WEBVTT

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

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in a 1968 speech where he reflects
upon the Civil Rights Movement,

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states, "In the end,

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we will remember not the words of our enemies

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but the silence of our friends."

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As a teacher, I've internalized this message.

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Every day, all around us,

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we see the consequences of silence

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manifest themselves in the form of discrimination,

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violence, genocide and war.

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In the classroom, I challenge my students

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to explore the silences in their own lives

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through poetry.

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We work together to fill those spaces,

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to recognize them, to name them,

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to understand that they don't
have to be sources of shame.

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In an effort to create a culture within my classroom

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where students feel safe sharing the intimacies

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of their own silences,

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I have four core principles posted on the board

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that sits in the front of my class,

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which every student signs
at the beginning of the year:

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read critically, write consciously,

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speak clearly, tell your truth.

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And I find myself thinking a lot about that last point,

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tell your truth.

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And I realized that

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if I was going to ask my students to speak up,

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I was going to have to tell my truth

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and be honest with them about the times

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where I failed to do so.

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So I tell them that growing up,

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as a kid in a Catholic family in New Orleans,

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during Lent I was always taught

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that the most meaningful thing one could do

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was to give something up,

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sacrifice something you typically indulge in

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to prove to God you understand his sanctity.

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I've given up soda, McDonald's, French fries,

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French kisses, and everything in between.

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But one year, I gave up speaking.

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I figured the most valuable thing I could sacrifice

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was my own voice, but it was like I hadn't realized

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that I had given that up a long time ago.

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I spent so much of my life

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telling people the things they wanted to hear

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instead of the things they needed to,

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told myself I wasn't meant to be anyone's conscience

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because I still had to figure out being my own,

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so sometimes I just wouldn't say anything,

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appeasing ignorance with my silence,

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unaware that validation doesn't need words

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to endorse its existence.

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When Christian was beat up for being gay,

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I put my hands in my pocket

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and walked with my head
down as if I didn't even notice.

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I couldn't use my locker for weeks
because the bolt on the lock

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reminded me of the one I had put on my lips

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when the homeless man on the corner

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looked at me with eyes up merely searching

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for an affirmation that he was worth seeing.

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I was more concerned with
touching the screen on my Apple

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than actually feeding him one.

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When the woman at the fundraising gala

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said "I'm so proud of you.

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It must be so hard teaching
those poor, unintelligent kids,"

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I bit my lip, because apparently
we needed her money

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more than my students needed their dignity.

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We spend so much time

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listening to the things people are saying

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that we rarely pay attention to the things they don't.

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Silence is the residue of fear.

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It is feeling your flaws

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gut-wrench guillotine your tongue.

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It is the air retreating from your chest

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because it doesn't feel safe in your lungs.

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Silence is Rwandan genocide. Silence is Katrina.

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It is what you hear when there
aren't enough body bags left.

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It is the sound after the noose is already tied.

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It is charring. It is chains. It is privilege. It is pain.

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There is no time to pick your battles

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when your battles have already picked you.

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I will not let silence wrap itself around my indecision.

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I will tell Christian that he is a lion,

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a sanctuary of bravery and brilliance.

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I will ask that homeless man what his name is

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and how his day was, because sometimes

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all people want to be is human.

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I will tell that woman that my students can talk about

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transcendentalism like their last name was Thoreau,

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and just because you watched
one episode of "The Wire"

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doesn't mean you know anything about my kids.

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So this year,

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instead of giving something up,

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I will live every day as if there were a microphone

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tucked under my tongue,

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a stage on the underside of my inhibition.

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Because who has to have a soapbox

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when all you've ever needed is your voice?

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Thank you.

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(Applause)