684
those are the issues
that are most compelling.

00:06:39.708 --> 00:06:41.208
And sure,

00:06:41.917 --> 00:06:46.018
people will have no idea
why you are there,

00:06:46.042 --> 00:06:49.351
but that's why those of us
facing injustice

00:06:49.375 --> 00:06:52.268
must be willing to accept the help.

00:06:52.292 --> 00:06:55.226
You know, we have to fight injustice

00:06:55.250 --> 00:06:57.542
with a consciousness of grace.

00:06:58.667 --> 00:07:01.226
When white guys stand up to fight

00:07:01.250 --> 00:07:04.518
for the liberation
of Black and Brown people,

00:07:04.542 --> 00:07:08.542
Black and Brown people will have to
be willing to accept their help.

00:07:09.708 --> 00:07:12.226
And I know that's complicated,

00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:15.684
but this is collective work

00:07:15.708 --> 00:07:20.958
and it requires everyone to be all in.

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:22.208 --> 00:07:24.809
One day when I was at kindergarten,

00:07:24.833 --> 00:07:26.309
our teacher introduced us

00:07:26.333 --> 00:07:29.875
to this beautiful, tall,
white lady named Miss Ann.

00:07:30.833 --> 00:07:33.833
I thought she was the prettiest
white lady I'd ever seen.

00:07:34.667 --> 00:07:36.309
Well, if I can be honest with you,

00:07:36.333 --> 00:07:39.976
I think it was the first time we'd ever
seen a white lady in our school ever.

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.268
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:41.292 --> 00:07:42.851
Miss Ann stood in front of us

00:07:42.875 --> 00:07:47.143
and she said she was going
to start teaching ballet classes

00:07:47.167 --> 00:07:49.042
right there are our school,

00:07:50.042 --> 00:07:53.875
and that she was proud
to be our dance teacher.

00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:57.375
It was unreal.

00:07:58.375 --> 00:08:00.226
All of a sudden --

00:08:00.250 --> 00:08:03.309
(sings) I didn't think
ballet was dumb anymore.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:03.333 --> 00:08:05.083
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:05.875 --> 00:08:10.934
You see, what I know now
is Miss Ann was fully aware

00:08:10.958 --> 00:08:15.768
that the white ballet schools
would not accept Black girls.

00:08:15.792 --> 00:08:18.268
She was incensed by that.

00:08:18.292 --> 00:08:20.809
So she came to the Black neighborhood

00:08:20.833 --> 00:08:24.000
to start teaching
the dance classes herself.

00:08:24.958 --> 00:08:28.059
And you know, it took love
and courage for her to do that.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:28.083 --> 00:08:31.083
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:34.667 --> 00:08:38.143
And where there was no justice,

00:08:38.167 --> 00:08:39.792
she just built it.

00:08:41.167 --> 00:08:44.143
We all survived

00:08:44.167 --> 00:08:48.000
because we stood on the shoulders
of our Black ancestors.

00:08:48.792 --> 00:08:54.625
We all thrived because
Miss Ann was an unlikely ally.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:55.667 --> 00:08:58.768
You know, when you add your voice

00:08:58.792 --> 00:09:00.934
and your actions

00:09:00.958 --> 00:09:04.726
to situations that you
don't think involve you,

00:09:04.750 --> 00:09:07.625
you actually inspire others
to do the same.

00:09:08.625 --> 00:09:12.726
Miss Ann inspired me
to always be on the lookout

00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:16.559
for situations that weren't about me

00:09:16.583 --> 00:09:18.559
but where I saw injustice

00:09:18.583 --> 00:09:21.333
and inequality happening anyway.

00:09:22.375 --> 00:09:24.976
I hope she inspires you too,

00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:30.268
because to win the fight for equity

00:09:30.292 --> 00:09:34.101
we will all need to speak up

00:09:34.125 --> 00:09:35.625
and stand up.

00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:38.934
We will all need to do that.

00:09:38.958 --> 00:09:40.976
And we will all need to do that

00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:42.851
even when it's hard

00:09:42.875 --> 00:09:46.018
and even when we feel out of place,

00:09:46.042 --> 00:09:50.018
because it is your place,

00:09:50.042 --> 00:09:52.375
and it is our place.

00:09:53.125 --> 00:09:57.226
Justice counts on all of us.

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:57.250 --> 00:09:58.559
Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:58.583 --> 00:10:01.417
(Applause and cheers)