Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent
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0:01 - 0:03I used to have this recurring dream
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0:03 - 0:05where I'd walk into a roomful of people,
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0:06 - 0:09and I'd try not to make
eye contact with anyone. -
0:10 - 0:12Until someone notices me,
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0:12 - 0:13and I just panic.
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0:14 - 0:16And the person walks up to me,
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0:16 - 0:19and says, "Hi, my name is So-and-so.
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0:19 - 0:20And what is your name?"
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0:20 - 0:23And I'm just quiet, unable to respond.
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0:25 - 0:28After some awkward silence, he goes,
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0:28 - 0:29"Have you forgotten your name?"
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0:30 - 0:31And I'm still quiet.
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0:32 - 0:37And then, slowly, all the other people
in the room begin to turn toward me -
0:37 - 0:39and ask, almost in unison,
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0:40 - 0:45(Voice-over, several voices)
"Have you forgotten your name?" -
0:45 - 0:48As the chant gets louder,
I want to respond, but I don't. -
0:50 - 0:52I'm a visual artist.
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0:53 - 0:55Some of my work is humorous,
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0:55 - 0:59and some is a bit funny but in a sad way.
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1:00 - 1:05And one thing that I really enjoy doing
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1:05 - 1:07is making these little animations
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1:07 - 1:11where I get to do the voice-over
for all kinds of characters. -
1:11 - 1:12I've been a bear.
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1:12 - 1:14(Video) Bear (Safwat Saleem's voice): Hi.
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1:14 - 1:16(Laughter)
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1:16 - 1:18Safwat Saleem: I've been a whale.
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1:18 - 1:20(Video) Whale (SS's voice): Hi.
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1:20 - 1:21(Laughter)
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1:21 - 1:22SS: I've been a greeting card.
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1:22 - 1:24(Video) Greeting card (SS's voice): Hi.
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1:24 - 1:25(Laughter)
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1:25 - 1:28SS: And my personal favorite
is Frankenstein's monster. -
1:29 - 1:31(Video) Frankenstein's monster
(SS's voice): (Grunts) -
1:31 - 1:32(Laughter)
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1:32 - 1:34SS: I just had to grunt
a lot for that one. -
1:34 - 1:37A few years ago,
I made this educational video -
1:37 - 1:40about the history of video games.
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1:40 - 1:44And for that one, I got to do
the voice of Space Invader. -
1:44 - 1:46(Video) Space Invader (SS's voice): Hi.
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1:46 - 1:47SS: A dream come true, really,
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1:47 - 1:48(Laughter)
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1:48 - 1:50And when that video was posted online,
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1:50 - 1:53I just sat there on the computer,
hitting "refresh," -
1:53 - 1:55excited to see the response.
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1:55 - 1:57The first comment comes in.
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1:57 - 1:58(Video) Comment: Great job.
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1:58 - 1:59SS: Yes!
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2:00 - 2:01I hit "refresh."
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2:01 - 2:04(Video) Comment: Excellent video.
I look forward to the next one. -
2:04 - 2:07SS: This was just the first
of a two-part video. -
2:07 - 2:09I was going to work
on the second one next. -
2:09 - 2:10I hit "refresh."
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2:10 - 2:14(Video) Comment: Where is part TWO?
WHEREEEEE? I need it NOWWWWW!: P -
2:14 - 2:15(Laughter)
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2:15 - 2:18SS: People other than my mom
were saying nice things about me, -
2:18 - 2:19on the Internet!
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2:19 - 2:22It felt like I had finally arrived.
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2:22 - 2:23I hit "refresh."
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2:23 - 2:26(Video) Comment: His voice
is annoying. No offense. -
2:26 - 2:29SS: OK, no offense taken. Refresh.
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2:29 - 2:32(Video) Comment: Could you remake this
without peanut butter in your mouth? -
2:32 - 2:37SS: OK, at least the feedback
is somewhat constructive. Hit "refresh." -
2:37 - 2:39(Video) Comment: Please don't use
this narrator again -
2:39 - 2:41u can barely understand him.
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2:41 - 2:42SS: Refresh.
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2:42 - 2:45(Video) Comment: Couldn't follow
because of the Indian accent. -
2:45 - 2:46SS: OK, OK, OK, two things.
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2:46 - 2:48Number one, I don't have an Indian accent,
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2:48 - 2:50I have a Pakistani accent, OK?
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2:50 - 2:53And number two, I clearly
have a Pakistani accent. -
2:53 - 2:56(Laughter)
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2:56 - 2:58But comments like that kept coming in,
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2:58 - 3:01so I figured I should just ignore them
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3:01 - 3:04and start working
on the second part of the video. -
3:04 - 3:06I recorded my audio,
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3:06 - 3:09but every time I sat down to edit,
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3:09 - 3:10I just could not do it.
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3:12 - 3:15Every single time, it would take me
back to my childhood, -
3:15 - 3:18when I had a much harder time speaking.
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3:18 - 3:21I've stuttered for as long
as I can remember. -
3:22 - 3:24I was the kid in class
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3:24 - 3:26who would never raise his hand
when he had a question -- -
3:26 - 3:27or knew the answer.
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3:27 - 3:29Every time the phone rang,
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3:29 - 3:32I would run to the bathroom
so I would not have to answer it. -
3:33 - 3:36If it was for me, my parents
would say I'm not around. -
3:36 - 3:38I spent a lot of time in the bathroom.
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3:40 - 3:42And I hated introducing myself,
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3:42 - 3:44especially in groups.
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3:44 - 3:47I'd always stutter on my name,
and there was usually someone who'd go, -
3:47 - 3:49"Have you forgotten your name?"
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3:49 - 3:50And then everybody would laugh.
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3:51 - 3:53That joke never got old.
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3:55 - 3:57(Laughter)
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3:58 - 4:01I spent my childhood
feeling that if I spoke, -
4:01 - 4:07it would become obvious
that there was something wrong with me, -
4:07 - 4:08that I was not normal.
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4:09 - 4:11So I mostly stayed quiet.
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4:12 - 4:16And so you see, eventually for me to even
be able to use my voice in my work -
4:16 - 4:18was a huge step for me.
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4:18 - 4:20Every time I record audio,
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4:20 - 4:23I fumble my way through saying
each sentence many, many times, -
4:23 - 4:25and then I go back in
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4:25 - 4:28and pick the ones
where I think I suck the least. -
4:31 - 4:34(Voice-over) SS: Audio editing
is like Photoshop for your voice. -
4:34 - 4:38I can slow it down, speed it up,
make it deeper, add an echo. -
4:38 - 4:42And if I stutter along the way,
and if I stutter along the way, -
4:42 - 4:43I just go back in and fix it.
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4:43 - 4:45It's magic.
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4:45 - 4:48SS: Using my highly edited
voice in my work -
4:48 - 4:51was a way for me
to finally sound normal to myself. -
4:52 - 4:54But after the comments on the video,
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4:55 - 4:57it no longer made me feel normal.
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4:58 - 5:00And so I stopped
using my voice in my work. -
5:02 - 5:06Since then, I've thought a lot
about what it means to be normal. -
5:07 - 5:09And I've come to understand
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5:09 - 5:13that "normal" has a lot to do
with expectations. -
5:13 - 5:15Let me give you an example.
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5:15 - 5:16I came across this story
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5:16 - 5:18about the Ancient Greek writer, Homer.
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5:19 - 5:22Now, Homer mentions
very few colors in his writing. -
5:23 - 5:24And even when he does,
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5:24 - 5:26he seems to get them quite a bit wrong.
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5:27 - 5:30For example, the sea
is described as wine red, -
5:30 - 5:34people's faces are sometimes green
and sheep are purple. -
5:35 - 5:36But it's not just Homer.
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5:36 - 5:39If you look at all
of the ancient literature -- -
5:39 - 5:41Ancient Chinese, Icelandic, Greek, Indian
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5:41 - 5:43and even the original Hebrew Bible --
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5:43 - 5:46they all mention very few colors.
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5:47 - 5:50And the most popular theory
for why that might be the case -
5:50 - 5:53is that cultures begin
to recognize a color -
5:53 - 5:56only once they have the ability
to make that color. -
5:56 - 5:58So basically, if you can make a color,
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5:58 - 5:59only then can you see it.
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6:00 - 6:03A color like red, which was fairly easy
for many cultures to make -- -
6:03 - 6:06they began to see that color
fairly early on. -
6:06 - 6:09But a color like blue,
which was much harder to make -- -
6:09 - 6:12many cultures didn't begin to learn
how to make that color -
6:12 - 6:13until much later.
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6:13 - 6:16They didn't begin to see it
until much later as well. -
6:16 - 6:19So until then, even though
a color might be all around them, -
6:19 - 6:22they simply did not have
the ability to see it. -
6:22 - 6:23It was invisIble.
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6:23 - 6:25It was not a part of their normal.
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6:27 - 6:29And that story has helped
put my own experience into context. -
6:30 - 6:33So when I first read
the comments on the video, -
6:33 - 6:36my initial reaction was to take it
all very personally. -
6:37 - 6:38But the people commenting did not know
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6:38 - 6:41how self-conscious I am about my voice.
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6:42 - 6:45They were mostly reacting to my accent,
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6:45 - 6:48that it is not normal
for a narrator to have an accent. -
6:49 - 6:51But what is normal, anyway?
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6:51 - 6:55We know that reviewers will find
more spelling errors in your writing -
6:55 - 6:56if they think you're black.
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6:57 - 7:01We know that professors are less likely
to help female or minority students. -
7:02 - 7:05And we know that resumes
with white-sounding names -
7:05 - 7:08get more callbacks than resumes
with black-sounding names. -
7:09 - 7:10Why is that?
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7:11 - 7:13Because of our expectations
of what is normal. -
7:14 - 7:16We think it is normal
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7:16 - 7:18when a black student has spelling errors.
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7:18 - 7:20We think it is normal
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7:20 - 7:23when a female or minority student
does not succeed. -
7:24 - 7:26And we think it is normal
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7:26 - 7:29that a white employee
is a better hire than a black employee. -
7:29 - 7:32But studies also show
that discrimination of this kind, -
7:32 - 7:34in most cases, is simply favoritism,
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7:34 - 7:38and it results more from wanting
to help people that you can relate to -
7:38 - 7:42than the desire to harm people
that you can't relate to. -
7:43 - 7:46And not relating to people
starts at a very early age. -
7:46 - 7:48Let me give you an example.
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7:48 - 7:51One library that keeps track of characters
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7:52 - 7:55in the children's book
collection every year, -
7:55 - 8:00found that in 2014,
only about 11 percent of the books -
8:00 - 8:02had a character of color.
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8:02 - 8:06And just the year before,
that number was about eight percent, -
8:06 - 8:10even though half of American children
today come from a minority background. -
8:10 - 8:11Half.
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8:11 - 8:13So there are two big issues here.
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8:13 - 8:16Number one, children are told
that they can be anything, -
8:16 - 8:17they can do anything,
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8:17 - 8:19and yet, most stories
that children of color consume -
8:19 - 8:21are about people who are not like them.
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8:21 - 8:24Number two is that majority groups
don't get to realize -
8:24 - 8:27the great extent to which
they are similar to minorities -- -
8:27 - 8:30our everyday experiences, our hopes,
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8:30 - 8:32our dreams, our fears
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8:32 - 8:34and our mutual love for hummus.
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8:34 - 8:35It's delicious!
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8:35 - 8:37(Laughter)
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8:38 - 8:41Just like the color blue
for Ancient Greeks, -
8:41 - 8:44minorities are not a part
of what we consider normal, -
8:45 - 8:50because normal is simply a construction
of what we've been exposed to, -
8:50 - 8:52and how visible it is around us.
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8:54 - 8:56And this is where things
get a bit difficult. -
8:57 - 9:01I can accept the preexisting notion
of normal -- that normal is good, -
9:01 - 9:05and anything outside of that very
narrow definition of normal is bad. -
9:06 - 9:10Or I can challenge
that preexisting notion of normal -
9:10 - 9:12with my work
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9:12 - 9:13and with my voice
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9:14 - 9:16and with my accent
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9:17 - 9:18and by standing here onstage,
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9:18 - 9:21even though I'm scared shitless
and would rather be in the bathroom. -
9:22 - 9:23(Laughter)
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9:23 - 9:26(Applause)
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9:33 - 9:36(Video) Sheep (SS's voice):
I'm now slowly starting to use my voice -
9:36 - 9:38in my work again.
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9:38 - 9:39And it feels good.
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9:39 - 9:41It does not mean I won't have a breakdown
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9:41 - 9:43the next time a couple dozen
people say that I talk -
9:43 - 9:46(Mumbling) like I have peanut
butter in my mouth. -
9:46 - 9:47(Laughter)
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9:47 - 9:49SS: It just means I now have
a much better understanding -
9:49 - 9:51of what's at stake,
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9:51 - 9:54and how giving up is not an option.
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9:57 - 9:59The Ancient Greeks didn't just wake up
one day and realize -
9:59 - 10:01that the sky was blue.
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10:01 - 10:05It took centuries, even, for humans
to realize what we had been ignoring -
10:05 - 10:06for so long.
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10:07 - 10:11And so we must continuously challenge
our notion of normal, -
10:11 - 10:15because doing so is going
to allow us as a society -
10:15 - 10:18to finally see the sky for what it is.
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10:20 - 10:26(Video) Characters: Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. -
10:26 - 10:28Frankenstein's monster: (Grunts)
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10:28 - 10:29(Laughter)
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10:29 - 10:30SS: Thank you.
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10:30 - 10:34(Applause)
- Title:
- Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent
- Speaker:
- Safwat Saleem
- Description:
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Safwat Saleem speaks at TED2016
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 10:48
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Why I keep speaking up -- even when people mock my accent |