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