[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.89,0:00:03.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing up, I didn't always understand
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.19,0:00:05.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,why my parents made me\Nfollow the rules that they did.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.88,0:00:08.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like, why did I really \Nhave to mow the lawn?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.68,0:00:11.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why was homework really that important?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.34,0:00:15.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why couldn't I put jelly beans \Nin my oatmeal?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.27,0:00:18.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My childhood was abound\Nwith questions like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.12,0:00:22.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Normal things about being a kid\Nand realizing that sometimes,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.40,0:00:26.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was best to listen to my parents\Neven when I didn't exactly understand why.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.48,0:00:29.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's not that they didn't want\Nme to think critically.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.50,0:00:32.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their parenting always sought \Nto reconcile the tension
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.10,0:00:35.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between having my siblings and I\Nunderstand the realities of the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.55,0:00:39.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while ensuring that we never accepted\Nthe status quo as inevitable.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.65,0:00:42.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I came to realize that this,\Nin and of itself,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.96,0:00:45.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a very purposeful form of education.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.05,0:00:50.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of my favorite educators,\NBrazilian author and scholar Paulo Freire,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.17,0:00:53.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,speaks quite explicitly\Nabout the need for education
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.27,0:00:57.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be used as a tool for critical \Nawakening and shared humanity.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.86,0:01:00.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his most famous book,\N"Pedagogy of the Oppressed,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.64,0:01:05.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he states, "No one can be \Nauthentically human
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.16,0:01:07.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while he prevents others from being so."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.17,0:01:11.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've been thinking a lot about this \Nlately, this idea of humanity,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.99,0:01:15.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and specifically, who in this world\Nis afforded the privilege
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.26,0:01:18.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of being perceived as fully human.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.28,0:01:20.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the course of \Nthe past several months,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.61,0:01:23.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the world has watched\Nas unarmed black men, and women,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.82,0:01:27.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have had their lives taken\Nat the hands of police and vigilante.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.76,0:01:30.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These events and all that \Nhas transpired after them
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.65,0:01:32.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have brought me back to my own childhood
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.76,0:01:37.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the decisions that my parents made\Nabout raising a black boy in America
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.10,0:01:41.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that growing up, I didn't always\Nunderstand in the way that I do now.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.98,0:01:46.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think of how hard it must have been,\Nhow profoundly unfair it must have felt
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.21,0:01:50.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for them to feel like they had \Nto strip away parts of my childhood
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.41,0:01:53.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just so that I could come home at night.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.21,0:01:55.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, I think of how one night,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.31,0:01:59.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I was around 12 years old, on an\Novernight field trip to another city,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.21,0:02:01.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my friends and I bought Super Soakers
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.56,0:02:05.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and turned the hotel parking lot\Ninto our own water-filled battle zone.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.10,0:02:07.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We hid behind cars,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.80,0:02:10.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,running through the darkness that\Nlay between the streetlights,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.97,0:02:14.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,boundless laughter ubiquitous \Nacross the pavement.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.38,0:02:16.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But within 10 minutes,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.47,0:02:19.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my father came outside, \Ngrabbed me by my forearm
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.48,0:02:22.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and led me into our room\Nwith an unfamiliar grip.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.50,0:02:24.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before I could say anything,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.37,0:02:27.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tell him how foolish he had \Nmade me look in front of my friends,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.73,0:02:30.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he derided me for being so naive.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.84,0:02:35.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looked me in the eye, \Nfear consuming his face,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.38,0:02:37.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and said, "Son, I'm sorry,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.93,0:02:40.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you can't act the same \Nas your white friends.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.97,0:02:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't pretend to shoot guns.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.20,0:02:45.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't run around in the dark.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.09,0:02:48.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't hide behind anything\Nother than your own teeth."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.13,0:02:51.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know now how scared he must have been,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.14,0:02:55.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how easily I could have fallen\Ninto the empty of the night,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.15,0:02:57.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that some man would mistake this water
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.91,0:03:00.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a good reason to wash\Nall of this away.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.13,0:03:04.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are the sorts of messages I've been\Ninundated with my entire life:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.55,0:03:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Always keep your hands where they \Ncan see them, don't move too quickly,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.04,0:03:10.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,take off your hood when the sun goes down.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.12,0:03:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My parents raised me and my siblings\Nin an armor of advice,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.22,0:03:16.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an ocean of alarm bells so someone\Nwouldn't steal the breath from our lungs,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.85,0:03:19.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they wouldn't make\Na memory of this skin.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.17,0:03:21.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that we could be kids, \Nnot casket or concrete.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.67,0:03:25.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's not because they thought it\Nwould make us better than anyone else
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.15,0:03:27.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's simply because they wanted \Nto keep us alive.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.67,0:03:30.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of my black friends were raised\Nwith the same message,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.40,0:03:32.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the talk, given to us \Nwhen we became old enough
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.68,0:03:35.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be mistaken for a nail ready\Nto be hammered to the ground,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.62,0:03:40.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when people made our melanin\Nsynonymous with something to be feared.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.12,0:03:42.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what does it do to a child
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.59,0:03:46.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to grow up knowing that you\Ncannot simply be a child?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.04,0:03:49.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That the whims of adolescence\Nare too dangerous for your breath,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.19,0:03:50.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you cannot simply be curious,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.85,0:03:53.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you are not afforded the luxury\Nof making a mistake,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.55,0:03:55.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that someone's implicit bias
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.32,0:03:57.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,might be the reason you don't\Nwake up in the morning.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.16,0:03:59.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this cannot be what defines us.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.87,0:04:02.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because we have parents\Nwho raised us to understand
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.46,0:04:05.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that our bodies weren't meant\Nfor the backside of a bullet,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.24,0:04:08.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but for flying kites and jumping rope,\Nand laughing until our stomachs burst.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.87,0:04:11.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We had teachers who taught us \Nhow to raise our hands in class,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.86,0:04:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and not just to signal surrender,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.42,0:04:15.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that the only thing we should give up
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.39,0:04:17.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the idea that we \Naren't worthy of this world.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.76,0:04:21.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when we say that black lives matter,\Nit's not because others don't,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.04,0:04:24.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's simply because we must affirm that we\Nare worthy of existing without fear,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.75,0:04:26.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when so many things tell us we are not.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.88,0:04:28.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to live in a world where my son
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.84,0:04:31.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will not be presumed guilty\Nthe moment he is born,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.33,0:04:35.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where a toy in his hand isn't mistaken\Nfor anything other than a toy.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.18,0:04:38.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I refuse to accept that we can't\Nbuild this world into something new,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.61,0:04:40.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some place where a child's name
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.11,0:04:42.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doesn't have to be written \Non a t-shirt, or a tombstone,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.86,0:04:44.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the value of someone's life
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.47,0:04:48.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,isn't determined by anything other \Nthan the fact that they had lungs,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.27,0:04:52.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a place where every single \None of us can breathe.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.49,0:04:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.44,0:04:55.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)