Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
“52% of the total Black population are females compared to Black males who make up 48% of the Black population; according to the US Census Bureau.” - Black Demographics Luvvie Ajayi is an author, speaker and digital strategist who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology, and activism. This writer and speaker consider herself to be a personal troublemaker. She states that her job is to critique the world, the shoddy systems, and the people who refuse to do better. She speaks the truth and lets the chips fall as they lay. Her TED talk, “Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable”, was presented at a women’s conference in 2017. She targets women of all colors and races that have been discriminated by gender. She used emotions, comedy, and examples to convey her message. She convinces the audience that there is nothing wrong with being uncomfortable in any situation. Ajayi validates her words by using her childhood and personal stories. She presented pictures of herself at a younger age to show that she kept it real even as a child. She tells a story that validates the topic that she is trying to put across. Discriminated pay practices and fear are the two personal stories that she uses to unravel her audience. She talks about when she was asked to speak at a conference and had to pay to speak.
Men and African-American women did not have to pay and there travel were already paid for. She expounded on the fact that she was an African-American woman that was treated poorly because of that. She talks about fear stating that fear has no concrete power. That it is all in our mind. She shared information with us about her trip out of the country to the Dominican Republic. She did things that she said she would have never done in life. She went skydiving and the whole time she stated that she did not know why she was jumping out a perfectly good plane. Her talk breaks down that justice is not an option. She used pathos to show her audience an emotional appeal on her topic. She struck the audience by telling her story on how she was treated in an improper way to be a United States of America citizen. In this TED, talk demonstrates her work by credibility.
Her book is called “I’m Judging You: The Do Better Manual”. Her book was originally published on September 13, 2016. She used ethos by giving credible sources. Ajayi states that speaking the truth and making change is essential. We all know this is factual because of the “Center of American Process” states women have been discriminated. 13 percent of the female population in the United States, are making it in education, participation, and health but there is a long way to go to fully close the racial and ethnic disparities they face. In addition to credibility, she also uses logic some examples of logic presented in the Ted talk was the domino theory. The theory serves as silence for no one, it states that working together is a part of manifesting. She showed a picture showing a line of dominos falling to give a better representation. Her theory was if one person started a change others will fall in line and tell their story. She started to make a Facebook post that others wanted to say but just could not put themselves up to. When she posted she would run away from her laptop just to return to others standing up for themselves. She pushed others to speak up and do the same. This helped illustrate her message by appealing to logic, meaning she convinced the audience by using logic and reason. Resulting in her using logos.
One of the last tactics she showed was a comedy. Ajayi had many jokes incorporated into her talk. She throws out many jokes within her speech. She stated the shea butter should be a part of the core values. She presented a picture of shea butter being a part of her core values. She talked about her freshman experience. She wanted to be a doctor and went into the pre-med field and realized that it was not for her. When one of her dreams ended, another started. Never in a million years would she have thought that she would be a speaker and author. In conclusion, she used many topics to relay her message and proved many valid points while speaking in front of a crowd.
As a young woman, I have been discriminated as a young African-American female. I have been downgraded because of my race. I have recently been uncomfortable while picking a college I wanted to attend. After I told many people, I was headed to a PWI many people had their own opinion on my life decisions.
