TED TALK: Bryan Stevenson
"WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT AN INJUSTICE..."
"THE OPPOSITE OF POVERTY IS NOT WEALTH... IN TOO MANY PLACES, THE OPPOSITE OF POVERTY IS JUSTICE."
"IT'S THAT MIND-HEART CONNECTION THAT I BELIEVE COMPELS US TO NOT JUST BE ATTENTIVE TO ALL THE BRIGHT AND DAZZLING THINGS BUT ALSO THE DARK AND DIFFICULT THINGS."
During his TED TALK, Bryan Stevenson addresses truths about America's justice system through issues such as "identity," which is wrapped around in America's unexamined history and is rarely talked about as it is an embarrassment to America's history. He points that there is a huge imbalance around racism in the world. More specifically, 1/3 of the United States' African American male population has been incarcerated at some point in their lives. These issues are rarely talked about and they need action, not argument. as the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson focuses on fighting the issues of poverty and injustice as he challenges racial discrimination in the America's criminal justice system.
In the beginning of his talk, Bryan Stevenson mentions the importance of the concept of "identity." Mr. Stevenson gives examples of how a person can be a teacher and his or her words may be meaningful, but a compassionate teacher's words may be especially meaningful. Another example he gives is how a person can be a doctor and do great things, but a caring caring doctor can do greater things. Personally, I believe that if people can find the power in "identity," we can create the right kind of "identity" in the world. Bryan Stevenson also stressed that people are not able to be fully human until we pay attention to suffering, to poverty, to exclusion, to unfairness, and to injustice. I believe that this is one of the more challenging "identities" to understand because it is hard to to take notice of people who are suffering, in poverty, or are treated to injustice in the world.
In Bryan Stevenson's talk on TED, I was shocked that most people just tried to avoid talking about the ideas of poverty and racism that are still visible in our world today. For instance, Mr. Stevenson mentioned the time he visited the court and had an argument with the judge. From this story, I realized that injustice problems may never be solved because some people do not want to address them due to the embarrassment it may bring upon the American people. However, I believe that this does not resolve any issues because the problem in the world is not mainly poverty, but this idea of injustice that needs action and not argument.
In Bryan Stevenson's talk on TED, I was shocked that most people just tried to avoid talking about the ideas of poverty and racism that are still visible in our world today. For instance, Mr. Stevenson mentioned the time he visited the court and had an argument with the judge. From this story, I realized that injustice problems may never be solved because some people do not want to address them due to the embarrassment it may bring upon the American people. However, I believe that this does not resolve any issues because the problem in the world is not mainly poverty, but this idea of injustice that needs action and not argument.
During the middle of his talk, Bryan Stevenson told the story of meeting Rosa Parks, an African American civil rights activist, when he was a young lawyer. From this story, Mr. Stevenson mentions that he would listen to Rosa Parks along with two other women, Johnnie Carr and Virginia Durr, who were all civil right activists. In this experience, Mr. Stevenson points out that the conversations of these women were "so energizing and so empowering." He becomes really inspired by these women and they advise him to be brave, and to have bravery. With the concept of courage, Mr. Stevenson acknowledges the fact that "the TED community needs more to courageous." I believe that the ultimate goal in revealing "identity" is to take on these challenges of suffering, poverty, and injustice as a community.
