[Music] [Applause] Good afternoon everyone. You are standing right here in this beautiful cute little circle and you look very far away and you see something you really want changed. It can be big. It can be trying to protect the environment. It can be helping child poverty produce, but it can also be something very simple and very personal to you, like finally agreeing on the rules of UNO with your friends. And it's somewhere there. You can see it. You can see it right there at the exit sign. You just have ...

Political Violence & Radicalization - A recent survey in May found that 39% of Democrats believe force was justified to remove Donald Trump from the presidency [2] - The same survey found that 24% of Republicans supported the use of the US military by Donald Trump to suppress protests [2] - 55% of respondents who supported the use of force meant lethal force, such as assassinations and shootings [3] - The US is more radicalized than at any time in the four years of conducting quarterly surveys on support for political violence [2] Social & Political Factors - The US is undergoing a historic shift from a white majority to a white minority democracy [10] - This shift is contributing to political disruption and violence, fueling the rise of figures like Donald Trump and reactions from the left [10] - Incendiary rhetoric on both sides is a significant problem, exacerbating grievances [8] - Social change often leads to major political disruption and political violence [9] Potential Solutions & Challenges - Political leaders need to restrain their constituents and condemn violence from all sides [19][20] - Deplatforming people from social media is not a sufficient solution because of underlying social change reasons [11] - The current situation is reminiscent of the political violence in the 1960s, but the driving factors are different [16][17] - It will be very difficult to stop the violence now, given the current political climate and the presence of weapons [13][6]

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Applause] Hi everyone, good evening.Let's do a small exercise before we go deep into the talk which talks about invisible roots of social change. Everyone close your eyes. Don't worry, I'll still be around when you open it.Now, imagine you're standing at the edge of the forest. It's quiet. You look around, you see nothing but trees, but beneath your feet, something powerful is happening.Roots are intertwining, sharing water, nutrients, reaching deep. Yes, even messages. ...

[Music] When you think about social change, when you think about community, what do you envision? Do you envision one group of individuals from an affluent community serving and assisting individuals from an underserved community? Maybe you picture social change to be serving individuals within your own prospective communities. This, of course, is normal. But what if I told you that social change also takes place in unexpected places? See, I've always been fascinated by the criminal justice system. I'm a be ...

[Applause] Let me paint you a picture. It's 2011. I'm in high school at a Friday night football game.I along with my two best friends are wearing our sweatshirts that display the words cookie girls on the back. I didn't understand a single rule about football, but for social acceptance, I knew I needed to be there. A lot of my upbringing felt this way, pretending to care about things I didn't in order to assimilate.It was my way of preventing any potential rejection that might come my way, especially the ki ...

Core Message - The speech emphasizes that perceived limitations are often self-imposed constructs based on social, historical, and personal biases, suggesting that individuals have the power to transcend these limitations [1][17][19] - It highlights the importance of challenging existing norms and laws to bring about societal change, citing examples where individuals' actions led to significant legal and social reforms [2][3][13][14] - The speech advocates for legal literacy, emphasizing that awareness of one's rights is crucial for accessing justice and challenging systemic issues [7][9][11][12] Societal Impact & Legal Perspective - The speaker shares personal experiences and legal cases to illustrate how individuals can challenge societal norms and existing laws to effect change, including examples related to women's rights and legal rights [5][6][15][16] - The speech points out the lack of legal literacy at the grassroots level and advocates for workshops and seminars in vernacular languages to educate people about their rights [11] - It addresses the issue of "prisonization," where individuals in prison are conditioned to behave as prisoners, losing their social identity, and uses examples of individuals who overcame this mental conditioning [20][21][22][23] Call to Action - The speech encourages self-reflection to identify and challenge deeply rooted social, historical, and cultural conditioning [19] - It urges individuals to go beyond societal expectations and contribute to changing the lives of those around them, emphasizing personal responsibility in driving change [24] - The speaker advocates for challenging existing laws and norms, highlighting that landmark judgments and criminal amendments can result from such challenges [13][14]