WEBVTT 00:00:10.226 --> 00:00:15.847 Lily Tomlin once said, "Somebody should do something about that." 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:24.921 But then I realized, "I am somebody." 00:00:24.921 --> 00:00:30.197 I had my first "aha, I am somebody" moment when I was walking down the street, 00:00:30.197 --> 00:00:32.862 in my native New York city, 00:00:32.862 --> 00:00:36.288 and happened upon what I can only describe 00:00:36.288 --> 00:00:41.433 as a pulsating, brown, furry, 00:00:41.433 --> 00:00:46.008 and yet kind of slimy little ball at my feet, 00:00:46.008 --> 00:00:49.930 that was in grave danger of being smashed to bits 00:00:49.930 --> 00:00:56.572 by a very angry sanitation worker, with a very large shovel. 00:00:57.474 --> 00:01:02.971 I had no idea what this little alien thing was, but instinctively, 00:01:02.971 --> 00:01:07.684 I threw myself on top of it, screaming, "No, no, no, no, no! 00:01:07.684 --> 00:01:09.857 I'll take it." 00:01:10.507 --> 00:01:14.301 Of course the guy thought I was totally nuts, but I did, 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, 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. 00:01:26.626 --> 00:01:30.539 And all of a sudden, the box started to move, 00:01:30.539 --> 00:01:33.766 and the flaps on the top of the box opened, 00:01:33.766 --> 00:01:40.779 and not one, but two beautiful bats flew out over my head 00:01:40.779 --> 00:01:43.345 and into the night sky. 00:01:43.345 --> 00:01:46.880 Apparently, what had happened, or it's the best guess of the experts, 00:01:46.880 --> 00:01:52.624 is that two bats had become stuck together in the throws of passion - 00:01:52.624 --> 00:01:55.662 (Laughter) 00:01:55.662 --> 00:02:01.160 - and fallen from a rooftop somewhere, and landed at my feet. 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:07.204 So, for me, I didn't know what this little thing was, 00:02:07.204 --> 00:02:08.938 but it was pulsating, right? 00:02:08.938 --> 00:02:13.363 So that meant it must have had a pulse, which would mean probably a heartbeat, 00:02:13.363 --> 00:02:15.685 which would mean it could suffer. 00:02:15.685 --> 00:02:19.030 And that just wasn't going to happen on my watch. 00:02:19.030 --> 00:02:25.434 So, I don't know what makes some people watchers and other people doers. 00:02:25.434 --> 00:02:30.926 I don't know what plants a seed that blossoms into a calling. 00:02:30.926 --> 00:02:34.467 I do know that, for me, it's a compulsion, 00:02:34.467 --> 00:02:38.707 to speak for those that cannot speak for themselves. 00:02:38.707 --> 00:02:41.591 Uncomfortable, though, it may be 00:02:41.591 --> 00:02:46.226 for somebody who never raised her hand in class, 00:02:46.226 --> 00:02:49.430 hated to be called on to read aloud, 00:02:49.430 --> 00:02:54.702 and was described by every teacher as "painfully shy." 00:02:54.702 --> 00:02:57.954 I guess something in me must have connected to those 00:02:57.954 --> 00:03:02.739 that seemed invisible and voiceless. 00:03:02.739 --> 00:03:06.841 Perhaps, something in me saw myself as one of them, 00:03:06.841 --> 00:03:10.108 needing rescue and a voice. 00:03:10.108 --> 00:03:14.844 All I know is I have no choice in the matter anymore. 00:03:14.844 --> 00:03:21.564 I was born for this, and I raise my hand for animals every chance I get. 00:03:21.564 --> 00:03:25.737 I remember the first time that I was shown footage 00:03:25.737 --> 00:03:30.111 obtained by undercover investigators, 00:03:30.111 --> 00:03:36.428 of how animals had suffered and died for my dinner, my clothing, 00:03:36.428 --> 00:03:41.680 my entertainment, and my well-intentioned charitable contributions. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:47.514 I stood in stunned silence, tears were racing down my face, 00:03:47.514 --> 00:03:49.735 and my hands were covering my eyes 00:03:49.735 --> 00:03:55.285 and I was hit with such rage and such pain, 00:03:55.285 --> 00:03:58.295 that I could barely speak. 00:03:59.595 --> 00:04:04.996 Unlike these cows that you might recognize from YouTube, 00:04:04.996 --> 00:04:09.507 this footage that I saw was dark and grainy, 00:04:09.507 --> 00:04:16.328 but images of eyes wide with terror will haunt me forever. 00:04:16.328 --> 00:04:20.312 Animals on factory farms, and laboratories, zoos, circuses, 00:04:20.312 --> 00:04:26.633 aquariums, amusement parks, rodeos, all of it, they are all routinely beaten. 00:04:26.633 --> 00:04:30.063 They are denied everything natural to them. 00:04:30.063 --> 00:04:35.599 They are isolated, burned, electrocuted, 00:04:35.599 --> 00:04:39.265 brain-damaged, blinded. 00:04:39.265 --> 00:04:45.722 They are beaten, as I said before, and they are whipped into submission. 00:04:45.722 --> 00:04:51.612 They are left to linger in cold cages, alone, without any painkillers, 00:04:51.612 --> 00:04:54.236 until they are killed. 00:04:54.236 --> 00:04:58.955 My brain had to process that this is legal. 00:04:58.955 --> 00:05:04.258 This is the way that billions upon billions of animals live. 00:05:04.258 --> 00:05:07.127 This is the way that they die. 00:05:07.127 --> 00:05:09.599 This is what lurks behind closed doors 00:05:09.599 --> 00:05:13.982 that only ardent animal advocates dare to open. 00:05:13.982 --> 00:05:19.390 I was hit with such a wave of guilt, that I barely recognized myself. 00:05:19.390 --> 00:05:23.407 These images changed me. 00:05:23.407 --> 00:05:25.768 They gutted me. 00:05:25.768 --> 00:05:30.313 They made me realize that all of these labels that I so detested, 00:05:30.313 --> 00:05:34.288 like "oppressor," and "bully," 00:05:34.288 --> 00:05:40.064 could just as easily be applied to me, regardless of intent, 00:05:40.064 --> 00:05:44.011 because I was a contributor to industries that view animals 00:05:44.011 --> 00:05:48.591 as nothing more than property and machines. 00:05:48.591 --> 00:05:53.686 So, the little girl that wouldn't dare raise her hand in class 00:05:53.686 --> 00:05:58.275 grew up to be somebody that wants to raise the roof for animals, 00:05:58.275 --> 00:06:02.034 because I found that I could no longer live in peace 00:06:02.034 --> 00:06:05.561 while there's a war being waged against animals. 00:06:05.561 --> 00:06:09.303 I could no longer feel full while they're being starved, 00:06:09.303 --> 00:06:13.836 or feel warm knowing that they're being enslaved in cold cages. 00:06:13.836 --> 00:06:17.528 I couldn't feel safe while they're being brutalized, 00:06:17.528 --> 00:06:23.010 and I certainly couldn't feel free while they are still oppressed. 00:06:23.010 --> 00:06:27.153 Activism destroys me, 00:06:27.153 --> 00:06:31.626 but it also heals me, every day. 00:06:31.626 --> 00:06:34.511 And every day we're faced with new challenges. 00:06:34.511 --> 00:06:37.802 How to educate the public within a digestible way? 00:06:37.802 --> 00:06:41.663 Because let's face it: if we're too graphic, 00:06:41.663 --> 00:06:44.506 people turn away; they don't want to know. 00:06:44.506 --> 00:06:48.590 If we're too gentle, then we don't make any impact. 00:06:48.590 --> 00:06:53.518 So, for me, sometimes my activism is loud, and it's aggressive, 00:06:53.518 --> 00:06:58.433 and it's blaring through megaphones outside of slaughterhouses. 00:06:58.433 --> 00:07:02.727 But at other times, it's in soft, measured tones, 00:07:02.727 --> 00:07:05.360 speaking about orcas and dolphins in captivity 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.783 to little children entering Sea World. 00:07:08.783 --> 00:07:13.986 And sometimes, yeah, my message goes viral, 00:07:13.986 --> 00:07:19.058 with me being let away from this scene in handcuffs. 00:07:20.698 --> 00:07:26.317 I believe that activism starts as a whisper in our soul, 00:07:26.317 --> 00:07:32.609 a voice, way down deep inside, almost like intuition, 00:07:32.609 --> 00:07:38.136 that presents itself as an unmistakeable knowing 00:07:38.136 --> 00:07:42.292 that nudges us to look our conscience dead in the eye, 00:07:42.292 --> 00:07:47.890 and ask ourselves the tough questions, such as, 00:07:47.890 --> 00:07:49.672 "Is this moral?" 00:07:49.672 --> 00:07:52.894 "Is this the right choice for me?" 00:07:52.894 --> 00:07:57.783 "Can I sleep at night knowing what I know now?" 00:07:57.783 --> 00:08:00.675 "Am I living my truth?" 00:08:00.675 --> 00:08:05.062 And often times, the answers will surprise us. 00:08:05.062 --> 00:08:11.302 A revolution begins with an idea, a truth in ourselves that we cannot deny, 00:08:11.302 --> 00:08:14.261 and feel compelled to spread, regardless of the facts 00:08:14.261 --> 00:08:19.004 that, yeah, it might isolate us from those close to us, 00:08:19.004 --> 00:08:24.252 it might take our safety, our freedom, and put them at risk, 00:08:24.252 --> 00:08:28.769 it can drive us to our darkest depths of despair, 00:08:28.769 --> 00:08:31.976 and break our hearts. 00:08:33.176 --> 00:08:36.803 But it's worth it. Oh man, it is worth it! 00:08:36.803 --> 00:08:39.923 Because a revolution brings about change whose time has come, 00:08:39.923 --> 00:08:43.330 and we are at a tipping point of this revolution, 00:08:43.330 --> 00:08:46.796 that begins and builds with each of us 00:08:46.796 --> 00:08:51.502 recognizing what we know is true 00:08:52.182 --> 00:08:57.539 in the most sacred places of our hearts, and acting on it. 00:08:57.539 --> 00:09:02.633 For me, giving these animals a voice, 00:09:02.633 --> 00:09:05.177 these choiceless animals, 00:09:05.177 --> 00:09:10.057 helps illuminate these dark, cold, bearing enclosures 00:09:10.057 --> 00:09:14.616 that bring out, with cries of pain, loneliness and torture, 00:09:14.616 --> 00:09:19.990 voices begging to be seen, to be recognized, 00:09:19.990 --> 00:09:25.747 to know that they are not alone, and that yes, they are heard. 00:09:25.747 --> 00:09:30.864 And maybe, somehow, this makes me feel less alone. 00:09:30.864 --> 00:09:34.942 Acting on behalf of these animals that I will never meet, 00:09:34.942 --> 00:09:37.797 but fight for every day, 00:09:37.797 --> 00:09:40.692 has connected me to a global cry for justice 00:09:40.692 --> 00:09:44.596 that has moved mountains for other social justice movements. 00:09:44.596 --> 00:09:49.540 It has taken me from feeling like a powerless individual 00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:52.731 to an important, proactive part of the wheel 00:09:52.731 --> 00:09:55.523 that is a driving force toward making this world 00:09:55.523 --> 00:10:01.315 a kinder, and gentler, and more sustainable place to live, 00:10:01.315 --> 00:10:07.930 connecting me to my highest self as a citizen of the world that I live in. 00:10:07.930 --> 00:10:12.102 I have planted a seed of change, 00:10:12.102 --> 00:10:14.936 and I delight in seeing it grow, 00:10:14.936 --> 00:10:18.413 as more and more animals are awarded rights, 00:10:18.413 --> 00:10:22.704 and veganism takes its place in the mainstream. 00:10:23.174 --> 00:10:28.893 We all have this in us, no matter what our calling. 00:10:28.893 --> 00:10:33.467 We can all change the world. 00:10:33.467 --> 00:10:37.646 We can all raise our hands. 00:10:37.646 --> 00:10:42.029 For me, I promise you, I will not rest 00:10:42.029 --> 00:10:45.281 until every cage is empty, 00:10:45.281 --> 00:10:48.528 and every tank is drained. 00:10:48.528 --> 00:10:52.429 What might it be for you? 00:10:52.429 --> 00:10:54.016 Thank you. 00:10:54.016 --> 00:10:56.048 (Cheers) (Applause)