We’ve had a week full of powerful speeches and heartwarming tributes, post the Orlando massacre – but Dominick Whelton’s on-camera speech is probably the one the touched me the most – because it’s not just about sadness and tragedy – it’s also about hope, and our power to change things.
Dominick is a 22-year-old gay YouTuber and fashion blogger. In his new video, titled “Be The Change, Take A Stand“, he expresses his feeling after the Orlando massacre, and the state many in our community are now in – a state of fear.
“I want to talk about how right now, with all the tragedy that everyone has experienced, a lot of people are afraid. And I get it. There’s been so much love and so much support, but there’s also been a lot of hate out there.
There’s a lot of people out there right now who more than ever are afraid to be who they are, they are afraid to live out the lives that they were created to live. And we cannot sit back and let that happen.
We have to do something. We have to make a change. But real change is measured by the fact that you’ve taken new action, and if you haven’t taken new action you haven’t made a real change. And for so many of us, we haven’t taken real action. We haven’t made real change.
You make change one step at a time. You make change with one interaction at a time. Every single person that you meet, every single person you interact with you show love to, you listen, you really listen to what they’re saying and you don’t disregard it… You open yourself up to receive what they have to say.
Nothing is going to get better if we won’t let the people out there who are hurting now that they are loved.
Let me tell you the truth – you are beautiful, you are loved, you have value, you have purpose, you are strong and you can change the world.
How many times does something horrible have to happen before we actually make change? Too many, apparently.“
Watch it right here:
