WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:04.900 Most 12 year old kids go to school, come home, maybe play video games or an after-school 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:09.620 sport, go to the movies with their friends and work on homework. And then there’s Thomas 00:00:09.620 --> 00:00:14.670 Ponce, who, by the age of 12 had formed his own lobbying organization and was active in 00:00:14.670 --> 00:00:19.100 local government, meeting with congressmen and officials and providing a voice for the 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:23.180 animals. With corporations and the animal products industry having some of the loudest 00:00:23.180 --> 00:00:28.010 lobbyist around, Thomas is working to level the playing field and ensure that the animals 00:00:28.010 --> 00:00:33.050 are heard. Having started his path to animal activism at the age of 4 years old, Thomas 00:00:33.050 --> 00:00:37.390 is no ordinary kid. He’s a veritable force to be reckoned with. 00:00:41.930 --> 00:00:46.649 Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. I’m so excited 00:00:46.649 --> 00:00:51.950 and honored to introduce to you, Thomas Ponce. Thomas has received countless awards and accolades 00:00:51.950 --> 00:00:57.969 including FARM's National Animal Rights Young Activist Award for 2013 and The Animal Hero 00:00:57.969 --> 00:01:02.680 Kids ‘Kind to All’ Award, earning him a feature in the book Animal Hero Kids: Voices 00:01:02.680 --> 00:01:08.090 for the Voiceless, PETA’s Compassionate Kid Award when we was eleven, and oh yeah, 00:01:08.090 --> 00:01:14.009 no less than TWO awards from the President. Thomas is the second Animal Hero Kid I’ve 00:01:14.009 --> 00:01:16.529 interviewed with serious White House connections. 00:01:16.529 --> 00:01:18.149 Pretty soon it’ll be time for… 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:23.170 Moving on... 00:01:23.170 --> 00:01:27.740 Thomas received a grant from the Pollination Project to make his lobbying organization, 00:01:27.740 --> 00:01:32.099 Lobby for Animals, a reality. Never one to stop there, Thomas is now a member of their 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:36.969 grant advisory board for environmental and animal rights related grants. Most recently, 00:01:36.969 --> 00:01:41.889 Thomas just had an article published in AV Magazine of the American Anti-Vivisection 00:01:41.889 --> 00:01:45.829 Society, which you can find the link to on the blog post for this video, which is 00:01:45.829 --> 00:01:47.900 linked below in the video description. 00:01:47.909 --> 00:01:52.319 Thomas just turned 15 and remains passionate about the importance of young people getting 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:57.329 involved in activism. Just so you know, the audio at times isn’t too stellar, so if 00:01:57.329 --> 00:02:02.259 you want you can always turn on the captions. I really urge you to listen to his words. 00:02:02.259 --> 00:02:04.999 This is one incredibly bright young man. 00:02:04.999 --> 00:02:08.020 I think it’s important for young people to get involved in their communities. It’s 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:12.849 we that are growing up in this world and we need to get active and involved. And we can’t 00:02:12.849 --> 00:02:16.769 expect things to get better if we don’t try to change them. 00:02:16.769 --> 00:02:21.700 You know, if we address issues in our communities and the world we live in, it’s each of our 00:02:21.700 --> 00:02:25.909 personal responsibilities to do so. If you see something wrong that is happening, speak 00:02:25.909 --> 00:02:30.939 up, question, don’t just go with the flow because it’s been the same thing for a long 00:02:30.939 --> 00:02:34.099 period of time, you know because it’s a tradition. 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:40.049 If we listen to our heart, if we listen to our brain, then we can do right all the time, 00:02:40.049 --> 00:02:44.250 we can make a difference. If we get involved with our communities, that’s one of the 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:48.879 best ways to do so. Finding something you’re passionate about, Googling it, researching it. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:53.340 Doing whatever you can to get the most information about that subject then act with 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:58.069 that information. Knowledge is the most power you can have in this world, and when you use 00:02:58.069 --> 00:03:00.780 it correctly you can make a huge difference. 00:03:00.780 --> 00:03:04.560 I asked Thomas about how he got started in his activism. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.790 I got started in my activism when I was about 4 years old. Throughout this time I’ve always 00:03:08.790 --> 00:03:14.189 had a love and respect for animals. That love that I had turned to activism when I made 00:03:14.189 --> 00:03:17.999 the connection of where our food comes from and the horrors that animals have to go through 00:03:17.999 --> 00:03:20.489 every day in order for that to happen. 00:03:20.489 --> 00:03:25.469 Once I had that realization, the turning point to become vegetarian was a very simple decision. 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:30.939 As I got older, and as I learned more, I learned that just because I wasn’t eating meat didn’t 00:03:30.940 --> 00:03:35.100 mean that I wasn’t still contributing. So, I decided to become vegan, 00:03:35.100 --> 00:03:36.900 which would completely cut that off. 00:03:36.939 --> 00:03:41.819 Throughout that entire time, I had been attending protests, I’d been signing petitions, I’d 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:47.439 basically been doing anything to spread the word of animal rights, and I was determined 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.059 to open people’s eyes to the idea of animal rights. 00:03:51.060 --> 00:03:56.060 Lobbying isn’t the most common form of animal activism you hear of, so I asked Thomas how 00:03:56.060 --> 00:03:59.080 he found his way to the legal side of animal rights. 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:03.340 When I heard about FARM’s National Animal Rights Conference, I said, “that is something 00:04:03.349 --> 00:04:08.590 I need to go to.” So, I was in Washington, DC, it was great, fantastic. I met an attorney 00:04:08.590 --> 00:04:12.969 there and she basically, she talked to me about lobbying. It was like a light bulb went 00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:20.949 off in my head, and when I got home I started researching more about lobbying. And I actually 00:04:20.949 --> 00:04:28.750 took a class through the Humane Society about lobbying and from there on out, I’ve been 00:04:28.750 --> 00:04:33.789 hooked. And that’s when I decided to create Lobby for Animals. Basically my purpose with 00:04:33.789 --> 00:04:38.120 that is to give people the tools necessary to succeed in the lobbying field. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:42.560 In case you have no idea what we’re talking about, I asked Thomas to explain lobbying. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:47.539 Lobbying is basically talking to your legislators it’s, whenever you want to make a change 00:04:47.539 --> 00:04:54.050 in law. Let’s say there’s a bill that will completely stop animals in entertainment. 00:04:54.050 --> 00:04:59.389 There will be no more animals in entertainment from then on. You can talk to your legislators, 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:04.680 you can call them, email them, write them letters, and schedule a conference with them. 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:10.319 And you can let them know your position on this. Because they’re our legislators, they’re 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:14.990 here to listen to us, it’s their job. And if we don’t let them know how we feel, if 00:05:14.990 --> 00:05:17.810 we don’t let them know what we want to see in office, then 00:05:17.810 --> 00:05:19.740 they have no way of doing their job correctly. 00:05:19.750 --> 00:05:23.470 With all the available forms of activism out there, I asked Thomas why he chose 00:05:23.470 --> 00:05:25.030 lobbying for his mission. 00:05:25.030 --> 00:05:30.580 We can definitely, we can go to protests, we can sign petitions, we can do everything, 00:05:30.580 --> 00:05:35.210 but - when we go towards the laws we’re striking it at it’s core. So, we are hitting 00:05:35.210 --> 00:05:39.889 the subject right in the center. Laws like the ag-gag bills, and it’s everything like 00:05:39.889 --> 00:05:46.240 that that can be combated with lobbying. It can be very much so combated with lobbying. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:51.030 I asked Thomas to share what victories he’s had in his time lobbying for the animals. 00:05:51.030 --> 00:05:55.190 A lot of the victories that I’ve had, I wouldn’t even call them victories, it’s 00:05:55.190 --> 00:06:04.020 more like small wins. Whenever I see people who actually get it, whenever I see - let’s 00:06:04.020 --> 00:06:08.820 say I schedule an appointment to talk to a congressman, and I’m talking to them and 00:06:08.820 --> 00:06:11.639 I know that they’re actually starting to think a different way, or that I’ve at least 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:14.780 opened their eyes up to thinking a different way, then that’s a personal victory. Let’s 00:06:14.780 --> 00:06:19.830 say they’re for a bill that’s for vivisection, and then I talk to them, and then they change 00:06:19.830 --> 00:06:23.949 their mind and they flip that stance, that’s a personal victory, in my opinion. 00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:28.419 During our interview, Thomas and I discussed the power kids and young people have in affecting 00:06:28.419 --> 00:06:33.590 change. And how they’re often underestimated in their abilities and what they can handle. 00:06:33.590 --> 00:06:36.780 As you’ll see, Thomas proves his own point beautifully. 00:06:36.780 --> 00:06:41.470 We do not, and as I’ve said this before, we do not give kids enough credit. They have 00:06:41.470 --> 00:06:47.289 the most creativity, they have the best ideas that you can ever see. As you said, adults 00:06:47.289 --> 00:06:55.409 have this preconception that, you know, this person’s 6, 7, 10, 11, they are not ready 00:06:55.409 --> 00:06:59.009 to see this type of information, they’re not ready to see what’s out in the world. 00:06:59.009 --> 00:07:04.490 They definitely are. If they’re passionate about something, don’t stifle it and don’t 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:08.189 assume because they’re kids they can’t understand it and they can’t handle it. 00:07:08.189 --> 00:07:12.069 Because there are a lot of kids out there that can definitely comprehend this stuff. 00:07:12.069 --> 00:07:17.370 We need to allow our kids to go into the field that they’re interested in, to be passionate 00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:21.120 about what they want to be passionate about. Let them research about it, let them learn 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:27.159 about it, let them be interested in what they care about. If we instill the idea of compassion, 00:07:27.159 --> 00:07:32.119 then they’ll carry that on with them throughout their lives, they’ll carry that on to their children. 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.629 I want to leave you with part of Thomas’ acceptance speech when he received the Animal 00:07:35.629 --> 00:07:41.030 Hero Kids Kind to All Award. Mind you, he was 12 years old when he gave this speech. 00:07:41.030 --> 00:07:45.669 “Each time you make the choice of what to eat or wear, which products to buy, whether 00:07:45.669 --> 00:07:50.329 to attend a circus or marine park, and which companies you choose to support, you have 00:07:50.329 --> 00:07:54.340 to realize that your decisions affect more than just you. Remember, there are other 00:07:54.340 --> 00:07:59.340 lives at stake, the lives of animals, and one life should not be held more valuable 00:07:59.340 --> 00:08:03.509 than another. Just because you are not committing the act yourself, doesn’t mean it’s not 00:08:03.509 --> 00:08:09.300 happening or that you are not contributing to it. As a consumer, if you are not making 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:14.759 ethical, cruelty-free choices, you are still fueling the demand. If you do not speak up, 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:19.799 buy differently and demand things be changed, you are contributing to the problem. 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:24.720 It takes proactive people to bring about change. People who will take the time to learn about the 00:08:24.729 --> 00:08:28.610 ways in which they can get involved and make a difference for animals, as well as for the 00:08:28.610 --> 00:08:34.040 world we live in. The information and resources are out there for whomever wants to learn. 00:08:34.040 --> 00:08:39.050 I am a firm believer that knowledge is definitely power and when you speak with knowledge and 00:08:39.050 --> 00:08:43.390 from your heart, people will listen, regardless of your age.” 00:08:43.390 --> 00:08:47.960 One way to get started is to visit Thomas’ website www.LobbyForAniamls.org, where you 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:53.000 can find guidance in getting active and contacting your legislators. Thomas welcomes emails and 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.860 is always ready to help. You can also connect with him on Facebook. See his links below. 00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:02.610 I hope you enjoyed hearing Thomas’ story. I’m totally blown away by his activism and 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:07.480 all of the young people I’ve had the pleasure and honor of working with in this Animal Hero Kids series 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:13.160 and my kids interview series. Never think that your age, or anything about you can hold you back. 00:09:13.160 --> 00:09:17.360 If you were inspired by Thomas, do give the video a thumbs up and share it around to help 00:09:17.370 --> 00:09:21.440 show what kids can accomplish. If you’re new here, I’d love to have you as a subscriber. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:26.480 I put out fresh content covering all aspects of veganism every Monday, Wednesday and some 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:30.620 Fridays. To help support Bite Size Vegan’s educational efforts, please see the support 00:09:30.630 --> 00:09:35.310 links below or click on the Nugget Army icon or the link in the sidebar. Now go live vegan, 00:09:35.310 --> 00:09:38.270 lobby for the animals, and I'll see you soon. 00:09:38.270 --> 00:09:42.950 Interviewing so many young people who have accomplished so much so early in life... 00:09:44.130 --> 00:09:47.130 really makes me feel like I haven't done much. 00:09:50.400 --> 00:09:52.740 Where was the internet when I was a kid?!