Khalid Latif – A Blind Woman Taught Me How to See

Man, how short am I? A blind woman

just told me I'm short.

So we had a conversation for a few

moments. And as we wrapped up, this young

woman who was blind, she couldn't see. She

said to me, you know, I thought you'd

be a lot taller.

I said, what?

And she said, your voice, it's not coming

from up here,

but it's coming from down here.

And I said, oh.

And one of my students you

understand

Do you understand?

And sometimes, we take the most simplistic

level of understanding

because all we're seeing is what it is

that we see,

but we're not getting to the depth of

certain realities.

How you see people is not indicative of

who they

are, but how you see people will tell

you a lot about yourself.

And if you perceive somebody solely through the

way that they dress, the color of their

skin, whether they have a certain accent or

not,

the fundamental question you have to ask yourself

is why do you see it that way?

Your organs of sensory perception, they are not

limited to the eyes that you see with,

the ears that you hear with, the tongues

that you taste with, the hands that you

touch with, even the minds that you think

with.

But you have a primary organ of cognition

that will synthesize all of this information as

it goes into you in various ways.

If you don't know why it's processing in

the way that it is,

it's just gonna regurgitate the same challenges that

we see day in and day out.

Do you get what I'm saying?

Our deepest strengths are not when we are

apart,

but only when we come together in ways

that we uniquely can.

And this is imperative to be able to

reflect upon now because in your work, you

will have full opportunity

to decide who it is that you will

serve and who it is that you will

not serve.

And you have to ask yourself today,

what will somebody need to look like for

me to not be there for them?

What color of skin will they need to

have? What will the texture of their hair

need to be? What part of the world

will they need to come from so that

my education,

my training,

my skills

will not be used for their benefit?

What allows for the perpetration But

so many more of us who have the

ability to do something about it,

But so many more of us who have

the ability to do something about it,

we simply sit back and do nothing.

Don't hold back what it is that you

have the unique ability to offer.

That's the kind of goodness you want to

be able to harness.

Today, make an affirmation that your growth as

you move forward on every tomorrow that you

see will not be by understanding the other

only through preconceived ideas and notions, but you

will learn the stories of those that are

different from you by actually being with them.

To take time to understand that what it

is that we are fed is not often

what is reality,

And the gain will not be only for

those that will benefit from your presence,

but your perspectives will broaden in ways that

you can't even imagine.

May you be protected always from hearts that

are not humble, tongues that are not wise,

and eyes that have forgotten to cry. You

might be the only one that is standing

when everyone else is seated.

You might be the only one that is

speaking when everyone else is silent.

But you might be that critical voice, that

critical body that ignites what is needed for

everyone else to get going. Go forward and

be the reason that people have hope in

this world.