Growing up as a Chinese kid with flat hair for most of his life, cut by only the best barber in town, my dad, still huge forehead and focus on those A++ grades. There's absolutely no way you can tell that I actually don't fit into the AsianAmerican community. Oh, except I don't speak Chinese.Am I a bad Asian. I ask myself this question whenever my family eats at an authentic Chinese restaurant, like the ones where the walls are as old as the grandpa's eating there, and the decor is non-existent. The waiters ...

Okay, so let me bring you to a free clinic event. A 12-year-old boy lights up as he recalls his latest swimming practice. His mother, meanwhile, clutches a crumbled constant form.Worry edge on her face. Across the room, a 28-year-old injection specialist demonstrate his injection skill while the doctor sits next to him. Seems like he just bit into a lemon.Both have hemophilia, a rare disease that affects around 217,000 people worldwide, where blood doesn't clot properly, which leads to excessive bleeding. Y ...

Aimee Barnes examines how societal expectations—not singlehood itself—create loneliness, stigma, and self-doubt for many adults. She argues that the real issue is a lack of belonging and validation in a world built around couples and families. Her message: wholeness isn’t earned through partnership, but recognised in ourselves. Aimee Barnes is a life coach, facilitator, and trainee psychotherapist with a background in learning and development. She is the founder of Ganbaru, a wellness and education practice ...

When it comes to homelessness, we've been asking ourselves the wrong question for a long time. We've asked, "How do we solve homelessness. " But what if the real question is, "How do we return people to themselves. " Because if we're honest, we've built housing. But what we haven't built were places where people can be returned to themselves with stability, healing, and belonging. The state of homelessness in the United States is dire. Today, we have over 770,000 people experiencing homelessness in the Unit ...

I was 15 when I was told I was dirty. Let me explain. When I was 15, I worked at a fruit stall in Germany in my hometown.And a lady came to the stall and asked for a box of strawberries. I handed it to her. with a smile.Her response, "I can't have these. They're dirty." So, I looked at the strawberries and I saw a few dirt spots. So, I thought, "Fair enough. Pick out a nicer one. Here you go. I can't have these. They're dirty." And this went on until the stall owner pushed me aside and stern face served the ...

When you hear the word home, what do you think about. Is it a certain place where you feel safe, welcome, and like you belong. Or is it surrounded by people you love and who understand you on a deeper level than anyone else.I would bet each of you pictured a different image of home just now. That's because home can mean many things. It may not be the physical house that you sleep in every night. It may not be a place where your biological family resides. It may instead be a dinner table with your chosen fam ...

They say you can't make waves standing still, but here's what they don't tell you. You don't need a wave to make an impact. You just need a ripple.One small unapologetic moment. Y'all know what I'm talking about. That kind where your heart races and your hands are shaking.Your inner critic's like, "Who do you think you are?" Yet, you do it anyway. That moment is called the drop. And the drop, that's where ripples begin.Over time, I've realized something. There's this pattern behind the moments that have cha ...

Hello. Um, the statics teams, Markov, D. Um, the translation for fat cat.[applause] We feel temporary. in English. So, we'll switch to English now.>> Okay. Thank you. [laughter] >> I have a first question.>> Okay. >> In your work, and you get this because we need to move it on. >> Yeah. Yeah.In your work, you speak a lot about belonging, a sense of belonging. Where does it come from. Explain what does it mean.>> Okay, so um I took a really when I left home at 19, I took until 19 to 40 to find my own sense o ...

[applause] Do you know what an orphanage sounds like. When every baby is fed and they're changed and they're medically cared for, but they're not held or nurtured or emotionally seen. silence, not peace, but a haunting quiet.In early orphanages where there were too many babies and not enough caretakers, babies who cried and received no response eventually stopped crying altogether. Their medical needs were met, but their need to be seen was not. Our humanity requires reading in the gaze of one another.Witho ...

In Becoming a Black Man in America, SirDiamond reflects on what it took to grow into himself as a Black, trans man—navigating identity, visibility, and belonging in a world eager to define him. Through personal storytelling, he explores how naming and embracing every part of who we are can become a source of strength, leadership, and responsibility within our communities. SirDiamond (he/him) is a 26-year-old dynamic storyteller, creator, and advocate hailing from Columbus, Akron, and Cleveland, Ohio. As a d ...