Transcriber: Dimitra Papageorgiou Reviewer: Chryssa R. Takahashi
Identity, or identities.
I would like us to take a minute and think about what it means to you.
How would you choose to define yourself?
Is it the name that you carry?
Is it the place where you were born?
Is it your Facebook page, maybe?
I find it quite interesting to see what people care to ask
when they want to know more about you.
The typical questions I am being asked, as you can imagine,
is usually how tall I am, where I come from,
and interestingly enough, after exchanging a few words,
what star sign I am.
So, really, I find it interesting,
because there's infinite ways one could choose to define himself or herself.
And after all, isn't that what this lifetime quest is all about?
Who we choose to be.
What is the purpose of the life that we want to live while we're here?
And where we want to go?
But who am I anyway?
I will share with you a couple of images of my life.
I truly feel privileged to be here tonight to share that little story.
And I will start with modeling,
because most people know me as a model,
which was not an easy experience, so to speak.
I remember the first time I went to one of those big agencies in Paris
back in 1999, and it was a horrible experience.
That lady saw me and she looked at me and she was like,
"Wow, you're tall and skinny. That's nice.
It's just too bad I can't do anything with you.
You're not white. You're not black. You're something in between.
That won't work."
So I went back home, 19 years old, back then,
thinking that woman was really rude,
and that was the weirdest statement I had ever heard in my life.
So anyway, I eventually made it in the industry
because obviously some other people saw something interesting in me
and I am grateful for that.
And it's been a very enriching experience,
for the fashion industry can be tough.
I wouldn't advise it to everyone
But I learned a lot about human relations.
I learned a lot about manipulations.
And it's been a beautiful journey - an enriching one.
And by the way, I also tried my acting skills.
So to the lady who told me that she really didn't know what to do with me
well, this video has more than 35 million views.
I believe that I eventually managed to do something.
And I am grateful for that.
Now, I want to move to another form of beauty,
and take you to the country I was born and raised which is called Gabon.
I truly feel blessed to have been raised in Africa,
for the values I grew up with are a core element of who I am today.
And those values would be summarized in five words.
I am who I am because of who we are.
Gabon is an amazing place as you can see.
But, as it can be paradise for some people,
for other people it can be hell.
I would like us to take a minute please and follow this video
to get an understanding of the reality of the people living in Gabon.
(Music)
I wouldn't like to comment much on it
because I believe that the pictures, the images, speak for themselves.
And I am very angry when I look at those images.
And these kids were asking for the government
to deal with the teachers so that they could go back to class.
It made me think, if this is what's happening to kids
when they just ask to go back to school,
what could happen if they were making any comments against the government?
If they were to talk about corruption?
If they were to talk about all the arbitrary arrestations
that people are facing?
If they were to talk about all the journalists that are facing threats?
And I will not go there.
I am very blessed to have the opportunity
to meet Mr. Gene Sharp in the States.
At the time, I was very much involved with the Guardian Angels.
And he had told me back then that for this fight,
I cannot go with my emotions.
I have to be rational.
I have to have a strategy.
Because the people I am fighting surely have a strategy,
and all the means it would take to put everybody down
that would just go against their will.
And I am truly thankful to have the opportunity to meet that man
and to discover the amazing work he has done.
He has written amazing simple books
like "From Dictatorship to Democracy"
which is a book, by the way, that I felt really proud to carry
when I realized that some people in other countries
were taken to jail just holding that book.
Just to tell you how powerful it is.
And it only says a few things that you and me could understand if you read it.
It's very easy to read.
It's another thing to put it in practice though.
So anyways, because my experience and my involvement
with the Guardian Angels were too intense,
I decided to orient my anger, my energy to other activities,
in a couple of different NGOs - namely Adyne, Generation 2.0,
which by the way is another shocking thing.
I was truly shocked as a Greek citizen - and I am Greek and I love my country -
when I discovered that young kids,
from the second generation with a migrant background
were not given Greek citizenship although they were born and raised here.
And I am... (Applause)
Not only these kids are denied Greek citizenship
but what it means is that they cannot even benefit
from European citizenship either.
They cannot benefit, they cannot travel.
They cannot have access to education to some extent
or to labour work, to the labour market.
And frankly, I find it ridiculous because I really don't know
how the government is going to go along with this.
I really can't understand,
how people who can just have the possibility to evolve in their life
with all the good will that they might have,
if you just can go along and make it.
What could happen next, you know?
Anyway, that's just food for thought for whoever cares.
So anyways, my baby project with Niko Safaris,
who I would like to thank very much,
because he's a teacher who helped me realize my big dream,
which is School Up, which has to do with the promotion of global education.
And what we do is we organize workshops with teachers
because we care about the content of education.
Not only building schools but what's in there.
What is it that we teach our children at school?
We believe that human rights education
is as important as 1+1=2.
This is how much the kids should know about it.
Another thing some people don't know about me
is that I have a chronical illness which is called CML.
And the reason why I share this here
is because I thought TEDx would be the right place to do so.
And mostly because I wanted us to reflect on how we choose to define ourselves.
And I could choose to define myself as a patient or someone who's sick
but I don't.
This is one of my favourite pictures.
It's the first day I got out of the hospital.
And everytime I look at this picture,
it reminds me that life is just a matter of perception
and that I have chosen to just move along and go along with my life.
(Applause)
Now, can you pause here a little bit?
This picture is very strong and powerful to me.
Why? Because I do believe that we live in a jungle.
It's pretty tough out there.
And frankly, I think animals show more respect to each other
than we do as human beings to one another.
And I truly believe that we could work on ourselves, redefine ourselves.
And the good news about it is that every second that passes by
is an opportunity for each one of us to do things differently.
So you can choose to be an ocean pearl for your friends, for your family.
You can choose to be a diamond for your lover.
To the people who annoy you, you can choose to unleash the fire in you.
Only if necessary.
I choose to remain young, wild and free in my spirit.
And I invite everybody to take the journey, to dig in.
Try and look in yourself.
Stop pointing the finger at each other.
Try to see what is my part in this? Am I not responsible as well?
You know? What is it that we tolerate?
What is it that we don't tolerate?
It is not an easy road to take but I believe it's a must.
For we are the human beings that define in which world we want to live in.
It is challenging,
but I believe it is the responsibility that we have for our children.
Let's put it simply.
I don't see the point in making kids,
and teaching them anything about the beautiful world we live in,
if we don't make an effort to improve our lives,
to improve the conditions we live in.
So that everybody could just have equal opportunities to evolve
and really unleash truly and fully their potential.
For I believe that there is so much that we share as human beings.
There is much more that we share as human beings
than what distinguishes us from one another.
Although it is that uniqueness that makes each one of us so special.
I simply invite you to dare to turn the key
and define yourself, the way you want to be.
(Applause)