My I Have A Dream Speech

Trigger Warning: There are mentions of systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, and social injustice.

I was a student at MSU when the shooting in February happened.

I have a history of disordered eating.

I have attempted suicide (i.e., during high school).

I'm a white and able-bodied female.

I'm the oldest sibling in my family.

I'm a novelist.

I'm in an interracial & interfaith relationship and have been for over a year now (i.e., I'm Christian and my partner is Hindi).

These are some of my identities and experiences that have led me to where I am today.

I come to you having learned from these experiences of mine. I recognize my privilege and I recognize the areas where I am disadvantaged, and I also recognize that I'm an advocate not just for the social issues I've gone through, but also for those that impact others. Through cultural humility, it's my goal to learn what it's like for others and to work together toward a world that is accepting of all of us. A world isn't just until we're all given the same opportunities and kindness.

Hope and vision are the two things that keep me going. I can see a changed world that's better than this one.

Oftentimes I'm asked what is my perfect day, so today I want to answer a different prompt. What is my perfect world?

A perfect world to me is going to school or to a concert with my friends and not having worry in the back of my mind that someone is going to pull out a gun and kill us. It's reading the news and not having to read about more innocent young lives getting their futures stripped away by bullets. It's being able to see a line of cop cars and not having a panic attack that it's another shooting. I dream that those who end up being the perpetrators to these senseless cycles of violence, that they get the help they need before they act on their thoughts; I dream that people consider all the factors before using them as a way to further stigmatize mental illness.

I grieve for the kid in my class who is worried their partner will get deported under the Trump administration. I grieve for the girl in my class who is afraid her tattoo (which before had given her so much confidence in her identity as queer), would in the next four years fire her from her job. I grieve for the girl whose parents refuse to respect her pronouns, let alone say them. I grieve for my Black and brown friends who dismiss the discrimination because "they're used to it."

I grieve for people who are transgender who have to bear the financial and psychological burden of traveling thousands of miles to another state just to get the gender-affirming care they deserve as a human. The same goes for women living under the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I grieve for people who are intersex and who are persuaded and/or forced to have surgeries they don't want to; I grieve for the babies who don't yet have a voice for themselves and who have other people making decisions about their bodies on their behalf, before they have even fully grasped what the world is.

I also grieve for those on welfare with a low socioeconomic status who are forced to go through the long and complicated processes of getting SNAP benefits. In my dream world, they don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get help. Also in my perfect world, everyone qualifies, not just those deemed "deserving."

I have a dream that one day I can walk into American Eagle and Victoria Secret and Forever 21 and all my go-to stores and see a size for every body type, not just extra smalls and mediums. I have a dream the label plus-size is thrown far away to a universe where no one in this country remembers it ever existed. I have a dream I can go to a fashion show and see women of all different body types but with no differentiation between them, no segregation between the ones who fit society’s ideal and the ones that don’t.

I have a dream that someday my queer friends can walk down the street holding their girlfriends’ hands and not get unsolicited stares, looks, and judgements. I have a dream they can kiss in public just like straight couples can. 

I have a dream of a world where a Black man can go somewhere without other people running the other direction or flinching in his presence. I have a dream a Black man can be seen as more than a stereotype.

I have a dream that those who are disabled don't get a thousand people holding the door for them. I have a dream that people can respect their self-determination and see that their wheels are no less their way to get around than an able-bodied person's feet are.

I have a dream where playboy magazines and porn sites stop sexualizing women. I have a dream where women can sleep who whoever they want and however many people they want and not get slut shamed. I have a dream where they can wear whatever they want. In my perfect world, perpetrators are held responsible for sexual assault, not the clothes their victims were wearing. I have a dream where I can go outside in the dark alone and not worry for my safety as a woman,

I have a dream.

I have a dream children aren’t kidnapped from their parents and sent into sex trafficking. I have a dream movies like The Sound of Freedom are actually given a chance. 

I have a dream Black women in medical settings are treated the same as any other patient. I have a dream doctors can do their research and know that it’s a ridiculous notion that Black women can somehow endear more pain than white women. In my perfect world, they are aware of their implicit biases and try to challenge them. I have a dream the Black women mortality rate is no bigger than the white women mortality rate. 

I have a dream that my future kids can go to school and not be bullied for the way they look or the way they act. I have a dream everyone can be kind to each other. 

I have a dream a religious person who identifies as gay can walk into a church and be loved unconditionally, not conditionally. 

I have a dream white feminists include women of color in their feminism. I have a dream white females vote for their fellow females in elections and support them. I have a dream that instead of women hurting women, that we come together.

I have a dream that individualism and competition are overridden with teamwork. I have a dream that two artists can come together, and instead of worry about who is the better artist, they can come together to create the most amazing pieces the world has ever seen.

I have a dream that Indigenous Peoples get all of their land back, and that they are acknowledged. I have a dream that colonialism and oppression are dismantled forever. I have a dream that all of us good human beings are the ones to do it.

I have a dream that one day my novels help people, and that they make a difference. 

I have a dream.

You can take a lot of things away from me, maybe even my freedom and others’ freedom, but you can’t take away my love and hope.