1 00:00:10,226 --> 00:00:15,847 Lily Tomlin once said, "Somebody should do something about that." 2 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:24,921 But then I realized, "I am somebody." 3 00:00:24,921 --> 00:00:30,197 I had my first "aha, I am somebody" moment when I was walking down the street, 4 00:00:30,197 --> 00:00:32,862 in my native New York city, 5 00:00:32,862 --> 00:00:36,288 and happened upon what I can only describe 6 00:00:36,288 --> 00:00:41,433 as a pulsating, brown, furry, 7 00:00:41,433 --> 00:00:46,008 and yet kind of slimy little ball at my feet, 8 00:00:46,008 --> 00:00:49,930 that was in grave danger of being smashed to bits 9 00:00:49,930 --> 00:00:56,572 by a very angry sanitation worker, with a very large shovel. 10 00:00:57,474 --> 00:01:02,971 I had no idea what this little alien thing was, but instinctively, 11 00:01:02,971 --> 00:01:07,684 I threw myself on top of it, screaming, "No, no, no, no, no! 12 00:01:07,684 --> 00:01:09,857 I'll take it." 13 00:01:10,507 --> 00:01:14,301 Of course the guy thought I was totally nuts, but I did, 14 00:01:14,301 --> 00:01:21,241 and took this little ball, and I put it in a box, and I took it to Central Park, 15 00:01:21,241 --> 00:01:26,626 and I sat there staring at it for a couple of hours, not knowing what to do. 16 00:01:26,626 --> 00:01:30,539 And all of a sudden, the box started to move, 17 00:01:30,539 --> 00:01:33,766 and the flaps on the top of the box opened, 18 00:01:33,766 --> 00:01:40,779 and not one, but two beautiful bats flew out over my head 19 00:01:40,779 --> 00:01:43,345 and into the night sky. 20 00:01:43,345 --> 00:01:46,880 Apparently, what had happened, or it's the best guess of the experts, 21 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:52,624 is that two bats had become stuck together in the throws of passion - 22 00:01:52,624 --> 00:01:55,662 (Laughter) 23 00:01:55,662 --> 00:02:01,160 - and fallen from a rooftop somewhere, and landed at my feet. 24 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:07,204 So, for me, I didn't know what this little thing was, 25 00:02:07,204 --> 00:02:08,938 but it was pulsating, right? 26 00:02:08,938 --> 00:02:13,363 So that meant it must have had a pulse, which would mean probably a heartbeat, 27 00:02:13,363 --> 00:02:15,685 which would mean it could suffer. 28 00:02:15,685 --> 00:02:19,030 And that just wasn't going to happen on my watch. 29 00:02:19,030 --> 00:02:25,434 So, I don't know what makes some people watchers and other people doers. 30 00:02:25,434 --> 00:02:30,926 I don't know what plants a seed that blossoms into a calling. 31 00:02:30,926 --> 00:02:34,467 I do know that, for me, it's a compulsion, 32 00:02:34,467 --> 00:02:38,707 to speak for those that cannot speak for themselves. 33 00:02:38,707 --> 00:02:41,591 Uncomfortable, though, it may be 34 00:02:41,591 --> 00:02:46,226 for somebody who never raised her hand in class, 35 00:02:46,226 --> 00:02:49,430 hated to be called on to read aloud, 36 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:54,702 and was described by every teacher as "painfully shy." 37 00:02:54,702 --> 00:02:57,954 I guess something in me must have connected to those 38 00:02:57,954 --> 00:03:02,739 that seemed invisible and voiceless. 39 00:03:02,739 --> 00:03:06,841 Perhaps, something in me saw myself as one of them, 40 00:03:06,841 --> 00:03:10,108 needing rescue and a voice. 41 00:03:10,108 --> 00:03:14,844 All I know is I have no choice in the matter anymore. 42 00:03:14,844 --> 00:03:21,564 I was born for this, and I raise my hand for animals every chance I get. 43 00:03:21,564 --> 00:03:25,737 I remember the first time that I was shown footage 44 00:03:25,737 --> 00:03:30,111 obtained by undercover investigators, 45 00:03:30,111 --> 00:03:36,428 of how animals had suffered and died for my dinner, my clothing, 46 00:03:36,428 --> 00:03:41,680 my entertainment, and my well-intentioned charitable contributions. 47 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:47,514 I stood in stunned silence, tears were racing down my face, 48 00:03:47,514 --> 00:03:49,735 and my hands were covering my eyes 49 00:03:49,735 --> 00:03:55,285 and I was hit with such rage and such pain, 50 00:03:55,285 --> 00:03:58,295 that I could barely speak. 51 00:03:59,595 --> 00:04:04,996 Unlike these cows that you might recognize from YouTube, 52 00:04:04,996 --> 00:04:09,507 this footage that I saw was dark and grainy, 53 00:04:09,507 --> 00:04:16,328 but images of eyes wide with terror will haunt me forever. 54 00:04:16,328 --> 00:04:20,312 Animals on factory farms, and laboratories, zoos, circuses, 55 00:04:20,312 --> 00:04:26,633 aquariums, amusement parks, rodeos, all of it, they are all routinely beaten. 56 00:04:26,633 --> 00:04:30,063 They are denied everything natural to them. 57 00:04:30,063 --> 00:04:35,599 They are isolated, burned, electrocuted, 58 00:04:35,599 --> 00:04:39,265 brain-damaged, blinded. 59 00:04:39,265 --> 00:04:45,722 They are beaten, as I said before, and they are whipped into submission. 60 00:04:45,722 --> 00:04:51,612 They are left to linger in cold cages, alone, without any painkillers, 61 00:04:51,612 --> 00:04:54,236 until they are killed. 62 00:04:54,236 --> 00:04:58,955 My brain had to process that this is legal. 63 00:04:58,955 --> 00:05:04,258 This is the way that billions upon billions of animals live. 64 00:05:04,258 --> 00:05:07,127 This is the way that they die. 65 00:05:07,127 --> 00:05:09,599 This is what lurks behind closed doors 66 00:05:09,599 --> 00:05:13,982 that only ardent animal advocates dare to open. 67 00:05:13,982 --> 00:05:19,390 I was hit with such a wave of guilt, that I barely recognized myself. 68 00:05:19,390 --> 00:05:23,407 These images changed me. 69 00:05:23,407 --> 00:05:25,768 They gutted me. 70 00:05:25,768 --> 00:05:30,313 They made me realize that all of these labels that I so detested, 71 00:05:30,313 --> 00:05:34,288 like "oppressor," and "bully," 72 00:05:34,288 --> 00:05:40,064 could just as easily be applied to me, regardless of intent, 73 00:05:40,064 --> 00:05:44,011 because I was a contributor to industries that view animals 74 00:05:44,011 --> 00:05:48,591 as nothing more than property and machines. 75 00:05:48,591 --> 00:05:53,686 So, the little girl that wouldn't dare raise her hand in class 76 00:05:53,686 --> 00:05:58,275 grew up to be somebody that wants to raise the roof for animals, 77 00:05:58,275 --> 00:06:02,034 because I found that I could no longer live in peace 78 00:06:02,034 --> 00:06:05,561 while there's a war being waged against animals. 79 00:06:05,561 --> 00:06:09,303 I could no longer feel full while they're being starved, 80 00:06:09,303 --> 00:06:13,836 or feel warm knowing that they're being enslaved in cold cages. 81 00:06:13,836 --> 00:06:17,528 I couldn't feel safe while they're being brutalized, 82 00:06:17,528 --> 00:06:23,010 and I certainly couldn't feel free while they are still oppressed. 83 00:06:23,010 --> 00:06:27,153 Activism destroys me, 84 00:06:27,153 --> 00:06:31,626 but it also heals me, every day. 85 00:06:31,626 --> 00:06:34,511 And every day we're faced with new challenges. 86 00:06:34,511 --> 00:06:37,802 How to educate the public within a digestible way? 87 00:06:37,802 --> 00:06:41,663 Because let's face it: if we're too graphic, 88 00:06:41,663 --> 00:06:44,506 people turn away; they don't want to know. 89 00:06:44,506 --> 00:06:48,590 If we're too gentle, then we don't make any impact. 90 00:06:48,590 --> 00:06:53,518 So, for me, sometimes my activism is loud, and it's aggressive, 91 00:06:53,518 --> 00:06:58,433 and it's blaring through megaphones outside of slaughterhouses. 92 00:06:58,433 --> 00:07:02,727 But at other times, it's in soft, measured tones, 93 00:07:02,727 --> 00:07:05,360 speaking about orcas and dolphins in captivity 94 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,783 to little children entering Sea World. 95 00:07:08,783 --> 00:07:13,986 And sometimes, yeah, my message goes viral, 96 00:07:13,986 --> 00:07:19,058 with me being let away from this scene in handcuffs. 97 00:07:20,698 --> 00:07:26,317 I believe that activism starts as a whisper in our soul, 98 00:07:26,317 --> 00:07:32,609 a voice, way down deep inside, almost like intuition, 99 00:07:32,609 --> 00:07:38,136 that presents itself as an unmistakeable knowing 100 00:07:38,136 --> 00:07:42,292 that nudges us to look our conscience dead in the eye, 101 00:07:42,292 --> 00:07:47,890 and ask ourselves the tough questions, such as, 102 00:07:47,890 --> 00:07:49,672 "Is this moral?" 103 00:07:49,672 --> 00:07:52,894 "Is this the right choice for me?" 104 00:07:52,894 --> 00:07:57,783 "Can I sleep at night knowing what I know now?" 105 00:07:57,783 --> 00:08:00,675 "Am I living my truth?" 106 00:08:00,675 --> 00:08:05,062 And often times, the answers will surprise us. 107 00:08:05,062 --> 00:08:11,302 A revolution begins with an idea, a truth in ourselves that we cannot deny, 108 00:08:11,302 --> 00:08:14,261 and feel compelled to spread, regardless of the facts 109 00:08:14,261 --> 00:08:19,004 that, yeah, it might isolate us from those close to us, 110 00:08:19,004 --> 00:08:24,252 it might take our safety, our freedom, and put them at risk, 111 00:08:24,252 --> 00:08:28,769 it can drive us to our darkest depths of despair, 112 00:08:28,769 --> 00:08:31,976 and break our hearts. 113 00:08:33,176 --> 00:08:36,803 But it's worth it. Oh man, it is worth it! 114 00:08:36,803 --> 00:08:39,923 Because a revolution brings about change whose time has come, 115 00:08:39,923 --> 00:08:43,330 and we are at a tipping point of this revolution, 116 00:08:43,330 --> 00:08:46,796 that begins and builds with each of us 117 00:08:46,796 --> 00:08:51,502 recognizing what we know is true 118 00:08:52,182 --> 00:08:57,539 in the most sacred places of our hearts, and acting on it. 119 00:08:57,539 --> 00:09:02,633 For me, giving these animals a voice, 120 00:09:02,633 --> 00:09:05,177 these choiceless animals, 121 00:09:05,177 --> 00:09:10,057 helps illuminate these dark, cold, bearing enclosures 122 00:09:10,057 --> 00:09:14,616 that bring out, with cries of pain, loneliness and torture, 123 00:09:14,616 --> 00:09:19,990 voices begging to be seen, to be recognized, 124 00:09:19,990 --> 00:09:25,747 to know that they are not alone, and that yes, they are heard. 125 00:09:25,747 --> 00:09:30,864 And maybe, somehow, this makes me feel less alone. 126 00:09:30,864 --> 00:09:34,942 Acting on behalf of these animals that I will never meet, 127 00:09:34,942 --> 00:09:37,797 but fight for every day, 128 00:09:37,797 --> 00:09:40,692 has connected me to a global cry for justice 129 00:09:40,692 --> 00:09:44,596 that has moved mountains for other social justice movements. 130 00:09:44,596 --> 00:09:49,540 It has taken me from feeling like a powerless individual 131 00:09:49,540 --> 00:09:52,731 to an important, proactive part of the wheel 132 00:09:52,731 --> 00:09:55,523 that is a driving force toward making this world 133 00:09:55,523 --> 00:10:01,315 a kinder, and gentler, and more sustainable place to live, 134 00:10:01,315 --> 00:10:07,930 connecting me to my highest self as a citizen of the world that I live in. 135 00:10:07,930 --> 00:10:12,102 I have planted a seed of change, 136 00:10:12,102 --> 00:10:14,936 and I delight in seeing it grow, 137 00:10:14,936 --> 00:10:18,413 as more and more animals are awarded rights, 138 00:10:18,413 --> 00:10:22,704 and veganism takes its place in the mainstream. 139 00:10:23,174 --> 00:10:28,893 We all have this in us, no matter what our calling. 140 00:10:28,893 --> 00:10:33,467 We can all change the world. 141 00:10:33,467 --> 00:10:37,646 We can all raise our hands. 142 00:10:37,646 --> 00:10:42,029 For me, I promise you, I will not rest 143 00:10:42,029 --> 00:10:45,281 until every cage is empty, 144 00:10:45,281 --> 00:10:48,528 and every tank is drained. 145 00:10:48,528 --> 00:10:52,429 What might it be for you? 146 00:10:52,429 --> 00:10:54,016 Thank you. 147 00:10:54,016 --> 00:10:56,048 (Cheers) (Applause)