My name is Yara Sayeh Shahidi.
I've been an actress for over ten years,
but more importantly a budding humanitarian and activist.
[Ellen DeGeneres] So you're on the cover of the Hollywood Reporter,
you're 18 years old, you're in two series, Black-ish and Grown-ish,
directed a short movie, you were in Drake's "Nice for What" video,
you're a Chanel ambassador,
and you just started Harvard.
-Yeah. -[audience cheers]
I've always needed to be pursuing something that is full of purpose.
I'm committed to doing social justice work.
I believe that everyone should always be treated equally.
-Dear Yara... -Dear Yara...
Dear Yara...
Dear Yara, You showed me that it's possible to make a difference
even though I'm only eight years old.
[Yara] When I hear from the people who support or follow me,
it's reaffirming for me
to continue to do the work that I do with girls' education...
Girls worldwide don't have access to education.
Girls worldwide are going through the same problems.
...and advocating for human rights.
You gave me hope that I could find my place in America.
The more I listen to you, the braver I become.
It's really important to me that we invest in Gen Z
because we understand the need for cultural progress.
Yara, you started a revolution.
I am going to stay on the battlefield till I die.
There's no such thing as being too young to effect change.
-Dear Yara... -[man 1] Dear Yara...
- [woman 1] Dear Yara... - [man 2] Dear Yara...
[voices continue]
I am a 19-year-old very much still trying to figure out my life.
I realize how lucky I am to have parents
who made me feel as though I can move through the world
and believe anything is possible.
I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
and I'm black and Iranian.
I kind of hit the food jackpot on both sides of my family.
There's no such thing as a bad meal.
And both of my parents are very socially engaged humanitarians.
Growing up, we did a lot of travel for community service
like going to Negril at 13 with a group of doctors
to help set up temporary clinics
for people who usually don't get health services.
I remember going to Costa Rica in sixth grade,
and we brought school supplies to another school.
I've just been raised with the idea that you're socially conscious
and take care of your global community.
Race has always been an active conversation in my family--
racism, of the existence of discrimination in society.
But it's something that I've also personally experienced.
I remember second grade, being at a new school,
and this one girl coming up to me and being like,
"Oh, I heard you're Iranian. I don't like Iranians."
You dislike me, and you don't know me?
How does that work?
And then freshman year of high school, one of my friends called me whitewashed.
And it was in reference to how I spoke
and the fact that I'm in honors classes.
And those are such small things
that, if anything, what it impressed upon me was,
if these moments are so impactful in my life,
in, um, my self-confidence,
in my ability to maneuver around this world and feel free,
then what are those bigger moments like?
What are those more overt moments of oppression like?
And how can I be an agent of change?
- Allow me to tell you the specials. - [man] Oh, please do.
-Pancakes. -Oh!
We have... kind of burnt pancakes
and really burnt pancakes.
Oh. Okay, well, how much for the regular?
[Yara] I started acting at a young age.
My mama is a commercial actress,
and so I started in commercials with her, with my brothers.
It was always something fun that we did that enhanced our life experiences
but never got in the way of school.
It wasn't until I was on Black-ish...
that I realized the importance of intentionally choosing projects.
I need you to cover for me.
Cover for you? Why?
I'm going down to the protest.
No, I'm not covering for that.
-Well, I'm going, so... -Why?
Tell me why you want to go down there so bad?
So you can end up in the hospital, or...
or worse, get killed?
The show focuses on this upper-middle class black family,
who both happens to be black
and is unabashedly black at the same time.
The episodes range from light topics
to something that is deemed extremely serious and poignant.
It is my job to deliver a world
where the values that I raised you to believe in mattered.
And they didn't. They didn't.
I mean, half of our country rejected them.
Hey, Mom,
our values don't disappear just because our side lost one election.
[Yara] When I think about these larger episodes
in which we were discussing the election and police brutality and race politics,
you can't help but to then extend that conversation.
On set, these conversations were happening.
At home, these conversations were happening.
And more importantly, when the episodes were coming out,
you're seeing other people starting conversations
with their families and whoever is tuned in to watch the show.
And that propels a conversation.
I remember people saying, like,
they'd never seen their family represented like this.
I realized how deprived people have been of content that reflects them.
[young woman] Dear Yara, My name is Saida.
I was born in a refugee camp
after the civil war in Somalia forced my family to flee our home.
My family filed for a green card to seek protection in the United States.
When I was three years old, we were finally granted refuge in America.
We were excited to pursue our American dream,
but I had a hard time adjusting to life here in the States.
Throughout elementary school, I was ostracized and bullied
because of the way I talked, looked and dressed.
I used books to escape,
because reading allowed me to be anyone.
The summer before fourth grade, I read 97 books.
But the one thing I never saw in all of those books
was someone who looked like me.
And then I watched the first episode of Black-ish.
For the first time, I saw representation of my family and me--
a family proud of its culture
with a daughter whose hair and skin are just like mine.
Your confidence helped me through the difficulties I face in America.
Watching you on TV...
[Yara] "...made me feel for the first time that I too could be a leader
who'd make a meaningful impact in society and in the world."
Aw. It's gonna make me cry.
With this newfound self-confidence, I reclaimed my identity.
I signed up for my first acting class
and started writing poetry and speaking publicly.
I vividly remember the first time I walked onto a stage
and laid my heart out for the audience to see.
It was the summer before eighth grade,
and I was asked to perform at an open mic night.
Till your arrogance turns to ash, till your pride turns to smoke,
I pull a Serena and kill your cruelness with a single backhand stroke.
So next time you think of this, remember me
and remember what I said...
"I'm not defined by a piece of cloth that I wear on my head."
Wow.
Although I had a very intense urge to puke onto the front row,
I managed to finish my poem without completely embarrassing myself.
From there, I began performing at coffee shops,
conferences and community events.
"Because of you, I was inspired to travel to different states
to perform my poetry at marches and rallies."
As teenagers, our biggest fear should be what to wear tomorrow,
not in shock, grieving some friends and consumed in total sorrow.
Each event raised my self-confidence
and helped me embrace my identity even more.
-[cheering] -I'm a Somali refugee.
My country is one of those countries on the list.
Yara, you gave me the courage to be who I am.
I built a community and no longer feel so alone.
You've inspired me to understand that every person needs a beacon of hope.
And one day, I want to be the hope in someone else's life.
Oh, my gosh.
That is incredible.
Our first guest is part of Generation Next.
She may be young in years, but I promise you,
she is wise beyond years in terms of her experience,
her passion and her sincerity.
Yara Shahidi.
[cheers, applause]
There are many things to credit Black-ish with.
Because the show was getting attention,
I found myself in an unprecedented environment
in which people were curious about what I had to say.
My dharma, my purpose and my personal work
are centered around gaining equality and parity through art.
[Yara] That was the beginning
of me realizing the impact of my voice for change.
When we talk about gender pay,
it's so much more than, like, we wanna get paid more.
No. It should be a given that our work is as valuable.
It's really important.
You've been called the voice of Gen X, our future president,
the face of young Hollywood, a role model.
Any pressure in that?
Fortunately, no.
The title doesn't matter too much.
What matters is really the actions.
-Yes. -[audience applauds]
I was growing up in this crazy new world of social media
and my influence was really expanding.
I started advocating for some of the main things that I really support fervently.
Like the importance of making sure
that people of color and young girls get equal opportunity in education.
We must lead our education and make it relevant.
We must fight for all of the stories that have been pushed into the margin.
For not only women
but people of color and the LGBTQ community
and immigrants and anyone who's had to live within these intersections.
And girls in STEM.
We're working with DoSomething.org
to raise funds for science resources in classrooms.
We raised over $100,000 for specific STEM projects.
I felt I was making a difference.
But everything was about to change.
[female news anchor] Tonight, voters are deciding
whether the 45th president of the United States
will be the first woman to hold the office.
That is 69-year-old Democrat Hillary Clinton.
[Yara] On election night, I was on set.
There's one TV that actually works in our fake living room,
so everyone was watching the election on there.
And for me, I was really excited,
because I assumed that we were going to have
the first woman elected into office.
I went to the polls with my parents, and I couldn't vote, but I--
I mean, I got a sticker, and I watched them vote.
I was most definitely invested, as many people were.
I remember staying up into the night to see what the results were.
And I was just... dumbfounded.
I was like, "Okay, how am I even processing this?"
There was that extreme sense of-- [stammers] of loss that everyone felt.
Especially because that morning was so hopeful.
I felt there should always be a sense of humanity within this political process.
But as a woman of color,
what I noticed was that the Trump campaign encouraged racism
under the guise of nationalism.
[crowd chanting] Build that wall! Build that wall!
I had always come from this positive place.
[typing]
And so, when I posted the next day,
I was pushing back, trying to get my generation to lift each other up.
"Create your list.
Find your local officials.
Support your neighbors and neighborhood locally and globally.
We are not and will not become passive members of our society.
I refuse to watch the undoing of centuries of progress.
We are Generation Z."
I had been advocating for social issues, but in response to the election.
I started understanding in what ways my voice could help politically.
[chattering]
- [Tracee] Hello, beloved women. - Supporters of women.
Children of women.
Here we are.
We are here to be heard.
-[crowd cheering] -[woman] Yeah!
[Yara and Tracee] Women's rights are human rights.
[cheering]
[Yara] I started to protest at marches and rallies.
Enough is enough! Enough is enough!
Violence affects everyone.
And to see that it's affecting fellow classmates is heartbreaking.
-What do we want? -Gun control!
-When do we want it? -Now!
Young people's voices needed representation,
publicly and on social media.
This was the time to be as active, to be as engaged as possible.
Because enough is enough is enough.
And my generation has arrived to shift the tides.
Dear Yara, My name is Havana, and I'm eight years old.
Since I was born, I lived in five different countries
because my parents are US diplomats.
I tell people I learned how to ride a camel
even before I learned how to ride a bike.
Each country is so full of magic.
I love making new friends with kids from all over the world
who spoke beautiful languages, wore colorful clothes
and had the most amazing, delicious school lunches.
When I was in preschool, we wrote about what we want to be when we grow up.
I said that I wanted to be an astronaut, a singer, an artist and POTUS--
that's "President of the United States."
Girls, especially brown and black girls,
are treated unfairly and I wanted to do something about it.
[Yara] "I heard what you said."
[together] You said that every voice must be heard.
When I heard you say this,
I learned that even though I am tiny, my voice is not.
When people try to silence me because I am too young or just a girl,
I can silence them with my big, giant actions.
This past year, you inspired me to take action.
There was the national school walkout to protest gun violence in schools.
I was the only one to walk out.
My action got media attention, and I was asked to give speeches.
Just because I'm only seven doesn't mean that I can't help change the laws.
There are adults who keep saying that kids don't know what we are talking about.
But we know we are never too little to make a difference.
[Havana] I thought about your words as I stood in front of the crowds.
[together] You've made me feel like I was no longer alone or afraid.
You are so confident,
and I see how it helps other girls become more confident.
You make me feel confident.
We are standing strong together.
Today we tell the truth, and we do not take no for an answer.
When I go to bed at night,
I dream about every girl in America and around the world
having the chance to reach their goals and dreams,
[together] because I think girls are going to save the world.
That's so powerful.
Today President Trump made good on a campaign promise.
...taking swift action to roll back
much of President Obama's climate change policies.
It was hypersurreal to realize, like,
as arduous as the process is to get policies confirmed,
to get policies made,
how easy it was to wipe them away.
President Trump signed a law today giving states the option to block funding
to any organizations that provide abortions, including Planned Parenthood.
From the environment to Planned Parenthood,
all of a sudden, we're regressing.
I've taken decisive action
to keep radical Islamic terrorists
the hell out of our country.
[crowd cheering]
For me the real, kind of, moment of pain came during the travel ban.
Why was it important for you to speak up? Was it scary?
Was it something that you were proud of doing and would do again?
When the ban happened, we were actually--
My Joon Joon, my grandmother, was actually considering flying in
-for the first time in 13 years. -Oh, wow.
And so, fortunately,
because she has her US citizenship, she was able to do so.
But it was that scary moment of, "Oh, this affects my family."
It was really important, I think,
to actually head-on address complicated issues.
So I put together this summit in Los Angeles with my fellow young people
to figure out how we could actually create change.
I am so grateful for this room and for us to share a space together.
It is a moment to be in conversation with one another
so that we can figure out what matters to us
because it's what should matter to the US.
We wanted to not only think about globally and nationally what do we want,
but what is important to us locally.
What are things that we haven't been talking about?
After 17 people were shot and killed in my alma mater in Parkland, Florida,
I've dedicated every single day of my life to gun violence prevention.
I was the first out trans person in my high school in Texas.
And you were just, like...
As much as I felt the summit was, um, a beautiful coming together,
it was really important that we continue to extend the work.
There are four million people turning 18 this year in America,
which means there are four million potential new voters.
When you activate your vote, you're activating your rights.
The next election was midterms.
Many times it's not viewed as a pivotal election.
But this year they were extremely important.
I decided to use social media to get Gen Z out to the polls.
Are you 18? Almost 18?
Well, we want you... to register to vote.
I started Eighteen x 18 to accomplish voter registration,
voter education and voter turnout.
It was about trying to break down those barriers to entry.
And I was really excited to see our actual impact on the election.
[female reporter] With the clock ticking down to the crucial midterm elections,
candidates across the country are fighting to fire up their base.
I'm so excited right now.
Guess what I found.
Guess what I have. Eep!
[female reporter 2] Young voters showed up at the polls
at historic rates this midterm election.
We saw an unprecedented turnout for midterms in particular, by youth.
[male news anchor 1] The exit poll results already coming in right now.
[cheering]
[male news anchor 2] Democrats will win the majority
in the US House of Representatives.
[male news anchor 3] The Democratic freshman class,
which is overwhelmingly diverse and female,
includes the first Muslim and Native American women elected to the House.
[Yara] When you look at the candidates who were elected into office,
what they did represent were the voices of the people.
It's really gratifying to just think
Eighteen x 18 has led to so many incredible moments of change.
[man] Dear Yara,
Growing up, I had a hard time finding my place in the world.
I was in and out of foster homes for a while
and ended up being homeless.
It was a dark and lonely time.
Eventually, a family I knew reached out and offered me a place to stay.
When I returned to high school,
I found out that my struggles weren't unique to me.
One in six students in my district deal with homelessness.
"Homelessness." Oh, my goodness.
[together] I knew I had to do something about it.
I was in the middle of an English class when it hit me.
I would run for a seat on the Denver school board,
becoming the youngest person ever to run for office in my state.
I want people to remember what school board races actually mean
and what they actually do, what the power of the school board holds.
Many adults and policy makers told me
I was too young and I had to wait my turn.
Nothing about this felt easy,
but I was determined and I went for it.
Sadly, I lost the election.
[sighs] Election night definitely sucked.
Ultimately, it was a humbling experience
that pushed me to look at other ways to lead in my community.
Around this time, I got an e-mail about your Eighteen x 18 summit.
[together] I submitted an application, and I got accepted.
When I got to the summit,
I realized pretty quickly that you brought together
some of the most amazing people that I have ever met.
People who wanted to change their communities for the better.
You stressed the importance of refusing to wait for change,
and I knew I had to be the change.
We must love and protect one another.
We must love and protect one another!
We have nothing to lose but our chains!
Like you, I want to build a community of black and brown students
who are empowered to change the system.
We have to show them that, yes, we can.
Yara, you've motivated me to continue to be an agent of social change.
I'm a community organizer who fights for teachers, students and young people
in my hometown of Denver.
You're inspiring a wave of young people
to understand how much power they have to make a difference.
Oh, my goodness.
Wherever this journey takes me, I'm very happy to go that way.
Young people's voices matter.
Thank you for telling beautiful black girls all over the world
that they are spectacular
and that they can change the world.
Thank you, Yara, for telling me I can use my voice
as loud and as often as I can.
Like you, I want to make sure that young people have a seat at the table.
If we continue to do things that we haven't done before,
we could actually have long-lasting change.
I can't even imagine where we are to go from here,
because the possibilities are endless.
Sincerely, Saida.
Sincerely, Tay.
Sending you a big, giant hug, Havana.
[Yara] We are not and will not become passive members of our society.
We are Generation Z.