The Differences Among Us

I attended the Equity and Diversity Conference at my school today. It's one of the conferences I truly enjoy attending because I learn so much about our society. I have always admired people who are not afraid to stand up for themselves, even if it's one against everyone else in this world. The theme of this year's conference was "The Power of Peace is the Harmony of Inclusion"...possibly much easier said than done.

Dan Savage was the opening keynote speaker, a person who created It Gets Better video project on YouTube. I haven't personally heard of him before, but his video project provides the vulnerable youth LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group with hope and vision of their future. I am always shocked by some of the extreme societal prejudices this group particularly goes through. Each time I listen to stories of childhood bullies, physical and mental abuse, and hostility, I consider myself so lucky to have a lifetime happiness surrounded by loved ones.

Through education sessions, I learned more about interacting with people with disabilities and creating an inclusive environment in the department.

However, the highlight of all this was seeing John Legend.  Although he is a nine-time Grammy winner, I have personally become more interested in his philanthropic work. I admire his ability to recognize the potential for influence with his celebrity status, and thus pushing his agenda for improving quality of education and reducing poverty. In his speech, he eloquently articulated the need for advanced education and demanded that educated/inspired young adults to try making a difference in this world. He used Teach for America, where Z served for two years after college, as the biggest example of making a difference in education.  I was pleased that John Legend acknowledged their mission. Later on he performed five of his best known songs, and I had never seen a singer with perfection in his live, and rather improvised, performance. It was 30 minutes of heaven for the 5,000 of us (the UNT students), all singing along to his melody. Only if could have recorded the whole thing. I had even more respect for him as an individual with intelligence, great talent, humbleness, and grace.

Perhaps my only disappointment with this lecture was the attitude of our college students. The inappropriate questions and low level of maturity were highly embarrassing, and my fear for our future generation had rather increased after this fortunate event. I hope that his message will eventually empower some of the students who were among the crowd to do big things with good intention in the future.