Providing perspective

Motivational speaker Monti Washington delivered a presentation in the Dodge Room of the Campus Union where he talked about race, society, and the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

__ By Patrick Fergus __ @patrickfergus5

Monti Washington held an impassioned presentation titled “Which Lives Matter” last Wednesday in the Dodge Room of the Campus Union. Washington, an activist, motivational speaker, actor and author, tackled pressing issues like the Black Lives Matter movement and racial equality.

In an attempt to break the ice with his audience, which he affectionately called his “family,” Washington detailed his onerous childhood. Growing up in Brooklyn, he was the product of a one-night stand, and would often find himself living in crack houses and sleeping in parks for weeks at a time. He moved from one group home to another, amounting to a total of 12 different living facilities in just three years.

Even after he moved into foster care, his caretakers didn’t treat him any better. He often cites one of his foster parents for teaching him a valuable lesson, the power of false narratives.

“She would call me stupid every day, so much so that I thought it was my name,” Washington said. “Whether it is true or false is irrelevant, it’s the belief you have in it.”

Despite it all, Washington still graduated at the top of his high school class and earned two degrees in Mass Communication and Media Studies from Wilberforce University.

“I don’t tell my own story to get applause,” Washington said. ”I tell it because nobody here would’ve looked at me and thought that was my journey, and that’s because we don’t look like our stories.”

The harmful effects of judgment and rigid ideologies were a principal theme through the talk, which was reinforced through the numerous avenues for audience participation.

Activities included every member moving around and talking to two people they had never met before, and having a meaningful conversation. This exposure to people of different cultures and backgrounds was a key lesson Washington wanted to instill.

“Exposure is the cure to ignorance,” Washington said. “When you are able to have a meaningful interaction with somebody and attach a face and a story, that’s humanity.”

The speech also emphasized the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, and how the response of “All Lives Matter” was damaging to the issues that BLM tries to address. The main goal of BLM – equality for Black people who have been discriminated against based solely on the color of their skin – is still in need of substantial advancement, according to Washington

“Equality, to a person of privilege, feels like oppression, and if you keep it ‘all lives matter,’ the sense of urgency to address the problem that Black lives are faced with, goes away entirely,” he said.

In spite of the serious and sometimes uncomfortable content matter, Washington was determined to have fun with his audiences, often adding some comedy and lighthearted humor to his examples.

“I think it just breaks people’s defenses down, and I’ve found going straightforward with it can shut some people off,” Washington said. “So to get people to be more open, you have to find light in something so heavy.”