Full video

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my name is tiana marie my name is

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daenerys

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my name is dominique and i'm one of the

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producers at great big story

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we understand the importance of

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amplifying black voices so we reached

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out to people from all over the country

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to hear what they had to say this is

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what they wish you now

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i wish you knew

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i wish people knew just how much i love

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being black

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my name is tyler gibson and i'm a son a

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brother

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and a husband

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for as many positive experiences i have

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i think i have just as many if not more

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negative experiences where someone tried

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to take that joy of being black away

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from me

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over time all those negative experiences

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build up i've just become numb to it

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my name is alexa chanel ashio and i'm a

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special education teacher

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i want people to understand that black

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is a big word it shouldn't be confined

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to one culture or

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one type of people if you are filled

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with melanin

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you are black that's an okay thing to be

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it's okay to be black call me

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what i am

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my name is archie page and i am a queer

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storyteller

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it's like you're having a regular day

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and then a senseless murder

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like trayvon martin's happens and you

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think that could easily have been me

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you think it's gonna be dark outside

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soon should i even bother wearing

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a hoodie or will i risk getting shot

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in spite of all of that for me being

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black is a gift

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i want people to know that to be black

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in america

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is to know i've inherited a legacy of

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courage and resilience

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my name is rashira dobson and i am a

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philanthropist

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who is disabled

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there are 53 million disabled americans

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and out of those 53 million

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5.6 are disabled black americans

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how obvious to be a minority within a

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minority group

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it's almost like you feel invisible

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twice

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my name is daenerys fraser and i teach

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black and brown students

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i wish you knew that

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there is a stark difference

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between empathy and sympathy

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no one needs your pity no one needs your

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your sorrow we have enough of that

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something about

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melanin something about blackness evokes

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this like visceral fear

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that's one side that's leading to the

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senseless killings

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and murder of those people this fear

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something that does not exist in reality

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it is a figment of our imagination

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that leads to people actually dying

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just crazy i hope that people can muster

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up

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enough courage to never give up on

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leading people out of ignorance

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my name is bria randall and i work in

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human resources

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i was 13 years old at my first

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big slumber party the girls and i were

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sitting around popcorn watching a movie

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and as i reached to get some more

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popcorn a girl

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across from me said your hands make you

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look like a gorilla

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and i'd never heard anything like that

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before i think what hurt worse than her

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saying that hateful comment was the fact

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that not one person

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stood up for me my name is chelsea and

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i'm a medical student

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it shouldn't take murder for you to

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advocate for your fellow human

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if this is the first time that you're

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actually giving a damn and taking action

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in regards to black

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issues then i want you to understand and

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respect

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that that is where you are in your

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evolution

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my name is ramona lindsey and i've been

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a nurse for 50 years

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this country that i love so dearly is

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still

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mired in undeserved and useless

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prejudices

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now is the time to share these

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experiences

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in hopes you see the past and the

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similarities to now

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that is the only way to help change the

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future

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[Music]

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my name is charmaine shoeford

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and i am an english and history teacher

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[Music]

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i wish you knew how much it hurts

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to see fellow black people suffer at the

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hands of people who

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don't take the time to understand them

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and you meet one black person

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you've literally only met one black

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person

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my name is josina campbell and i am a

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multifaceted creative

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[Music]

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we get killed we get nailed on spit on

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dirt thrown on our name falsely accused

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you name it

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and somehow we still pull up and show

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out as a culture

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every single time we keep going

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reminded that we are kings and queens

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first

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so don't let up say it at the top of

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your lungs apply

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pressure let it be known you deserve to

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be in the room

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every single room

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i wish you knew that we are human too

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we hold these tools to be self-evident

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that all men are created

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[Applause]

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thank you so much for watching we got

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tons of submissions and unfortunately we

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could not include them all

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but we did add them to our site so if

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you'd like to hear the full versions of

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the stories you just heard

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plus many more click the link below