The radical act of choosing common ground
-
0:01 - 0:06In 1994, the Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement Act passed. -
0:06 - 0:08You probably know it as the crime bill.
-
0:08 - 0:09It was a terrible law.
-
0:09 - 0:13It ushered in an era of mass incarceration
-
0:13 - 0:15that allowed mandatory minimums,
-
0:15 - 0:17three-strikes laws,
-
0:17 - 0:19the expansion of the death penalty --
-
0:19 - 0:20it was terrible.
-
0:20 - 0:22But it passed with bipartisan support.
-
0:23 - 0:24GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich,
-
0:24 - 0:26architect of the Republican Revolution,
-
0:26 - 0:27led the way --
-
0:28 - 0:30signed into law by Democratic
President, Bill Clinton. -
0:32 - 0:34Also in 1994,
-
0:34 - 0:36I was a senior in high school
when this bill got passed, -
0:36 - 0:38and you were likely to find me
-
0:38 - 0:42on the streets protesting
any number of causes ... -
0:42 - 0:43including the crime bill.
-
0:44 - 0:46So that's what makes this picture
all the more surprising. -
0:46 - 0:50Newt was not on the top of my
"Favorite Person in this Country" list. -
0:50 - 0:53But this picture was taken in 2015.
-
0:53 - 0:55This was the start of a movement
-
0:55 - 0:57that would pass a bill
called the First Step Act. -
0:57 - 1:00The "New York Times"
called it the most significant reform -
1:00 - 1:02in criminal justice in a generation.
-
1:02 - 1:04You know, 1994 Nisha --
-
1:04 - 1:05on-the-streets activist --
-
1:05 - 1:07might be disappointed in this photo --
-
1:07 - 1:09some of you might be too.
-
1:09 - 1:11But standing here today I'm not.
-
1:11 - 1:14This is what I'm here
to talk to you about today. -
1:14 - 1:15This is radical common ground.
-
1:15 - 1:18And I'm not talking about the kind
of common ground where -- -
1:18 - 1:21you know, we can talk
about how much we love springtime -
1:21 - 1:23or "puppies are super cute."
-
1:23 - 1:26And it's not, you know,
compromised common ground. -
1:26 - 1:28This is common ground that's hard.
-
1:28 - 1:29It hurts.
-
1:29 - 1:33It's the type of common ground
where you will be ridiculed and judged. -
1:34 - 1:37But it's the type of common ground
that can secure human freedom. -
1:38 - 1:40It can save lives.
-
1:41 - 1:45And it's the type of common ground
I was born to find. -
1:45 - 1:46It's in my DNA.
-
1:47 - 1:51My dad was born
during the partition in India. -
1:51 - 1:55After the Indian independence movement,
the country was really divided -
1:55 - 1:57between people who wanted
to keep the country together -
1:57 - 2:00and those who wanted
different independent nations. -
2:00 - 2:02And when the British left,
-
2:02 - 2:07they just decided to draw a line,
the partition and make a new country. -
2:07 - 2:13This started the largest forced
mass migration in human history. -
2:13 - 2:17Fifteen million people trapped
on the wrong side of these new borders. -
2:17 - 2:21Two million people dead
during the partition. -
2:21 - 2:24And my dad was the youngest
baby in a Hindu family -
2:24 - 2:26on the wrong side of the border.
-
2:26 - 2:29and like families all around
the border on both sides, -
2:29 - 2:31they went into hiding.
-
2:31 - 2:36And I was told when I was little
about the story of my family in hiding, -
2:36 - 2:41and one day when armed men came
into the house that they were hiding in, -
2:41 - 2:44searching for families,
my dad started crying. -
2:44 - 2:47And my grandma started shaking him.
-
2:47 - 2:49And my grandfather, in that moment,
-
2:49 - 2:54he made the choice that he'd sacrifice
his son in order to save the family. -
2:55 - 2:57But luckily, in that moment
he stopped crying. -
2:57 - 3:00My grandma, she shook him
and he stopped crying -
3:00 - 3:03and I'm here today
because he stopped crying. -
3:04 - 3:06But I'm also here today
-
3:06 - 3:08because of that Muslim family
that took us in. -
3:09 - 3:12They also were held at gunpoint
-
3:12 - 3:18and an armed man asked
if they were hiding anyone, -
3:18 - 3:22and they swore on the Quran
that nobody was in that house. -
3:23 - 3:26They chose in that moment
when the entire country -- -
3:26 - 3:27everybody in the region,
-
3:27 - 3:30you could hate people
who had different politics than you, -
3:30 - 3:31different religion,
-
3:31 - 3:32you could kill people.
-
3:33 - 3:35That was what was happening.
-
3:35 - 3:38but they swore on their Holy book,
-
3:38 - 3:41they chose the shared humanity
-
3:41 - 3:44over politics of that day, and we lived.
-
3:44 - 3:46And we survived.
-
3:46 - 3:49And I start with this story
because often people tell me -
3:49 - 3:52that my mission for common
ground is the weak position. -
3:53 - 3:56But I ask how was that Muslims
family's actions weak? -
3:58 - 4:01Because of that, my dad
did grow up healthy in India -
4:01 - 4:02and he emigrated to this country,
-
4:02 - 4:05and I was born here in the late '70s,
-
4:05 - 4:09and like most first-generation kids
I was born to build bridges. -
4:09 - 4:13I was a bridge between
the old country and the new. -
4:13 - 4:15And just growing up, that's what I did.
-
4:15 - 4:19I was a brown girl in the Black
and white South in Atlanta, Georgia. -
4:19 - 4:20I was like, on one hand,
-
4:20 - 4:21the perfect Indian daughter --
-
4:21 - 4:22straight As,
-
4:22 - 4:24captain of the debate team --
-
4:24 - 4:25but on the other hand,
-
4:25 - 4:28I was also this radical feminist,
-
4:28 - 4:30punk-rock activist sneaking
out of the house for concerts -
4:30 - 4:34and, you know, getting arrested
like, all the time for causes. -
4:34 - 4:37I was a mix of a lot things.
-
4:37 - 4:40But they all live harmoniously in me.
-
4:41 - 4:43Building bridges was just natural,
-
4:43 - 4:46and I think all of us represent
a mix of a bunch of things. -
4:46 - 4:50I think we have that ability
to find the common ground. -
4:50 - 4:52But that's not how
I was living my life ... -
4:52 - 4:53at all.
-
4:53 - 4:55I moved to the Bay Area in 2001,
-
4:55 - 4:57and this was kind of
a turning point for me; -
4:57 - 4:59it was the start of the second Iraq War.
-
4:59 - 5:02And I was organizing
with a bunch of activists -- -
5:02 - 5:03of course --
-
5:03 - 5:07and we were thinking that probably
we needed to expand our circle -
5:07 - 5:08a little bit,
-
5:08 - 5:11that we weren't going to successfully
stop the war if, you know -- -
5:11 - 5:12just amongst us.
-
5:12 - 5:14So we decided we'd build bridges,
-
5:14 - 5:16expand our circle,
-
5:16 - 5:19and so the great, anarchist
versus communist soccer tournament -
5:19 - 5:21of 2001 was born.
-
5:21 - 5:22(Laughter)
-
5:22 - 5:23That's it.
-
5:23 - 5:26That's how large my circle
was allowed to expand. -
5:27 - 5:29Building bridges with liberal Democrats?
-
5:29 - 5:31Oh, no way, that was a bridge too far.
-
5:31 - 5:33Local electeds?
-
5:33 - 5:35That was a bridge too far.
-
5:36 - 5:37And that was in 2001.
-
5:38 - 5:40And I think you'll agree with me now.
-
5:40 - 5:42In 2020 it's gotten even worse --
-
5:42 - 5:43that division, that tribalism.
-
5:43 - 5:45We won't sit down at dinner
-
5:45 - 5:47with people who voted differently than us.
-
5:47 - 5:50We, like, see a mean tweet
from our best friend -- -
5:50 - 5:52a tweet that, like,
doesn't fit with our worldview, -
5:52 - 5:54and all of a sudden they're canceled.
-
5:54 - 5:57The purity politics of the moment gone.
-
5:57 - 5:58I sometimes wake up --
-
5:58 - 6:00I don't know what we're going to do.
-
6:00 - 6:03And people ask me
"how do we do that?" -
6:03 - 6:05But I know about common ground.
-
6:05 - 6:07I feel like we can build those bridges.
-
6:08 - 6:09But it's not easy.
-
6:10 - 6:12I have a concept that I go back to,
-
6:12 - 6:15and it's a concept that should
be familiar to everybody -
6:15 - 6:17since the beginning of human history.
-
6:17 - 6:18It's the idea of the commons.
-
6:18 - 6:20This shared place
in the center of town -- -
6:20 - 6:22town square,
-
6:22 - 6:23the quad --
-
6:23 - 6:25but it's the place
where you come together, -
6:25 - 6:27your community,
-
6:27 - 6:30and you can listen to people
on soapboxes with different ideas, -
6:30 - 6:31and you can be very different,
-
6:31 - 6:35but you come together because you know
together we're stronger than being apart. -
6:35 - 6:37And today when I think of the commons,
-
6:37 - 6:40I extend it to the resources
we all share -- -
6:40 - 6:41collectively owned,
-
6:41 - 6:42like the air we breathe.
-
6:43 - 6:44I think of schools,
-
6:44 - 6:46parks.
-
6:46 - 6:48I think of the intelligence we share.
-
6:49 - 6:52We can share in libraries or the internet.
-
6:52 - 6:53And I think the internet's important.
-
6:53 - 6:55In this digital age,
-
6:55 - 6:56that shared humanity,
-
6:56 - 6:58that access to be together in the commons,
-
6:58 - 7:00is at our fingertips.
-
7:01 - 7:02But we're not using it that way.
-
7:02 - 7:04We're not coming together.
-
7:04 - 7:08To choose that path towards the commons
and to be with each other, -
7:08 - 7:10you also have to choose love.
-
7:11 - 7:13That's a hard thing.
-
7:13 - 7:15But I know you can't go to the town square
-
7:15 - 7:17filled with hate for the town.
-
7:17 - 7:20You can't lead a people you don't love.
-
7:20 - 7:22You can't lead a country you don't love.
-
7:23 - 7:25And --
-
7:25 - 7:27I don't think you can change the world
-
7:27 - 7:30and say, "I'm only changing it
for the people like me, -
7:30 - 7:31my own circle of friends,
-
7:31 - 7:33not for the people I hate, not for them."
-
7:33 - 7:34It doesn't work.
-
7:34 - 7:36It's a terrible strategy, it doesn't work,
-
7:36 - 7:38but that's what we keep doing.
-
7:38 - 7:40I see it every single day.
-
7:40 - 7:43These silos are just getting stronger.
-
7:43 - 7:45And you know,
-
7:45 - 7:47your corner of the internet,
-
7:47 - 7:49like Instagram or Twitter,
-
7:49 - 7:51we're just in an echo chamber
talking to each other. -
7:51 - 7:55So I can be really comfortable in my
Berkeley Democratic Socialist commons -
7:55 - 7:56and talk to all of you.
-
7:56 - 8:00And my dad can be in his bootstrappy
immigrant Republican commons, -
8:00 - 8:03and I can watch MSNBC
-
8:03 - 8:05and he can watch Fox News
-
8:05 - 8:08and we will not know the same things.
-
8:08 - 8:09We won't have the same --
-
8:09 - 8:11I mean, we won't live in the same world.
-
8:12 - 8:15We may never know each other
or be with each other again. -
8:16 - 8:18And I don't want to keep going
down that path. -
8:19 - 8:22And I know we can get back
to a better path. -
8:22 - 8:24I know we can find our way to the commons,
-
8:24 - 8:28and I know that because I had a first,
like, front-row, firsthand look -
8:28 - 8:30at the ability to do it
-
8:30 - 8:31and do it on a large scale.
-
8:31 - 8:34And so I want to get you back
to the First Step Act -
8:34 - 8:35and the criminal justice reform.
-
8:35 - 8:39I interviewed for a job
with Van Jones about seven years ago. -
8:39 - 8:42And he's been a mentor and my boss,
-
8:42 - 8:46and he's actually an inspiration
behind a lot of this in the speech. -
8:46 - 8:50And he told me that we were going to pass
bipartisan criminal justice reform, -
8:50 - 8:53and I laughed because I thought
that was an oxymoron. -
8:54 - 8:56I was in the streets --
-
8:56 - 8:58go figure --
-
8:58 - 9:00at the Republican
National Convention in 2000 -
9:00 - 9:01in Philadelphia,
-
9:01 - 9:03and we were protesting
the criminal justice system. -
9:03 - 9:07And there were no Republicans
on the streets with me at that protest. -
9:07 - 9:09I remembered the crime bill;
-
9:09 - 9:11I lived through the tough-on-crime era;
-
9:11 - 9:12I didn't see it.
-
9:12 - 9:14But he saw it and he walked me through it.
-
9:14 - 9:17He saw me and people like him on the Left,
-
9:17 - 9:20who it's always been and issue
of dignity and justice, -
9:20 - 9:22that this system has been
racist since the start -
9:22 - 9:25and discriminating against poor
people and people of color -
9:25 - 9:27and it's an issue of justice and dignity.
-
9:27 - 9:29So there we were.
-
9:29 - 9:32But he also saw something different
from our colleagues on the Right. -
9:32 - 9:34The fiscal Conservatives,
-
9:34 - 9:36they had an economic incentive to do it:
-
9:36 - 9:39they saw a system that cost
the taxpayers a whole lot of money -
9:39 - 9:41and was getting terrible results
-
9:41 - 9:43and it wasn't making
the communities any safer. -
9:43 - 9:45The Libertarian Right,
-
9:45 - 9:47who believe in less government,
-
9:47 - 9:49saw an expansion of government control,
-
9:50 - 9:51an expansion of the police state,
-
9:51 - 9:54mass incarceration is like,
antithetical to who they are. -
9:54 - 9:56And the religious Right:
-
9:56 - 9:58second chances --
-
9:58 - 9:59redemption.
-
10:00 - 10:02These are values that they hold dear,
-
10:02 - 10:05and the criminal justice system
can't see those anywhere. -
10:06 - 10:09And so there was common ground to be had.
-
10:09 - 10:11And that's what we set out to do.
-
10:11 - 10:14And under the leadership
of the formerly incarcerated folks -
10:14 - 10:16who have been leading this forever,
-
10:16 - 10:20we built this bipartisan coalition
to pass criminal justice reform. -
10:20 - 10:24Eighty-seven senators voted in favor
of the First Step Act, -
10:24 - 10:26and yeah, President Trump signed it.
-
10:27 - 10:29And because we were able to do that,
-
10:29 - 10:32because we were able
to look at that shared humanity, -
10:32 - 10:34get over our distaste
for working across the aisle, -
10:34 - 10:3720,000 people have been
impacted in just the last year, -
10:37 - 10:407,000 home who would
not have been home, -
10:40 - 10:4517,000 years of human freedom
restored just in the last year. -
10:46 - 10:52(Applause and cheers)
-
10:53 - 10:57And Republicans and Democrats
in this election cycle, -
10:57 - 10:59almost all of them running,
-
10:59 - 11:02are running on platforms
of criminal justice reform. -
11:02 - 11:06They are trying to bring this bigger,
stronger, bolder and more reforms -
11:06 - 11:07everywhere they are.
-
11:07 - 11:10That was impossible
during the tough-on-crime era. -
11:10 - 11:12But I also look at this.
-
11:12 - 11:13These are the people coming home.
-
11:13 - 11:17In my office, we get a video
like this almost every day. -
11:17 - 11:19Thousands of people coming home.
-
11:20 - 11:23And when people tell me
that common ground is the weak position -
11:23 - 11:24or that my love for the people
-
11:24 - 11:27or my belief in our shared
humanity is naive, -
11:27 - 11:29or that if I work with folks
across the aisle -
11:29 - 11:32that I'm somehow getting
taken advantage of, -
11:32 - 11:33I just look at this:
-
11:33 - 11:34I look at the people.
-
11:34 - 11:35I say, "Say that to this --
-
11:35 - 11:37to the folks coming home."
-
11:37 - 11:41Say that to those 2.2 million people
that are still behind bars. -
11:42 - 11:44So now our challenge
is to make this possible -
11:44 - 11:47across a whole bunch
of other issues too: -
11:47 - 11:48human rights, immigration --
-
11:48 - 11:50all sorts of things --
-
11:50 - 11:51health care, mental health.
-
11:51 - 11:53I think there's common ground to be had.
-
11:53 - 11:54But it's not easy.
-
11:54 - 11:57If you want change in a large scale,
-
11:57 - 11:58you need large movements,
-
11:58 - 12:00and that means
our circles have to be bigger. -
12:00 - 12:03And it's not easy being a Lefty
working across the aisle; -
12:03 - 12:05I certainly get
my fair share of hate mail, -
12:05 - 12:08but I think that that's exactly
the radical approach we need right now. -
12:08 - 12:11And so this is Jenny Kim.
-
12:11 - 12:14She is someone who is dead serious
about second-chance hiring. -
12:14 - 12:15She wants to make sure
-
12:15 - 12:18that formerly incarcerated folks
have a pathway to jobs -
12:18 - 12:21and that businesses make it
an amazing place for folks to work. -
12:21 - 12:24She's also the deputy
general counsel at Koch Industries. -
12:24 - 12:26K-O-C-H, Koch.
-
12:26 - 12:27She is an amazing organizer,
-
12:27 - 12:29and I'm proud to work
with her on this issue. -
12:31 - 12:33And an issue I care deeply about,
-
12:33 - 12:35probably a lot of you do too -- climate,
-
12:35 - 12:36which seems divisive,
-
12:36 - 12:39seems like there's no common
ground to be had there. -
12:39 - 12:40I think there is.
-
12:40 - 12:43Trump's own Department of Defense
this year released a report saying -
12:44 - 12:47that all future wars were going
to be wars about resources, -
12:47 - 12:48wars about climate.
-
12:49 - 12:52And so yeah, I want to find
partnership with the military. -
12:52 - 12:54And I used to be the national director --
-
12:54 - 12:57the national organizer
for the War Resisters League, -
12:57 - 12:59the oldest pacifist
organization in the country. -
13:00 - 13:02But if there's common ground
to be had there, -
13:02 - 13:03yeah, I'll partner with them.
-
13:04 - 13:05It's not easy.
-
13:06 - 13:09The approach means
we need to find love. -
13:09 - 13:11We need to get back
to that shared humanity -
13:11 - 13:12and that commons.
-
13:12 - 13:14But I know this love,
-
13:14 - 13:16it doesn't just get us through
Thanksgiving dinner. -
13:16 - 13:18It's the kind of love
that secures freedom, -
13:18 - 13:20changes the world.
-
13:20 - 13:22But to do that,
-
13:22 - 13:24I have to step into my courage,
-
13:24 - 13:26and I want all of you
to step into your courage. -
13:27 - 13:29Just like that Muslim family
-
13:29 - 13:32stepped into their courage
for my Hindu family all those years ago. -
13:33 - 13:34I think we can do it.
-
13:35 - 13:37But it's a little bit uncomfortable.
-
13:38 - 13:39If you are who I know you to be --
-
13:39 - 13:42you know, someone who cares
about change and progress -
13:42 - 13:44and wants to see something
change in the world -- -
13:44 - 13:46you probably want to know how
-
13:46 - 13:49but you're also a little bit uncomfortable
about me standing up here -
13:49 - 13:52and celebrating these pictures
with Newt and Koch, -
13:52 - 13:54talking about partnerships
with the military. -
13:54 - 13:56I want you to feel those feelings.
-
13:56 - 13:58I feel them too.
-
13:58 - 14:00I don't enter into these
partnerships lightly at all. -
14:00 - 14:03My entire trajectory of who I am
has made me think -
14:03 - 14:05that it's not even possible,
-
14:05 - 14:07but I know it is.
-
14:07 - 14:08That feeling,
-
14:08 - 14:10that discomfort,
-
14:10 - 14:14that's preceded every major
breakthrough in human history ever. -
14:15 - 14:18That's that feeling
that comes before a moonshot. -
14:20 - 14:23And so I want to make you
even a little more uncomfortable. -
14:24 - 14:27I want you think about an issue
that you care deeply about -- -
14:27 - 14:30something that you want to see changed
on a national or global scale. -
14:30 - 14:32Think big.
-
14:33 - 14:35What would resolution look like?
-
14:36 - 14:37On a large scale,
-
14:37 - 14:39what would it look like
to solve that problem? -
14:40 - 14:43Can you get there with just
your circle of friends? -
14:43 - 14:44I know you can't.
-
14:45 - 14:47The anarchist-communist soccer
tournament isn't going to help -
14:47 - 14:49bring about that change.
-
14:49 - 14:53So I want to think about how
we can expand our circle a little more. -
14:53 - 14:55Where is there common ground to be found?
-
14:56 - 14:59Can you think of any unlikely allies?
-
15:00 - 15:01Strange partners?
-
15:02 - 15:03Further than that,
-
15:03 - 15:05who's in your way?
-
15:05 - 15:08Who's stopping you
from finding that common ground, -
15:08 - 15:10and is there room for them in that circle?
-
15:11 - 15:12I think there is.
-
15:12 - 15:14I think we have to be able
to find it at this scale. -
15:15 - 15:18And it means that we're going
to have to step into that courage -
15:18 - 15:19and include people,
-
15:19 - 15:21hold our vision so strong,
-
15:21 - 15:23know that justice
and freedom is so important -
15:23 - 15:26that we're able to include more people,
-
15:26 - 15:28love the people who might
not love us back. -
15:29 - 15:30And so I want to ask you:
-
15:30 - 15:32who's your Newt?
-
15:32 - 15:33Who's your Koch?
-
15:33 - 15:35Who's the military in your story?
-
15:36 - 15:37And I want you to find --
-
15:38 - 15:40choose that common ground.
-
15:40 - 15:41Thank you.
-
15:41 - 15:45(Applause and cheers)
- Title:
- The radical act of choosing common ground
- Speaker:
- Nisha Anand
- Description:
-
To achieve lasting change sometimes requires the hard, even radical, choice of partnering with people you'd least expect. Justice reform advocate Nisha Anand shares her story of working with her ideological opposite to make history and save lives -- and urges us all to widen our circles in order to make progress with purpose.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:59
Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Ivana Korom accepted English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Erin Gregory rejected English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Ivana Korom accepted English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The radical act of choosing common ground |