The Constitution: It's Personal | Tara Hechlik Newsom | TEDxTampaBay
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0:00 - 0:07(Applause)
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0:07 - 0:11I'm here to talk about freedom
and I'm very excited about it. -
0:12 - 0:16Do you remember the first time
you realized that you were free? -
0:17 - 0:19That you're really free?
-
0:20 - 0:22The first time I even knew
what freedom was, -
0:22 - 0:25I got lost in a library
and I was reading stories -
0:25 - 0:28about Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth,
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0:28 - 0:31and freedom was so clear
and so easy to understand. -
0:33 - 0:37And then I grew up and I got complicated
like everything else. -
0:38 - 0:41And I started to look for freedom
in everything I saw, -
0:41 - 0:43I tried to listen for it.
-
0:43 - 0:48And one day I was driving in the car
and I heard on the radio Janis Joplin, -
0:48 - 0:52and she's saying that famous lyric
"Freedom is nothing left to lose." -
0:53 - 0:56And I thought to myself, "Is that
how I have to experience freedom? -
0:56 - 0:58Do I have to get to the edge,
-
0:58 - 1:03lose everything, give everything up
to really experience freedom?" -
1:04 - 1:07See, freedom had become
this esoteric, cerebral idea -
1:07 - 1:09that I couldn't quite touch.
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1:09 - 1:10It was like love, right?
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1:10 - 1:14You can feel it, but you can't touch it,
you can't hold it in your hands. -
1:15 - 1:20And I read this, the great agnostic
Robert Green Ingersoll, -
1:20 - 1:22he wrote it beautifully when he said,
-
1:22 - 1:25"What light is to the eyes,
what air is to the lungs, -
1:25 - 1:29what love is to the heart,
liberty is to the soul of man." -
1:30 - 1:33And I thought, "Oh, this is amazing!
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1:33 - 1:37I cannot get enough
of this freedom stuff." -
1:37 - 1:40And I kept looking for
and looking for in everything I did, -
1:40 - 1:41and so I went to law school.
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1:43 - 1:45And when other people met their partners,
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1:45 - 1:47I met the Constitution.
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1:48 - 1:51I got to know the Constitution
and I flirted with it -
1:51 - 1:53and I tried it on.
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1:53 - 1:56I explored the freedom of religion.
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1:57 - 1:59I tried on the freedom of speech,
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1:59 - 2:02and my family would say too much.
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2:04 - 2:09I assembled, I petitioned,
I wrote to the press, I even shot a gun. -
2:09 - 2:11I loved it, I loved everything
about freedom. -
2:11 - 2:13And what I came to find
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2:13 - 2:19was that freedom in the Constitution
was very personal, very intimate, -
2:19 - 2:22something different
than what they had taught me. -
2:23 - 2:27The Constitution didn't just set up
the power of government, -
2:27 - 2:31it didn't just set up the structure
or the architecture of government. -
2:31 - 2:33It spoke to me personally,
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2:33 - 2:35it spoke to all of us personally.
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2:35 - 2:37It was our guardian, it was our bedfellow.
-
2:38 - 2:44But it wasn't until I started teaching
at an open enrollment college -
2:44 - 2:49where students are anywhere
from 15 to 75 years of age and even older, -
2:50 - 2:52and they come to a sanctuary of sorts,
-
2:53 - 2:56it's where everyone
has access to education. -
2:56 - 2:58It's an amazing idea, right?
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2:59 - 3:01And it was really through my students
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3:01 - 3:04that I understood
this new emerging idea of freedom -
3:04 - 3:07and what I would come to understand
what freedom is now. -
3:08 - 3:12Let me tell you about my students
because they're absolutely fantastic. -
3:12 - 3:14They're gritty, they're self determined,
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3:14 - 3:16they're intellectually curious,
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3:17 - 3:20they're self-reliant,
they're absolutely beautiful. -
3:23 - 3:26They also carry the weight of the world
on their shoulders. -
3:26 - 3:30They are husbands, they are wives,
they are sons, they are daughters, -
3:30 - 3:32they are caregivers,
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3:32 - 3:36and they are seeking education
carrying all that with them. -
3:38 - 3:41And they come to me
and we start to talk about freedom -
3:41 - 3:43and we start to explore the Constitution,
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3:43 - 3:45and they distance themselves from freedom.
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3:46 - 3:49And at first, I couldn't quite tell
what was happening, -
3:49 - 3:51and it started to reveal itself
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3:51 - 3:55that freedom is a few generations
away from my students, -
3:55 - 3:56that hunger for freedom,
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3:57 - 3:59to what that feels like,
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3:59 - 4:02and that they also connected freedom
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4:04 - 4:07with some of the ugliness
and divisiveness of modern politics, -
4:07 - 4:09that they related the two,
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4:09 - 4:10and so they were shy with freedom.
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4:11 - 4:14So I introduced them to the Constitution,
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4:15 - 4:19and they came to understand
what I had come to understand. -
4:19 - 4:21That it was very personal to them,
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4:22 - 4:23very intimate.
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4:23 - 4:27And that the Constitution
didn't grant them their rights. -
4:27 - 4:30It gave them a shield, it protected them.
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4:31 - 4:34That they had been free all along.
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4:34 - 4:36And that they didn't have
to look that hard, -
4:36 - 4:38I didn't have to look that hard.
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4:38 - 4:40You don't have to look that hard
for freedom. -
4:40 - 4:42That it's inside of us.
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4:43 - 4:45And they came to know that truth
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4:45 - 4:47that every single person
in this room knows. -
4:47 - 4:51That deep inside of us,
each one of us is so magnificent, -
4:51 - 4:54so valuable, so unique,
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4:54 - 4:57that we don't need a constitution
to give us freedom. -
4:57 - 4:59We have it as our birthright.
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4:59 - 5:04Not just as Americans,
but as the human race. -
5:05 - 5:07And so, as students
come to know that freedom -
5:07 - 5:09and they try that freedom on,
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5:11 - 5:15they did it in unique and different ways.
-
5:17 - 5:20But they had to come
to a realization first. -
5:21 - 5:24That inherent in freedom
is responsibility. -
5:26 - 5:29That's pretty heavy,
especially for these students -
5:29 - 5:32already carrying the weight
of the world around. -
5:32 - 5:35And responsibility has gotten a bad rap.
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5:37 - 5:41We think of responsibility as this weight,
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5:41 - 5:44and that somehow what Janis Joplin said,
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5:44 - 5:46that we've got to get rid
of all the duties -
5:46 - 5:50and get rid of all the encumbrances
in our lives to really experience freedom, -
5:50 - 5:51and that's absolutely not true.
-
5:51 - 5:54And anyone of us
at traffics and responsibilities knows -
5:54 - 5:59that to embrace responsibility
is probably the most freeing thing -
5:59 - 6:00that any one of us can do,
-
6:00 - 6:02because then you can chart
your own course, -
6:02 - 6:04you can set your own sail,
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6:04 - 6:08you can choose a life that speaks to you.
-
6:08 - 6:11And so students,
once they discover their freedom, -
6:11 - 6:13once they define freedom,
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6:13 - 6:15they have to embrace responsibility.
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6:16 - 6:22And that responsibility first means
to love and respect themselves, -
6:22 - 6:26and then freedom directs them
to respect others, -
6:26 - 6:31to tolerate and to be kind
and to exalt civility. -
6:31 - 6:33Because freedom,
no matter what we define it as, -
6:33 - 6:35no matter how it comes out,
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6:35 - 6:37has never meant
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6:39 - 6:42to be less than those tenants of humanity.
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6:44 - 6:47And so, once they embrace freedom,
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6:48 - 6:51and they feel the responsibility,
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6:51 - 6:55it leads them to the most amazing places.
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6:58 - 7:00It leads them to service.
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7:02 - 7:06And I just want to say
that these students know, -
7:06 - 7:09and I know that
the Constitution is flawed, -
7:09 - 7:12and it's flawed in its design
and its application. -
7:13 - 7:18But there's a tenderness and grace
that it offers each of us. -
7:18 - 7:21And when you can find
that you're a bit of freedom -
7:21 - 7:22in the Constitution,
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7:22 - 7:24you can find that intimacy,
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7:24 - 7:27it leads you to the most amazing places.
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7:28 - 7:29One night, I couldn't sleep
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7:29 - 7:32and I did what all the literature
says not to do, -
7:32 - 7:34I opened my email
in the middle of the night -
7:34 - 7:36thinking that was going
to help me sleep, right? -
7:36 - 7:38And I received
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7:39 - 7:42an email from a student I had had
a few semesters ago. -
7:42 - 7:46And the email was both an apology of sorts
and a manifesto of sorts. -
7:47 - 7:51And in the note, he revealed to me
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7:51 - 7:54that he had not been sober
much of my class, -
7:56 - 7:59but that he was
on his 30th day of sobriety, -
8:00 - 8:05and that he was reconnecting with a son
as a man, as a father, -
8:07 - 8:10and that he was using
the one piece of my class -
8:10 - 8:13that he remembered about freedom
to claim his life back, -
8:13 - 8:16to make his life his own.
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8:18 - 8:21And I realized it was
that unique expression of freedom -
8:22 - 8:24that was really emerging.
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8:24 - 8:27It wasn't the stuff of government,
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8:28 - 8:30it was the stuff that was inside of us.
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8:30 - 8:33He was taking his freedom
and claiming a new life. -
8:33 - 8:37He was not just breaking
the bonds of government, -
8:37 - 8:39he was breaking the narrative
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8:39 - 8:43that all of us have
of past hurts, past abuses, -
8:43 - 8:47societal cues, disenfranchisement,
whatever comes with us. -
8:47 - 8:51He was using his intimate
relationship with freedom -
8:52 - 8:54to express himself, to claim his life.
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8:54 - 8:57But then, he ended with a piece
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8:57 - 9:00that is really the piece
that speaks to me, -
9:00 - 9:03that's really the piece
that I want to share with you today. -
9:04 - 9:07He had used his free will
to claim a sobriety, -
9:07 - 9:10he had used his free will
to connect with his son, -
9:10 - 9:15and then, he asked in closing
where he could serve others, -
9:15 - 9:17where could he dedicate his life.
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9:17 - 9:19So, as exhausted as he was,
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9:21 - 9:23he was seeking to serve others.
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9:24 - 9:29And that diversity of freedom
is seen in almost all my students. -
9:30 - 9:32That when they come to find freedom,
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9:32 - 9:35it could be the artist
that seeks to express themselves -
9:35 - 9:38and celebrate or heal using their art,
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9:38 - 9:42it could be the entrepreneur
that's seeking that economic liberty, -
9:44 - 9:46it comes out in all different ways,
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9:48 - 9:50but it always leads to the same thing.
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9:50 - 9:53When we define freedom,
however we define it, -
9:53 - 9:57it embraces responsibility
and it leads to service, -
9:57 - 10:00and that is the transformative nature
of the Constitution, -
10:00 - 10:03and it's a much different story
that any one of us have ever been told -
10:03 - 10:05in civics class.
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10:08 - 10:10So, I see my students when they come in
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10:10 - 10:12and they define their own freedom
for themselves, -
10:12 - 10:14and they embrace responsibility,
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10:14 - 10:17and they serve others in the community,
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10:17 - 10:18and they serve in our community.
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10:21 - 10:23That freedom of expression
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10:24 - 10:28adds to a national murmur
that we all are listening to right now, -
10:31 - 10:36that our institutions
are gracefully trying to navigate, -
10:36 - 10:40where we have to take these freedoms
that are individual to each of us -
10:41 - 10:43and they compete,
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10:43 - 10:47and we have to figure out
how to resolve that conflict. -
10:47 - 10:51And so, those freedoms of expression
are meeting that national murmur, -
10:51 - 10:53and they're coming together
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10:53 - 10:55and they're part of
this great movement of change -
10:55 - 10:56that we're all living through.
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10:58 - 11:01That freedom doesn't
just belong in the books, -
11:01 - 11:04it doesn't just belong in the parades,
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11:04 - 11:06that it belongs
to each of us individually, -
11:06 - 11:09and that it always drives us
to responsibility -
11:09 - 11:11and always drives us to service.
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11:11 - 11:15And that is beautiful and transformative.
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11:18 - 11:20And it's not just an American ideal,
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11:20 - 11:23it's a universal and shared idea.
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11:23 - 11:27So, next time, when we hear the debate
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11:28 - 11:30about other countries
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11:30 - 11:32and other individuals
seeking their liberties, -
11:34 - 11:36perhaps we can open ourselves
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11:36 - 11:39that that's not just the stuff
of economic crises, -
11:39 - 11:42that that is the making of human rights.
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11:45 - 11:48And I know that we like to see
grand gestures of change, -
11:48 - 11:51and that we look for these big pictures
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11:51 - 11:54of how the world is changing
and how freedom should look, -
11:56 - 11:59but I think that we see
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11:59 - 12:01the most beautiful expressions of liberty
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12:02 - 12:05in the quiet everyday
expressions of service, -
12:06 - 12:09and that those service change the world.
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12:10 - 12:14And I'm excited and turned on
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12:14 - 12:19to see where the whispers
of the Constitution speak to you, -
12:19 - 12:21how they reveal your freedom
and your service. -
12:23 - 12:24Thank you.
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12:24 - 12:29(Applause)
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12:29 - 12:31Elizabeth Markie: Could you stay
just a second? -
12:31 - 12:32Tara Hechlik: Okay.
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12:32 - 12:34EM: So, Tara, I would imagine
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12:34 - 12:38that you get asked a lot of questions
about the Constitution. -
12:38 - 12:39Do you mind if I ask a couple?
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12:39 - 12:40TH: Of course!
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12:43 - 12:46EM: I'm wondering
how free are we in America? -
12:47 - 12:49TH: This is actually a question
that a lot of my students ask -
12:49 - 12:52because we think
we're the barometer of freedom, -
12:52 - 12:56that were the gold standard, yeah?
-
12:56 - 13:00But there's a number of indexes
that we know of -
13:00 - 13:03that actually indicate that,
in terms of economic liberty, -
13:03 - 13:05which is the basis
of a lot of our freedoms, -
13:05 - 13:08we're actually twelfth in the world,
-
13:08 - 13:10and when it comes to civil liberties,
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13:10 - 13:12those are the liberties
that we really like, -
13:12 - 13:15that we're really close to,
we're actually 21st in the world. -
13:15 - 13:19And that's because this idea of freedom
that we're talking about, -
13:19 - 13:20that we're defining,
-
13:20 - 13:24other countries have picked it up
where we started and they ran, -
13:24 - 13:28and they learned from those weaknesses
and those errors of our ways, -
13:28 - 13:29and they exalt it.
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13:30 - 13:35So, to answer your question,
Elizabeth, we are free, -
13:35 - 13:39but our colleagues in other countries
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13:39 - 13:42are actually developing freedom
in a much different way. -
13:45 - 13:47EM: I have one word.
TH: Okay, okay. -
13:47 - 13:48(Laughter)
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13:48 - 13:50EM: One more question for Tara.
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13:50 - 13:54Does the Supreme Court decision
regarding marriage -
13:54 - 13:58mean that the First Amendment
of freedom of religion isn't important? -
14:00 - 14:03TH: So, you've all been watching
the news, yeah? -
14:03 - 14:06We've got a Kentucky clerk
that is sitting in jail. -
14:07 - 14:12And we have a lot of rhetoric
about the freedom of religion -
14:12 - 14:16that somehow the Constitution
belongs to conservatives, -
14:16 - 14:18or belongs to liberals.
-
14:18 - 14:21And what our Supreme Court
has said in June -
14:21 - 14:23is that it belongs--
-
14:23 - 14:25liberty belongs to you,
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14:25 - 14:28but that no liberties
are above each other. -
14:28 - 14:34So that the freedom of religion
does not trump equality, -
14:34 - 14:37and one brand of freedom of religion
does not trump the other. -
14:38 - 14:40So, I think what we're discovering
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14:40 - 14:44is that equality
is paramount with liberty. -
14:44 - 14:45Right?
-
14:46 - 14:50And that we don't have
to compete those liberties, -
14:50 - 14:51we just have to exalt equality.
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14:53 - 14:54EM: Thank you, Tara.
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14:54 - 14:55(Applause)
TH: Thank you.
- Title:
- The Constitution: It's Personal | Tara Hechlik Newsom | TEDxTampaBay
- Description:
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At TEDxTampaBay, Tara shared her experience on how the principles within the U.S. Constitution are coming alive in individuals like never before and rapidly transforming the community for the better.
Committed to strengthening communities thru education and community engagement, Tara works towards creating diverse civic leadership as a Professor at St. Petersburg College. On fire about the principles embodied within the U.S. Constitution and the power of the individual’s unique and personal contribution to civic life, Tara’s career has been spent working with multiple levels of government and within academia. Combined, she now champions the college’s civic engagement efforts.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 15:04
TED Translators admin approved English subtitles for The Constitution: It's Personal | Tara Hechlik Newsom | TEDxTampaBay | ||
TED Translators admin accepted English subtitles for The Constitution: It's Personal | Tara Hechlik Newsom | TEDxTampaBay | ||
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