WEBVTT 00:00:00.971 --> 00:00:03.130 I used to have this recurring dream 00:00:03.130 --> 00:00:05.937 where I'd walk into a room full of people, 00:00:05.937 --> 00:00:10.061 and I'd try not to make eye contact with anyone, 00:00:10.061 --> 00:00:12.174 until someone notices me, 00:00:12.174 --> 00:00:14.412 and I just panic. 00:00:14.412 --> 00:00:16.239 And the person walks up to me, 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.763 and says, "Hi, my name is so-and-so, 00:00:18.763 --> 00:00:20.496 and what is your name?" 00:00:20.496 --> 00:00:24.332 And I'm just quiet, unable to respond. 00:00:24.332 --> 00:00:27.893 After some awkward silence, he goes, 00:00:27.893 --> 00:00:30.080 "Have you forgotten your name?" 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:32.468 And I'm still quiet. 00:00:32.468 --> 00:00:36.963 And then, slowly, all the other people in the room begin to turn toward me 00:00:36.963 --> 00:00:39.681 and ask, almost in unison, 00:00:39.681 --> 00:00:42.193 "Have you forgotten your name?" 00:00:42.193 --> 00:00:47.694 As the chant gets louder, I want to respond, but I don't. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:50.526 --> 00:00:52.484 I'm a visual artist. 00:00:52.484 --> 00:00:55.359 Some of my work is humorous, 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.513 and some is a bit funny 00:00:57.513 --> 00:01:00.256 but in a sad way. 00:01:00.256 --> 00:01:04.891 And one thing that I really enjoy doing 00:01:04.891 --> 00:01:07.264 is making these little animations 00:01:07.264 --> 00:01:11.019 where I get to do the voiceover for all kinds of characters. 00:01:11.019 --> 00:01:12.416 I've been a bear. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:12.416 --> 00:01:13.969 (Video) Bear: Hi. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:13.969 --> 00:01:17.918 Safwat Saleem: I've been a whale. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:17.918 --> 00:01:19.901 (Video) Whale: Hi. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:19.901 --> 00:01:21.187 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:21.187 --> 00:01:22.703 SS: I've been a greeting card. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:22.703 --> 00:01:24.054 (Video) Greeting card: Hi. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:24.054 --> 00:01:25.376 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:25.376 --> 00:01:28.748 SS: And my personal favorite is Frankenstein's monster. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:28.748 --> 00:01:31.115 (Video) Frankenstein's Monster: Grunt. 00:01:31.115 --> 00:01:31.826 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:31.826 --> 00:01:34.730 SS: I just had to grunt a lot for that one. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:37.650 A few years ago, I made this educational video 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:40.289 about the history of video games, 00:01:40.289 --> 00:01:43.942 and for that one I got to do the voice of space invader. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:43.942 --> 00:01:45.361 (Video) Space Invader: Hi. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:45.361 --> 00:01:47.061 SS: A dream come true, really, 00:01:47.061 --> 00:01:50.234 and when that video was posted online, 00:01:50.234 --> 00:01:54.930 I just sat there on the computer hitting refresh, excited to see the response. 00:01:54.930 --> 00:01:56.826 And the first comment comes in. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:56.826 --> 00:01:58.023 (Video) Comment: Great job. SS: Yes. 00:01:58.023 --> 00:02:01.099 I hit refresh. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:01.099 --> 00:02:03.753 (Video) Comment: Excellent video. I look forward to the next one. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:03.753 --> 00:02:06.690 SS: This was just the first of a two-part video. 00:02:06.690 --> 00:02:08.779 I was going to work on the second one next. 00:02:08.779 --> 00:02:10.342 I hit refresh. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:10.342 --> 00:02:13.941 (Video) Comment: Where is part TWO? WHEREEEE? I need it NOWWWWW! :P NOTE Paragraph 00:02:13.941 --> 00:02:15.482 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:02:15.482 --> 00:02:18.366 SS: People other than my mom were saying nice things about me, 00:02:18.366 --> 00:02:19.700 on the Internet! 00:02:19.700 --> 00:02:21.990 It felt like I had finally arrived. 00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:23.400 I hit refresh. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:26.141 (Video) Comment: His voice is annoying no offense. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:26.141 --> 00:02:28.685 SS: Okay, no offense taken. Refresh. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:28.685 --> 00:02:32.381 (Video) Comment: Could you remake this without peanut butter in your mouth? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:32.381 --> 00:02:36.700 SS: Okay, at least the feedback is somewhat constructive. Right? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:36.700 --> 00:02:38.405 (Video) Comment: Please don't use this narrator again 00:02:38.405 --> 00:02:40.275 u can barely understand him. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:40.275 --> 00:02:41.617 SS: Refresh. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:41.617 --> 00:02:44.664 (Video) Comment: Couldn't follow because of the Indian accent. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:44.664 --> 00:02:46.353 SS: Okay, okay, okay, two things. 00:02:46.353 --> 00:02:48.353 Number one, I don't have an Indian accent, 00:02:48.353 --> 00:02:50.422 I have a Pakistani accent, okay? 00:02:50.422 --> 00:02:53.482 And number two, I clearly have a Pakistani accent. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:53.482 --> 00:02:55.530 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:02:55.530 --> 00:02:58.518 But comments like that kept coming in, 00:02:58.518 --> 00:03:02.013 and so I figured I should just ignore them and start working 00:03:02.013 --> 00:03:04.152 on the second part of the video. 00:03:04.152 --> 00:03:05.705 I recorded my audio, 00:03:05.705 --> 00:03:08.854 but every time I sat down to edit, 00:03:08.854 --> 00:03:11.125 I just could not do it. 00:03:11.125 --> 00:03:14.700 Every single time, it would take me back to my childhood 00:03:14.700 --> 00:03:18.164 when I had a much harder time speaking. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:18.164 --> 00:03:21.480 I've stuttered for as long as I can remember. 00:03:21.480 --> 00:03:25.469 I was the kid in class 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:27.902 who would never raise his hand when he had a question or knew the answer. 00:03:27.902 --> 00:03:29.126 Every time the phone rang, 00:03:29.126 --> 00:03:33.130 I would run to the bathroom so that I would not have to answer it. 00:03:33.130 --> 00:03:36.362 If it was for me, my parents would say that I'm not around. 00:03:36.362 --> 00:03:39.330 I spent a lot of time in the bathroom. 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:42.448 And I hated introducing myself, 00:03:42.448 --> 00:03:43.999 especially in groups. 00:03:43.999 --> 00:03:45.508 I'd always stutter on my name, 00:03:45.508 --> 00:03:48.665 and there was usually someone who would go, "Have you forgotten your name?" 00:03:48.665 --> 00:03:51.078 And then everybody would laugh. 00:03:51.078 --> 00:03:53.228 That joke never got old. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:55.251 --> 00:03:57.858 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:57.858 --> 00:03:59.854 I spent my childhood feeling 00:03:59.854 --> 00:04:01.570 that if I spoke, 00:04:01.570 --> 00:04:03.166 it would become obvious 00:04:03.166 --> 00:04:06.645 that there was something wrong with me, 00:04:06.645 --> 00:04:08.627 that I was not normal. 00:04:08.627 --> 00:04:11.395 So I mostly stayed quiet. 00:04:11.395 --> 00:04:16.137 And so you see, eventually for me to even be able to use my voice in my work 00:04:16.137 --> 00:04:17.991 was a huge step for me. 00:04:17.991 --> 00:04:21.160 Every time I record audio, I fumble my way through saying 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:23.412 each sentence many, many times, 00:04:23.412 --> 00:04:24.871 and then I go back in 00:04:24.871 --> 00:04:29.108 and pick the ones where I think I suck the least. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:29.108 --> 00:04:33.663 (Audio) SS: Audio editing is like Photoshop for your voice. 00:04:33.663 --> 00:04:37.746 I can slow it down, speed it up, make it deeper, add an echo. 00:04:37.746 --> 00:04:41.842 And if I stutter along the way, and if I stutter along the way, 00:04:41.842 --> 00:04:44.681 I just go in and fix it. It's magic. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:44.681 --> 00:04:47.116 SS: And so using my highly edited voice 00:04:47.116 --> 00:04:52.031 in my work was a way for me to finally sound normal to myself. 00:04:52.031 --> 00:04:54.543 But after the comments on the video, 00:04:54.543 --> 00:04:57.619 it no longer made me feel normal. 00:04:57.619 --> 00:05:01.691 And so I stopped using my voice in my work. 00:05:01.691 --> 00:05:06.225 And since then, I've thought a lot about what it means to be normal. 00:05:06.225 --> 00:05:13.499 And I've come to understand that normal has a lot to do with expectations. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:13.499 --> 00:05:14.988 Let me give you an example. 00:05:14.988 --> 00:05:16.460 I came across this story 00:05:16.460 --> 00:05:18.623 about the Ancient Greek writer Homer. 00:05:18.623 --> 00:05:22.503 Now, Homer mentions very few colors in his writing, 00:05:22.503 --> 00:05:24.279 and even when he does, 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:26.988 he seems to get them quite a bit wrong. 00:05:26.988 --> 00:05:30.371 For example, the sea is described as wine red, 00:05:30.371 --> 00:05:34.503 people's faces are sometimes green, and sheep are purple. 00:05:34.503 --> 00:05:36.391 But it's not just Homer. 00:05:36.391 --> 00:05:38.563 If you look at all of the ancient literature -- 00:05:38.563 --> 00:05:40.966 Ancient Chinese, Icelandic, Greek, Indian, 00:05:40.966 --> 00:05:43.603 and even the original Hebrew Bible -- 00:05:43.603 --> 00:05:46.809 they all mention very few colors. 00:05:46.809 --> 00:05:48.522 And the most popular theory 00:05:48.522 --> 00:05:50.149 for why that might be the case 00:05:50.149 --> 00:05:52.577 is that cultures begin to recognize a color 00:05:52.577 --> 00:05:55.686 only once they have the ability to make that color. 00:05:55.686 --> 00:05:57.491 So basically, if you can make a color, 00:05:57.491 --> 00:06:00.021 only then can you see it. 00:06:00.021 --> 00:06:03.410 A color like red, which was fairly easy for many cultures to make, 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:06.341 they began to see that color fairly early on, 00:06:06.341 --> 00:06:09.032 but a color like blue, which was much harder to make, 00:06:09.032 --> 00:06:11.451 many cultures didn't begin to learn how to make that color 00:06:11.451 --> 00:06:12.670 until much later. 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:15.715 They didn't begin to see it until much later as well. 00:06:15.715 --> 00:06:19.477 So until then, even though a color might be all around them, 00:06:19.477 --> 00:06:22.170 they simply did not have the ability to see it. 00:06:22.170 --> 00:06:23.179 It was invisIble. 00:06:23.179 --> 00:06:26.409 It was not a part of their normal. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:26.409 --> 00:06:30.138 And that story has helped put my own experience into context. 00:06:30.138 --> 00:06:32.146 So when I first read the comments 00:06:32.146 --> 00:06:33.050 on the video, 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:36.260 my initial reaction was to take it all very personally. 00:06:36.260 --> 00:06:40.245 But the people commenting did not know how self-conscious I am 00:06:40.245 --> 00:06:41.669 about my voice, 00:06:41.669 --> 00:06:45.029 and they were mostly reacting to my accent, 00:06:45.029 --> 00:06:46.796 that it is not normal for a narrator to have an accent. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:46.796 --> 00:06:50.996 But what is normal anyway? 00:06:50.996 --> 00:06:53.845 We know that reviewers will find more spelling errors 00:06:53.845 --> 00:06:56.151 in your writing if they think you're black. 00:06:56.151 --> 00:07:01.853 We know that professors are less likely to help female or minority students. 00:07:01.853 --> 00:07:05.020 And we know that resumes with white-sounding names 00:07:05.020 --> 00:07:08.821 get more callbacks than resumes with black-sounding names. 00:07:08.821 --> 00:07:10.788 Why is that? 00:07:10.788 --> 00:07:14.135 Because of our expectations of what is normal. 00:07:14.135 --> 00:07:15.738 We think it is normal 00:07:15.738 --> 00:07:18.439 when a black student has spelling errors. 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:22.027 We think it is normal when a female or minority student 00:07:22.027 --> 00:07:23.962 does not succeed. 00:07:23.962 --> 00:07:26.476 And we think it is normal that a white employee 00:07:26.476 --> 00:07:29.399 is a better hire than a black employee. 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:31.814 But studies also show that discrimination of this kind, 00:07:31.814 --> 00:07:34.328 in most cases, is simply favoritism, 00:07:34.328 --> 00:07:37.729 and it results more from wanting to help people that you can relate to 00:07:37.729 --> 00:07:43.046 than the desire to harm people that you can't relate to. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:43.046 --> 00:07:46.336 And not relating to people starts at a very early age. 00:07:46.336 --> 00:07:47.949 Let me give you an example. 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:53.669 One library that keeps track of characters in the children's book collection 00:07:53.669 --> 00:07:59.896 every year, they found that in 2014, only about 11 percent of the books 00:07:59.896 --> 00:08:02.593 had a character of color, 00:08:02.593 --> 00:08:06.116 and just the year before, that number was about 8 percent, 00:08:06.116 --> 00:08:10.088 even though half of American children today come from a minority background. 00:08:10.088 --> 00:08:11.353 Half. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:11.353 --> 00:08:13.168 So there are two big issues here. 00:08:13.168 --> 00:08:15.747 Number one, children are told that they can be anything, 00:08:15.747 --> 00:08:17.312 that they can do anything, and yet 00:08:17.312 --> 00:08:19.463 most stories that children of color consume 00:08:19.463 --> 00:08:21.256 are about people who are not like them. 00:08:21.256 --> 00:08:24.906 And number two is that majority groups don't get to realize the great extent 00:08:24.906 --> 00:08:27.096 to which they are similar to minorities -- 00:08:27.096 --> 00:08:29.793 our everyday experiences, our hopes, 00:08:29.793 --> 00:08:32.063 our dreams, our fears, 00:08:32.063 --> 00:08:33.861 and our mutual love for hummus. 00:08:33.861 --> 00:08:35.193 It's delicious. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:35.193 --> 00:08:37.852 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:08:37.852 --> 00:08:40.901 Just like the color blue for Ancient Greeks, 00:08:40.901 --> 00:08:45.440 minorities are not a part of what we consider normal, 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.618 because normal is simply a construction of what we've been exposed to, 00:08:50.618 --> 00:08:53.401 and how visible it is around us. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:53.401 --> 00:08:56.447 And this is where things get a bit difficult. 00:08:56.447 --> 00:09:01.224 I can accept the pre-existing notion of normal, that normal is good 00:09:01.224 --> 00:09:05.830 and that anything outside of that very narrow definition of normal is bad, 00:09:05.830 --> 00:09:09.944 or I can challenge that pre-existing notion of normal 00:09:09.944 --> 00:09:13.743 with my work and with my voice 00:09:13.743 --> 00:09:16.056 and with my accent 00:09:16.056 --> 00:09:18.307 and by standing here on stage, 00:09:18.307 --> 00:09:21.604 even though I'm scared shitless and would rather be in the bathroom. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:21.604 --> 00:09:25.852 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:09:32.881 --> 00:09:37.240 (Video) Sheep: And so I am now slowly starting to use my voice in my work again, 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:38.396 and it feels good. 00:09:38.396 --> 00:09:41.677 It does not mean I won't have a breakdown the next time a couple dozen people 00:09:41.677 --> 00:09:44.155 say that I talk like I have peanut butter in my mouth. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:44.155 --> 00:09:46.844 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:09:46.844 --> 00:09:49.358 SS: It just means I now have a much better understanding 00:09:49.358 --> 00:09:51.076 of what's at stake, 00:09:51.076 --> 00:09:54.231 and how giving up is not an option. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:56.436 --> 00:09:59.506 The Ancient Greeks did not just wake up one day and realize 00:09:59.506 --> 00:10:01.316 that the sky was blue. 00:10:01.316 --> 00:10:05.031 It took centuries, even, for humans to realize what we had been ignoring 00:10:05.031 --> 00:10:07.169 for so long. 00:10:07.169 --> 00:10:10.866 And so we must continuously challenge our notion of normal, 00:10:10.866 --> 00:10:16.474 because doing so is going to allow us as a society to finally see the sky 00:10:16.474 --> 00:10:18.848 for what it is. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:18.848 --> 00:10:27.595 (Video) Animals: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Grunt. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:27.595 --> 00:10:29.780 SS: Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:29.780 --> 00:10:33.941 (Applause)