In My Own Words

 Presentation Begins

[Scrolling montage of images - from all parts of the world and all walks of life] 

Enter Stage

These people are just like you. They have their own families, their own fears...Their own  

culture.And in just 7 seconds you judged them. I judged them. And they likely would judge us too. Why? Because as humans, we gravitate toward what we’re comfortable with. We surround ourselves with people who think and talk and act like we do. We’re friends with those who share similar interests, tastes in music and movies, and religious beliefs.

However, by insulating ourselves with the familiar, we’re building fences that act to keep us in our bubbles, preventing new experiences, and keeping alternative views and foreign cultures distant and unknown…in essence, our isolation breeds fear. And we too often fear what we don’t understand. When fear leads us, we protect ourselves by insulating ourselves. Lashing out against others with preconceived notions, stereotypes and prejudices – all of which lead to terrible consequences to our fellow man.

Why do we do this? I believe it’s because we don’t really know these people at all. We have a bias against the things and people who are different from us. And that you never really know a person until you know where they came from and understand their culture. As the great cultural activist Cesar Chavez once said, “Preservation of one’s culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” 

My hope today is that you will leave here with a belief that we as Americans can overcome these fears without sacrificing our patriotism or our way of life. And better yet, we can even prevent it from happening in the first place. How? By creating global compassion through the simple act of travel.

Global compassion is a conscious act of empathy towards the cultures of others gained by taking a peek into their life through traveling. Not just walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, but walking down the same road, in the same place that they live in. As Twain once said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” 

My eyes were recently opened when I had the opportunity to experience this first hand: Visiting New York City with my family. Taking in the sights and sounds of the Big Apple, I soon realized that the world was much bigger than Mountain Brook, Alabama. Walking through Chinatown, I overheard different languages, saw unique faces and smelled new smells that I’d never been exposed to. But one thing that didn’t need translation was the smiling faces of the people on the streets. My immersion into the “melting pot” that is the US though came around 9:00 pm New Year’s Eve. My family and I were trying to cross the street to find a place to stand before the big drop. We were not the only ones with this plan. Thousands of people - many of them tourists from other countries - stood in line to cross this very street. Thick accents and people of all kinds started squeezing into me, yelling over me, and standing next to me. But in that moment no one was thinking of stereotypes or hate. We were all the same. We were all just hopeful human beings, anticipating another year of life. 

Our cultural bias is a problem that has been around as long as we have. But it is a problem that we as a society fuel. Let me ask you a question. When you flip on the TV to watch the evening news, what do you see? Religious conflicts, refugee crises, terrorist attacks in places unfamiliar. But what about the positives of these people and places? Anything good about another country, another nation, other cultures? The media builds this fear that prevents us from checking things off our bucket list or catching the flight to the place you’ve always dreamed of going. And we believe these things. Did you know that despite it being one of the richest nations, fewer than half of all Americans even own a passport?

Our society is a society born to work. Go to college, get a job, have a family, so on and so forth. Unfortunately, the American Dream created decades ago by a different generation didn’t include traveling to foreign countries or integrating with other cultures...consequently, the desire to develop human empathy and understanding has been lost.

But the world is changing. The creation of the internet, and social media in particular, have made the world a smaller place. Kids today don’t think of the world the same way as the generations before them. We can learn more about other societies with just a few scrolls through Instagram than previous generations may have gathered in a lifetime. But it’s more than just education. Seeing the beauty of a place unknown begs the viewer to want more. We also need the experience. As Muhammad once said “Don't tell me how educated you are, tell how much you've traveled.” 

If travel were more a part of today’s educational curriculum, I believe we as humans would not only survive, but my generation could be the one to thrive. People that travel today come home with a changed mind. Not just with a new perspective about the world, but about themselves. They are happier. The people of Scandinavia are the most well-traveled in this world. And I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark also rank in the top ten of the happiest places on earth.

But a major problem that prevents the people of our generation from taking this step towards global compassion is money. Traveling is expensive and many people will never get the chance to travel in their lifetime. So I had an idea. To first understand the world, we must understand and build compassion locally. This is why I would like to start a foundation that brings different Birmingham schools together that would otherwise never intertwine. These kids would come together and pick a place to learn and study about. Then the schools would provide 21st century pen pals for the students with students at a sister school at their designated location. The students would make connections and gain international friends as well as possible places to stay. The Birmingham students would then raise money together, travel together, and make the world a better place together. 

So...catch a flight, take a sail, jump on a train. Who knows where you’ll go or what you’ll learn. But I believe that traveling will take you much farther than just your destination.