Becoming

00:26:51,568 --> 00:26:55,697 It was the first time in my life where I stood out like that. 538 00:26:59,576 --> 00:27:02,162 I learned that one of my roommates moved out 539 00:27:02,245 --> 00:27:05,749 because her mother was horrified that I was black. 540 00:27:07,917 --> 00:27:10,337 She felt her daughter was in danger. 541 00:27:12,464 --> 00:27:14,174 I wasn't prepared for that. 542 00:27:17,636 --> 00:27:22,265 In hindsight, I think I needed to go to Princeton to see for myself 543 00:27:22,641 --> 00:27:25,935 what all this was that I wasn't good enough for. 544 00:27:26,478 --> 00:27:29,648 [Gayle] And then you're in class with some of these guys, and you realized what? 545 00:27:31,024 --> 00:27:32,734 Well, they're not that smart. 546 00:27:34,069 --> 00:27:36,863 And it's not even just an image that we have. 547 00:27:36,946 --> 00:27:38,490 It's an image that we're given. 548 00:27:38,573 --> 00:27:41,826 People have told us, "No, these are the things that aren't for you." 549 00:27:42,410 --> 00:27:45,330 So one of the most empowering things as a young person 550 00:27:45,413 --> 00:27:47,207 was to go to one of the top schools 551 00:27:47,290 --> 00:27:51,002 and realize that there are all kinds of affirmative action. 552 00:27:51,086 --> 00:27:53,505 You know, there's legacy... 553 00:27:53,588 --> 00:27:54,506 Yes. 554 00:27:54,589 --> 00:27:55,757 -[Michelle] There's... -Yes. 555 00:27:56,341 --> 00:27:59,719 There's the college athlete. 556 00:28:00,762 --> 00:28:06,101 And universities have a right and an interest in diversifying. 557 00:28:06,184 --> 00:28:11,439 The problem is that when it comes to students of color, poor kids, 558 00:28:11,523 --> 00:28:14,192 all of a sudden, that's affirmative action, 559 00:28:14,275 --> 00:28:15,735 and that's a problem. 560 00:28:15,819 --> 00:28:18,571 -And they're lesser than, yes. -[Michelle] And they're lesser than. 561 00:28:18,655 --> 00:28:23,451 And I have been at, probably, every powerful table there is in the world. 562 00:28:23,535 --> 00:28:26,621 I've been at G-summits, I've been in castles and palaces, 563 00:28:27,122 --> 00:28:31,126 in boardrooms and academic universities. 564 00:28:32,168 --> 00:28:33,753 -And-- -[Gayle] Can I drop the microphone? 565 00:28:33,837 --> 00:28:36,131 [Michelle] And I'm coming down from the... 566 00:28:36,214 --> 00:28:39,259 [audience laughing] 567 00:28:39,884 --> 00:28:40,885 [Gayle] Yes. 568 00:28:40,969 --> 00:28:41,970 You know, 569 00:28:42,303 --> 00:28:46,766 I am coming down from the mountaintop to tell every young person 570 00:28:47,183 --> 00:28:50,270 that is poor and working-class, 571 00:28:50,353 --> 00:28:54,023 and has been told, regardless of the color of your skin, 572 00:28:54,107 --> 00:28:55,400 that you don't belong, 573 00:28:55,483 --> 00:28:57,402 don't listen to them. 574 00:28:57,485 --> 00:28:59,946 They don't even know how they got at those seats. 575 00:29:00,321 --> 00:29:01,448 [Gayle] Yes, yes, yes. 576 00:29:01,531 --> 00:29:02,741 [Michelle] They don't know. 577 00:29:04,534 --> 00:29:05,952 [women chanting] 578 00:29:06,035 --> 00:29:07,162 [women] D... 579 00:29:07,495 --> 00:29:08,580 O... 580 00:29:09,164 --> 00:29:12,417 L-P-H-I-N-S! 581 00:29:14,252 --> 00:29:17,922 [woman] Some of these young women that we selected for this activity today 582 00:29:18,006 --> 00:29:20,008 asked the question, "Why me?" 583 00:29:20,091 --> 00:29:21,634 "You chose me. Why?" 584 00:29:21,718 --> 00:29:23,928 -Well, why not? -[Michelle] That's interesting, yeah. 585 00:29:24,471 --> 00:29:27,307 So, how many of you thought that? Like, "Why me?" 586 00:29:27,766 --> 00:29:31,936 There's girls who I feel, like, they are president of this club, 587 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,147 their ACT, SAT is this, this... 588 00:29:34,230 --> 00:29:35,064 Whatever, right? 589 00:29:35,148 --> 00:29:37,400 I just literally come to school, 590 00:29:37,484 --> 00:29:39,360 I do whatever I have to do, 591 00:29:39,611 --> 00:29:43,156 and then I stay for one club, and that's Latinos Unidos, 592 00:29:43,531 --> 00:29:45,742 and then I leave, and then I go to work. 593 00:29:45,992 --> 00:29:47,243 [Michelle] And why do you work? 594 00:29:47,577 --> 00:29:49,245 [Elizabeth] My dad... He had an accident. 595 00:29:49,454 --> 00:29:52,040 He doesn't work like he used to. 596 00:29:52,123 --> 00:29:55,251 Helping him out in some way would make him feel good. 597 00:29:55,627 --> 00:29:58,880 And also because I have three little brothers, 598 00:29:59,088 --> 00:30:01,216 everything that I do is for them. 599 00:30:01,299 --> 00:30:03,134 I go to work and I bring them food. 600 00:30:03,218 --> 00:30:04,552 Like, everything-- 601 00:30:04,636 --> 00:30:06,596 And she wonders why she's here. 602 00:30:06,679 --> 00:30:08,389 [laughter] 603 00:30:08,473 --> 00:30:09,808 That story, 604 00:30:09,891 --> 00:30:11,810 with all the highs and lows, 605 00:30:11,893 --> 00:30