Want a more just world? Be an unlikely ally

You can ask anyone you want

and they will tell you

that they are sick and tired
of fighting for justice.

People of color and members
of the LGBT community are tired

of carrying the burden of speaking up

and stepping up

even when they're being silenced

and pushed back down.

And white allies

and cis allies are tired too.

Tired of being told they're doing it wrong

or that it isn't even their place
to show up at all.

This fatigue is impacting all of us.

And in fact,

I believe we won't succeed

until we approach justice in a new way.

I grew up in the middle
of the Civil Rights Movement

in the segregated South.

As a five-year-old girl,

I was very interested in ballet.

It seemed to be the five-year-old-girl
thing to do in the 1960s.

My mother took me to a ballet school.

You know, the kind of school
that had teachers

who talked about your gifts and talents

knowing that you'd never be a ballerina.

(Laughter)

When we arrived,

they said nicely that they
"did not accept negroes."

We got back in the car as if we were
just leaving a grocery store

that was out of orange juice.

We said nothing.

Just drive to the next ballet school.

They said, "We don't accept negroes."

Well, I was confused.

And I asked my mother
why they didn't want me.

And she said, "Well, they're just not
smart enough to accept you right now

and they don't know
how excellent you are."

(Applause and cheers)

Well, I didn't know what that meant.

(Laughter)

But I was sure it wasn't good

because I could see it
in my mother's eyes.

She was angry

and it looked like she was
on the verge of tears.

Well I decided right then and right there

that ballet was dumb.

(Laughter)

You know, I had lots of experiences
like that along the way,

but as I got older,

I started to get angry.

And not just angry at the outright
racism and injustice.

I was angry at people that stood by
and didn't say anything.

Like, why didn't the white parents
in that ballet school say,

"Uh, that's wrong.

Let that little girl dance."

Or --

(Applause)

Why didn't the white patrons
in the segregated restaurants say,

"Hey, that's not right.

Let that family eat."

Well, it didn't take me long to realize

that racial injustice
wasn't the only place

that people in the majority
were staying quiet.

When I'd sit in church and hear
some homophobic comment

being disguised as something scriptural,

I'd say, "I'm sorry,

why aren't the heterosexual
church-goers disrupting this nonsense?"

(Applause)

Or,

in a room filled with boomers and Gen-Xers

who started degrading their millennial
colleagues as being spoiled, lazy

and overconfident,

I'd say,

"I'm sorry,

why isn't someone my age
saying 'stop stereotyping?'"

(Audience) Yes!

(Applause)

I was used to standing up
on issues like this,

but why wasn't everyone else?

My fifth grade teacher,

Mrs. McFarland,

taught me that justice
requires an accomplice.

Not just anyone will do.

She said we need unlikely allies

if we want to see real change happen.

And for those of us experiencing
injustice up-front,

we need to be willing to accept the help,

because when we don't,

change takes too long.

I mean, imagine if heterosexual
and gay people had not come together

under the banner of marriage equality.

Or what if President Kennedy

just wasn't interested
in the Civil Rights Movement?

Most of our major movements
in this country might have been delayed

or even dead

if it weren't for the presence
of unlikely allies.

When the same people speak up

in the same ways they've always spoken up,

the most we'll ever get
are the same results

over and over again.

You know, allies often
stand on the sidelines

waiting to be called up.

But what if unlikely allies led out
in front of issues?

Like ...

what if Black and Native American people
stood in front of immigration issues?

(Applause)

Or what if white people led the charge

to end racism?

(Applause and cheers)

Or ...

what if men led the charge
on pay equity for women?

(Applause and cheers)

Or ...

what if heterosexual people
stood in front of LGBTQ issues?

(Applause and cheers)

And what if able-bodied people avocated
for people living with disabilities?

(Applause and cheers)

You know, we can stand up for issues,

weigh-in and advocate

even when it seems like the issue
has nothing to do with us.

And actually,

those are the issues
that are most compelling.

And sure,

people will have no idea
why you are there,

but that's why those of us
facing injustice

must be willing to accept the help.

You know, we have to fight injustice

with a consciousness of grace.

When white guys stand up

for the liberation
of Black and Brown people,

Black and Brown people will have to be
willing to accept their help.

And I know that's complicated,

but this is collective work

and it requires everyone to be all-in.

One day when I was at kindergarten,

our teacher introduced us

to this beautiful, tall,
white lady named Ms. Anne.

I thought she was the prettiest
white lady I'd ever seen.

Well, if I can be honest with you,

I think it was the first time we'd ever
seen a white lady in our school ever.

(Laughter)

Ms. Ann stood in front of us

and she said she was going
to start teaching ballet classes

right there are our school.

And that she was proud
to be our dance teacher.

It was unreal.

All of a sudden --

(singing) I didn't think ballet
was dumb anymore.

(Laughter)

You see, what I know now
is Ms. Ann was fully aware

that the white ballet schools
would not accept black girls.

She was incensed by that.

So she came to the black neighborhood

to start teaching
the dance classes herself.

And you know, it took love
and courage for her to do that.

(Applause)

And where there was no justice,

she just built it.

We all survived because we stood
on the shoulders of our Black ancestors.

We all thrived because Ms. Ann
was an unlikely ally.

You know, when you add your voice

and your actions

to situations that you
don't think involve you,

you actually inspire
others to do the same.

Ms. Ann inspired me to always
be on the lookout

for situations that weren't about me,

but where I saw injustice

and inequality happening anyway.

I hope she inspires you too,

because to win the fight for equity,

we will all need to speak up

and stand up.

We will all need to do that.

And we will all need to do that

even when it's hard

and even when we feel out-of-place,

because it is your place,

and it is our place.

Justice counts on all of us.

Thank you.

(Applause and cheers)