It's been a difficult couple of years, hasn't it?
What have you
missed the most?
It's a common question, and the answers change.
For many people,
I think they're really missed hugs.
Am I right?
Hugs
give us something that doesn't neatly fit into a chart.
The heart is where we feel the warmth of a hug.
The heart is the first organ to follow in the body during
development.
That's incredible!
So maybe we should pay some more attention to it?
The idea of heartful breathing of adding intention to what we
feel and what we do can bring new perspectives to what we mean by
productivity.
The hug isn't measured by the way we measure productivity.
What does it even mean to be productive today, when productivity
erases your ENTIRE identity and existence?
And who truly benefits from productivity?
What if we put people over productivity?
What if you went from philandering productivity to
philanthropic productivity?
What if we took a lesson from the humpback whale? Who work,
travel and live in pods, and protect other species,
not just their own?
What if you went from productivity to
poductivity? Working in pods, sharing our
unique talents and strengths for the benefit of the whole.
Before industrialisation, the concept of Disability did
not exist.
It was coined for bodies that could not contribute to the industrial
process.
This talk is about reframing productivity.
What does it mean to be worthy?
Who decides who is worthy? And who
benefits on things staying the same?
Why is productivity a contest, especially in the
global pandemic?
What if you went from philandering productivity to
philanthropic productivity. Philandering
productivity
meaning – NUMBER 1: Not seeing people as inherently
valuable only as their utility. NUMBER
2:
Using people in the transactional approach.
Number 3: Not being mindful of people's needs
as personified, for example, by Donald Trump.
So what if we went from philandering productivity to
philanthropic productivity? Meaning – number 1:
seeing ourselves as inherently valuable.
NUMBER 2: An inclusive, equitable and intersectional
approach.
Number 3:
A more loving approach – being mindful other people’s needs
as could be personified by YOU, by ALL of us.
When we take philanthropic productivity approach, we create a
diverse palette that makes life richer
and brings a wealth of different skills and
experiences.
You know the start we said we missed hugs? Well, for
people who have been missing hugs for a year:
I've been missing them for 35 years.
Imagine you're at an event and someone joins the conversation with the people you're
talking with.
They give everyone you’re talking to a hug.
Except for you.
This is often the situation I am in.
Being underestimated and facing adversity
every day has its advantages.
I never take anything or anyone for granted.
One breath at the time. Because for many of
us, a day at the time can be too tough. Because
radical healing demands radical dreaming.
And then there's something I often felt disadvantaged by.
I'm not on the inside.
What does it mean to be "in”? In fashion? On the
inside track?
Are you with the in crowd?
I am here to tell you that if you want to reach our full potential, we
all need to be in.
I'm here to tell you that we need to recognise the inherent value,
that inclusivity needs to be a way of life, not just a box to tick,
and that interdependence trumps independence
every time. Follow these three rules
and we really can all be in for a world that has
philanthropic productivity as its heart.
Let's look at those three ideas into more detail.
You may not think that we need to even discuss the inherent value
life, everyone’s life, today today in 2021.
And yet we do. When a former Supreme Court judge
says that not all that is equal,
what does that say about the journey ahead of us?
We remain stuck at base camp.
Doctors told my parents that I would not live past five years old.
I've outlived and out-defied doctors, teachers,
extended family and society's expectations
of me.
Normative and Ableist
narrative states that someone with the complex Disability like me
should have very low function,
little emotional intelligence and an inactive life.
When we appreciate the inherent value in ourselves
and others,
we can appreciate ourselves and everyone, no matter
who they are or what they can do.
We can take a great example of this altruism
from the animal kingdom.
Humpback whales protect other animals, whether humpback whales or not,
in the ocean against attack, even against
Orcas.
Scientists don't know why this is but some theories
suggest altruism. This altruism creates a
shared sense of belonging through inclusivity.
But you can't be inclusive if everyone is not included.
The greatest leaps made by humanity have been made through inclusivity.
My personal experience, our inclusivity is one of struggle and challenge.
For the first 10 years of my life, I was required to go to a special
school in East London,
where all we did all day long was sing nursery rhymes.
And to this day, I now know every nursery rhyme by heart, and something I might even
add to my CV. [AUDIENCE CHUCKLES]
In short, it was a segregated school.
I never even learned to read and write until I was 10
when we moved to the US
where we lived for over 10 years. Very
quickly, I was put into mainstream classes in mainstream schooling.
However, for the first year I didn't realise I had to do something called
"homework,” and I got in so much trouble for not doing it.
Once I really started putting my mind to work,
I thrived.
I got straight A's and was integrated into school and into
society.
No, you can't shut me up! And you can’t stop me from going places.
However, often, the only way I can get into the building is through a
goods lift.
And there's so many examples where I've been stuck in a goods lift, as well as lots of
interesting scenarios that happened to me around goods lifts.
But what happens in the goods lift stays in the goods lift. [AUDIENCE LAUGHING]
It’s 2021, and the lack of inclusivity for Disabled
people is shocking.
February 2015 was another great example of inclusivity, or
that there are.
I bought tickets to go to a concert with my younger brother to see one of
my favourite artists.
I contacted the venue several times to see if it was wheelchair
accessible with no response whatsoever.
Once I arrived, it became very apparent that the concert was
upstairs and there was no wheelchair access.
I then saw the artist by
the bar.
I went up to her to let her know that might need to go home.
She was quite upset and insisted we have to get me upstairs.
She then asked her entire band,
plus my brother,
to lift my 550 lbs. wheelchair up the stairs.
There was no luck.
It was too heavy and too difficult for five people to do so.
So in the end, my brother ended up carrying out two flights of stairs without my
wheelchair and held me up on the bench for the entire gig.
Though it was a fantastic adventure, the lack of inclusivity was
apparent and often the case for Disabled people who just
want to live our lives! Thanks to the goodwill
or the brand
and my brother, the situation was salvaged.
But in an inclusive and interdependent world they never would have needed to do
so.
Finally, interdependence. The pandemic
has proved
what Disabled people have been saying for some time.
The advantages of philanthropic productivity had never been
clearer than now.
Working
from home –
No problem.
Flexible
Working – entirely doable.
Selfcare –
Self evident. Will we embrace that? Or will we
go back to how it was before? After
graduating, it took me three years to get my first job.
Ableism and inaccessibility
closed off work experiences and internships.
Even the recruiting process was not accessible.
This felt devastating.
I worked just as hard and proactively wanted to get a job.
For me
and many Disabled people,
the outdated model of work was already broken
long before Covid-19 proved it.
Projects that have a sense of urgency or need to done quickly
by one person are quite difficult for me.
This is because it doesn't take our needs into account and acts
us being productive as a commodity.
But this is now common place for people juggling home schooling and
caring responsibilities with working from home.
And good companies find simple solutions.
Back in 2016, I had to start my own business due to
extreme ableism and
inaccessible work environments.
My disabled global family has known for the longest time –
valuing the importance of restful activism and
and the knowledge of knowing that interdependence
is more significant than independence.
Personally, for me, it's about aligning: resting,
reflecting, and replenishing over constant hustling.
For me, it's about progression over perfection.
For many Disabled people and myself,
what we are asking for is: value us, pay
us, credit us, give us access.
What's the one thing that connects all of this?
It's my heart.
In the past, the Egyptians, the heart was the most
important organ and the source or the intellect.
When we breathe with the heart,
we can recognise our inherent value, that inclusivity
needs to be a way of life, and that interdependence trumps
independence every time. Are you in?
Thank you very much. [AUDIENCE APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]