:00:26. > :00:50.What has been going on while I have been gone?
:00:51. > :00:56.Wonderful to be at the University of Chicago.
:00:57. > :01:01.Wonderful to be on the South side of Chicago.
:01:02. > :01:03.CHEERING And wonderful to be with these young
:01:04. > :01:10.What I want to do is just maybe speak very briefly at the
:01:11. > :01:19.Then, I want to spend most of the time we
:01:20. > :01:26.are together hearing from these remarkable young people.
:01:27. > :01:28.Who are I thinnk representative of some
:01:29. > :01:31.amazing young people in the audience as well.
:01:32. > :01:34.I was telling these guys that it was a little over 30 years
:01:35. > :01:48.I had gotten out of college filled with idealism and
:01:49. > :01:54.absolutely certain that, somehow, I was going to change the world.
:01:55. > :02:08.Or where or what I was going to be doing.
:02:09. > :02:14.And so I worked first to pay off some student loans.
:02:15. > :02:19.And then I went to work at the city colleges of New York on the
:02:20. > :02:22.Harlem campus with some student organising.
:02:23. > :02:30.Then there were a group of churches out on the south side.
:02:31. > :02:34.Who had come together, try to deal with the steel plants that had
:02:35. > :02:36.And the economic devastation that had been taking place.
:02:37. > :02:42.But also the racial tensions and turnover
:02:43. > :02:47.They had formed an organisation and hired me as what
:02:48. > :02:50.I did not really know what that meant.
:02:51. > :03:02.For the next three years, I lived here in Hyde Park,
:03:03. > :03:05.but I worked further South in communities like
:03:06. > :03:07.Roseland and Auburn Gresham and Altgeld Gardens.
:03:08. > :03:13.Many of which had changed rapidly from
:03:14. > :03:27.Full of wonderful people who were proud of their communities,
:03:28. > :03:30.proud of the steps they had taken to try and move
:03:31. > :03:42.But were also worried about their futures because,
:03:43. > :03:45.in some cases, their kids were not doing as well as they had.
:03:46. > :03:47.In some cases, these communities have been badly
:03:48. > :03:51.The distribution of city services were unequal.
:03:52. > :03:58.For three years, I tried to do something
:03:59. > :04:04.I am the first to acknowledge that I did not the world afire.
:04:05. > :04:07.Nor did I transform these communities in any significant way,
:04:08. > :04:16.This community gave me a lot more than I was able
:04:17. > :04:25.Because this community taught me that ordinary
:04:26. > :04:31.people, when working together, can do extraordinary things.
:04:32. > :04:33.This community taught me that everybody
:04:34. > :04:52.This experience taught me that, beneath the surface
:04:53. > :04:56.differences of people, that there were common
:04:57. > :04:58.Aspirations. Common values.
:04:59. > :05:07.That stitched us together as Americans.
:05:08. > :05:16.And asylum, even though after three years I left for law school, the
:05:17. > :05:24.lessons that had been taught to me here as organiser are ones that
:05:25. > :05:32.stayed with me. And effectively gave me the foundation for my subsequent
:05:33. > :05:41.political career and the themes that I would talk about as a state
:05:42. > :05:45.legislator and a US senator and ultimately as president of the
:05:46. > :05:55.United States. I tell you that history because, on the back and now
:05:56. > :05:58.of my presidency, now that it is completed, I am spending a lot of
:05:59. > :06:03.time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do from next
:06:04. > :06:14.job? LAUGHTER
:06:15. > :06:18.And what I am convinced of is that, although there are all kinds of
:06:19. > :06:26.issues I care about, that I intend to work on, the single most
:06:27. > :06:32.important thing I can do is to help in any way I can prepare the next
:06:33. > :06:44.generation of leadership to take up the batten and to take their own
:06:45. > :06:50.crack at changing the world. Because the one thing that I am absolutely
:06:51. > :06:56.convinced of is that, yes, we confront a whole range of challenges
:06:57. > :07:02.from economic and equality, lack of opportunity, criminal justice system
:07:03. > :07:09.that too often is skewed in ways that are not productive, to climate
:07:10. > :07:17.change to issues related to violence. All those problems are
:07:18. > :07:26.serious, daunting, but not insoluble. What is preventing us
:07:27. > :07:33.from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our
:07:34. > :07:41.politics and our civic life. It has to do with the fact that because of
:07:42. > :07:43.things like political gerrymandering, our parties have
:07:44. > :07:49.moved further and further apart and it is harder to find common ground.
:07:50. > :07:57.Because of money in politics. Special interests dominates the
:07:58. > :08:03.debates in Washington. Anyways that do not match up with what the broad
:08:04. > :08:12.majority of Americans feel. Because of changes in the media. We now have
:08:13. > :08:16.a situation which everyone is listening to people who already
:08:17. > :08:25.agree with them. And are further reinforcing their own realities. To
:08:26. > :08:31.the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate
:08:32. > :08:46.and try to find common ground and actually move solutions forward. And
:08:47. > :08:50.so, when I said in 2004 that there were no red states or those days,
:08:51. > :09:01.they are the United States, that was an aspirational, it -- red states of
:09:02. > :09:08.blue states. I still believe when you talk to individuals one on one,
:09:09. > :09:17.there is a lot more that people have in common that divides them. -- than
:09:18. > :09:23.divides them. But it is not as true in politics as civic life. Maybe
:09:24. > :09:27.people are not as involved, they get cynical and give up. As a
:09:28. > :09:34.consequence, we have some of the lowest voting rates of any advanced
:09:35. > :09:37.democracy. Low participation rates translate into a further gap between
:09:38. > :09:45.who is governing us and what we believe. The only folks who can
:09:46. > :09:53.solve that problem and the next Generation, young people. I have
:09:54. > :10:00.been encouraged everywhere I go in the United States and around the
:10:01. > :10:05.world to see how sharp and astute and tolerant and thoughtful and
:10:06. > :10:11.entrepreneurial our young people are. There are lots more
:10:12. > :10:20.sophisticated than I was at their age. The question becomes, what are
:10:21. > :10:23.the ways in which we can create pathways for them to take
:10:24. > :10:29.leadership, for them to get involved? Other ways we can knock
:10:30. > :10:36.down some of the barriers discouraging young people? About a
:10:37. > :10:44.life of service. If there are, I want to work with them to not down
:10:45. > :10:51.those barriers. To get this next-generation to accelerate their
:10:52. > :10:55.move towards leadership. If that happens, I think we will be just
:10:56. > :11:03.fine. I end up being incredibly optimistic. So with that, what I
:11:04. > :11:12.would like to do is to have our panellists here today, each tell us
:11:13. > :11:17.a little about themselves, and I have asked them ahead of time, I
:11:18. > :11:24.gave them the question ahead of time, to describe from the what it
:11:25. > :11:31.is they see among their peers that they think discourages voting,
:11:32. > :11:35.participation, paying attention to some of the issues and getting
:11:36. > :11:41.involved. Do they have immediate suggestions of a kinds of things
:11:42. > :11:47.that would get young people more involved and engaged and discover
:11:48. > :11:51.their voices? Once we have gone through the entire panel, we will
:11:52. > :11:56.open it up and see how it works. Hopefully, it will be interesting! I
:11:57. > :12:07.will find it interesting, hopefully you will. We will start with
:12:08. > :12:18.Chelsea. Good morning everyone. It is an honour to be here with you. I
:12:19. > :12:24.am a senior at University, I have studied leadership qualities. I have
:12:25. > :12:29.been involved on campus. I am looking forward to graduating in
:12:30. > :12:37.less than two weeks and my masters. My passion for working with college
:12:38. > :12:42.students stems from a community and activist. And understanding that the
:12:43. > :12:45.transformative time is an opportunity for students to learn
:12:46. > :12:49.about important issues and find their voice. Understanding we cannot
:12:50. > :12:54.get discouraged when something does not go our way immediately but also
:12:55. > :13:00.working towards the common cold. Fantastic. OK.
:13:01. > :13:09.APPLAUSE Good morning. I grew up in
:13:10. > :13:20.Milwaukee. I am a US Army veteran, majoring in sociology at University.
:13:21. > :13:27.Currently, I am a research assistant. Collaborative research
:13:28. > :13:36.projects, we have worked on landlord tenant issues, youth leadership
:13:37. > :13:39.programmes. We are working on a project about the date labour market
:13:40. > :13:48.in Chicago. It is a pleasure, Mr President. I am taking it. I was
:13:49. > :13:58.raised on the south side of Chicago in a low income household, graduated
:13:59. > :14:04.valedictorian and in the top ten. Broncos in the House. Number one
:14:05. > :14:10.from Chicago State University with my bachelors in chemistry. And
:14:11. > :14:16.graduated a second time with my doctorate in pharmacy.
:14:17. > :14:19.APPLAUSE I have a community pharmacy manager
:14:20. > :14:25.on the south side of Chicago for the three years. I am also author of ten
:14:26. > :14:26.tactics to tackle spending, the guide to elementary school, as
:14:27. > :14:43.school and undergraduate success. You can see where they have merely
:14:44. > :14:46.follow! I have been involved in civic engagement and civic life
:14:47. > :14:49.through the Institute of politics here at the University which has
:14:50. > :14:54.been a blessing and a fantastic resource to all of us. The summer
:14:55. > :14:59.after my first year here they gave stipends, I think the number was 16
:15:00. > :15:07.of us going to Des Moines for the summer of 2015 to work with press
:15:08. > :15:10.agencies or campaigns. That was eye opening in terms of having to
:15:11. > :15:15.campaign directly and how far you can move the needle by moving one
:15:16. > :15:18.vote in the caucus. I have also been involved on campus with student
:15:19. > :15:27.government and College Republicans. APPLAUSE
:15:28. > :15:34.Hello everyone, I am the baby of the panel. I am currently a senior at
:15:35. > :15:41.Kenwood Academy high school. CHEERING
:15:42. > :15:46.And throughout my high school career I have been involved in numerous
:15:47. > :15:50.student led organisations, multiple sports teams etc and outside of high
:15:51. > :15:53.school I have been involved in a lot of community-based organisations to
:15:54. > :15:58.volunteer my time with the youth as well. In the fall I will be
:15:59. > :16:02.attending college in Dallas, Texas with multiple scholarships to my
:16:03. > :16:13.name and I am also an entrepreneur. I will say, with my own clothing
:16:14. > :16:19.line. OK, all right. Peace and blessings everyone. I am living on
:16:20. > :16:22.the north-west side of Chicago, I arrived as a proud immigrant around
:16:23. > :16:29.the age of 14 with my mum and sister from India. I attended public
:16:30. > :16:36.schools and went to the University of Illinois, Chicago. Boil for my
:16:37. > :16:44.undergraduate studies and for my masters in planning and policy.
:16:45. > :16:48.After graduating I did become an organiser with somebody in the
:16:49. > :16:55.audience I want to point out, and mentor of mine. That experience led
:16:56. > :17:01.me to run for office and most recently now I work for new America,
:17:02. > :17:07.I am the deputy director here in Chicago where we do what we are
:17:08. > :17:10.doing today, infusing new ideas and voices into public policy
:17:11. > :17:16.conversation so I am really looking forward to that. Excellent. All
:17:17. > :17:21.right. So as you can see we have an extraordinary group here. Sharp
:17:22. > :17:28.young people. But you would also notice the kind of avoided my
:17:29. > :17:39.question! But that's good because it sets up the next segment. Look... In
:17:40. > :17:50.the presidential election you have maybe half of your peers voting. In
:17:51. > :18:00.mid-term elections about a third of your peers vote. I suspect that if
:18:01. > :18:11.you ask a lot of young people about a wide range of issues, regardless
:18:12. > :18:14.of where they sit ideological ideological way, they will say they
:18:15. > :18:22.are concerned about the economy and foreign policy and this or that. But
:18:23. > :18:25.a lot of them feel as if their involvement would not make a
:18:26. > :18:36.difference. It's not worth their time. And in fact, they are
:18:37. > :18:42.discouraged and feel disempowered. So all of you have already shown
:18:43. > :18:48.yourselves to be willing to get out there and be involved. To make a
:18:49. > :18:54.difference. I am curious as to what it is you think prompted you get
:18:55. > :18:59.involved in some fashion. And when you talk to your friends, what is it
:19:00. > :19:04.you think that is preventing them from doing so which might make a
:19:05. > :19:11.difference? We don't have to go in order, so if anybody wants to start,
:19:12. > :19:16.I like that a new! Although I am in high school a lot of my peers, I am
:19:17. > :19:23.a senior so of course some of my peers were able to double this year
:19:24. > :19:30.but overall I am grateful to take courses at Kenwood Academy high
:19:31. > :19:33.school that involve political science, we take African-American
:19:34. > :19:36.studies except job but not a lot of schools have that opportunity. So I
:19:37. > :19:42.would say awareness is something that holds a lot of our youth back
:19:43. > :19:45.from getting involved. Because I am privileged and therefore I step up
:19:46. > :19:49.and I encourage others to get involved and to have a voice. But I
:19:50. > :19:55.think the youth feel like they don't have a voice. So that plays a huge
:19:56. > :20:00.factor as to why the results are the way they are if that makes sense? It
:20:01. > :20:07.makes a lot of sense, do you think that as you were coming up, social
:20:08. > :20:12.studies, civic education, what kids are getting in the classroom, would
:20:13. > :20:17.make a difference? Do you think it would make more of a difference if
:20:18. > :20:21.young people had the opportunities to volunteer with organisations, to
:20:22. > :20:29.engage in community service? What is it you think would make the biggest
:20:30. > :20:32.difference in young people saying you know what, if I volunteer for
:20:33. > :20:37.this organisation I might make a difference in my community? Or if
:20:38. > :20:42.either to spit on this issue? Somebody might hear my voice, what
:20:43. > :20:50.do you think would be most effective? I feel like in order to
:20:51. > :20:54.encourage the youth it involves having a strong support system
:20:55. > :21:02.behind it to bring the youth up. For instance, in school, we are taught
:21:03. > :21:04.social studies but we tend to focus on mathematics, science, English,
:21:05. > :21:14.because that's what we are always brought up on because of tests,
:21:15. > :21:19.exams, etc. So social studies and civic education is pushed to the
:21:20. > :21:22.side. So I feel like it should be encouraged in a school system
:21:23. > :21:27.because the majority of our youth are in school of course. And then
:21:28. > :21:39.from there build outside programmes. From there, yeah... Come on. I
:21:40. > :21:43.agree. I also went to Kenwood, it was the start of me getting my foot
:21:44. > :21:47.in the door to want to expand and to outside things. Also funding
:21:48. > :21:52.after-school programmes and summer programmes because I had to- three
:21:53. > :21:59.jobs ever since eighth grade, every summer. Because first of all you
:22:00. > :22:04.make money, so... So that was the first thing but also it helped my
:22:05. > :22:07.resume, helped me get my feet wet to allow me to see different
:22:08. > :22:12.opportunities, see if I liked being a councillor, if I wanted to be a
:22:13. > :22:16.cheerleading coach or a tutor. Trying different things every summer
:22:17. > :22:21.helped me hone in on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
:22:22. > :22:25.After-school programmes as well, the funding for that helps keep the kids
:22:26. > :22:28.off the street, hopefully in Chicago we will have less violence as they
:22:29. > :22:32.will have something to do and you are enriching their lives in school
:22:33. > :22:40.and after school and also in the summer. I'm
:22:41. > :22:51.I'm sorry, did you work in the Bronx during the summer, what prompted you
:22:52. > :22:54.to first of all, describe the experience was and then give us a
:22:55. > :23:01.sense of what inspired you to do something like that. I have been
:23:02. > :23:05.involved in an alternative break and merging programme which sends
:23:06. > :23:10.students on trips over spring break and winter break. Spring Break of my
:23:11. > :23:14.junior year of college I was in the South Bronx working with a group at
:23:15. > :23:20.an elementary school. We took ten students and we were there to enrich
:23:21. > :23:23.the students lives. What is so unique about this programme is we
:23:24. > :23:28.understand the privilege we have to be welcomed into these communities.
:23:29. > :23:31.We are not there to support them, we are supporting them but we are there
:23:32. > :23:36.to learn from them and understand the experiences they are having. To
:23:37. > :23:41.understand just how wonderful so many of these young kids are. I
:23:42. > :23:45.remember the principal at Immaculate Conception which is the school we
:23:46. > :23:48.were at coming up to us and saying I hope you realise this is the only
:23:49. > :23:52.weak eyed of the year the students get to finger paint because it's too
:23:53. > :23:58.messy with just one teacher. It took a lot of us being there to let them
:23:59. > :24:02.do that. It shows the impact young people can have in these
:24:03. > :24:08.communities. You're going to say something and obviously your service
:24:09. > :24:15.in the military is an example of public service that thankfully
:24:16. > :24:28.everyone now appreciates, that wasn't always the case. But what I
:24:29. > :24:32.discovered was once our veteran 's take of the uniform, leave the
:24:33. > :24:40.service, sometimes people forget how much talent is there and the need to
:24:41. > :24:44.tap into the amazing young people that have served in our military so
:24:45. > :24:48.that they can work in the community and continue the leadership they
:24:49. > :24:51.have shown while they were in the military. You have been able to make
:24:52. > :24:58.that transition but talk a little bit about your mindset both when you
:24:59. > :25:02.went into the military and after you left, how did that change your
:25:03. > :25:05.perception in terms of your responsibilities to your community
:25:06. > :25:10.and how you might be able to make a difference? When I joined the
:25:11. > :25:18.military I joined six months out of high school. I was working
:25:19. > :25:22.full-time, I was not in school or college, being in college is a big
:25:23. > :25:25.deal and graduating is an even bigger deal where I come from. But
:25:26. > :25:30.it is about graduating high school, getting a job, stuff like that. I
:25:31. > :25:35.was in the military and I realise there is so much more to that. And
:25:36. > :25:39.that I am being afforded this wonderful opportunity to engage with
:25:40. > :25:43.so many different people from all over the country. Have so many
:25:44. > :25:50.different views but we all share the same goal. And I realised that if I
:25:51. > :25:57.wanted to make a larger contribution I was going to have to go to school
:25:58. > :26:01.and so that's what I did. I served my initial contract and received an
:26:02. > :26:07.honourable discharge in March 2014 and moved to Chicago in June. I was
:26:08. > :26:11.in Roosevelt by August. I did not do it by myself, when I got out the
:26:12. > :26:18.military I was part of a programme called veteran 's upward bound. It's
:26:19. > :26:24.a programme perfections that need to brush up on their academic skills
:26:25. > :26:29.before they enter college. And being a part of that literally saved me
:26:30. > :26:36.taking extra courses, remedial courses. I benefited immensely from
:26:37. > :26:41.that. And I was fortunate enough to get a research assistant position at
:26:42. > :26:48.Roosevelt and that really, that really got me going. I was working
:26:49. > :26:52.with different projects, youth, landlords, it was amazing because
:26:53. > :26:56.these are regular folks. That's something I definitely wanted to get
:26:57. > :27:04.involved in. To answer your question about what I think is preventing the
:27:05. > :27:10.youth, I think we need to connect personal problems with public
:27:11. > :27:13.issues. I feel like sometimes, you are working two jobs and cannot
:27:14. > :27:20.afford daycare, it's not because you are lazy. So if we can establish a
:27:21. > :27:26.connection which demonstrates that connection, I am big on collecting
:27:27. > :27:29.data and numbers, 80% of people are experiencing this in your community
:27:30. > :27:35.for example and you don't know it. You don't see it but here is a
:27:36. > :27:41.number, this is the fact. I believe that a huge thing we can do to help
:27:42. > :27:46.them. You are making a terrific point, one of the things I learned
:27:47. > :27:52.when I was organising, and this is true for I think a lot of young
:27:53. > :27:55.would-be do-gooders, you show up in a neighbourhood and your initial
:27:56. > :28:01.instinct is to tell people what they should be interested in. Instead of
:28:02. > :28:06.spending the first six months listening and finding out what they
:28:07. > :28:14.actually are interested in. And then connecting... APPLAUSE
:28:15. > :28:23.Connecting their immediate needs to the policies that are having
:28:24. > :28:33.influence on those areas of concern. And the more that you can make
:28:34. > :28:38.concrete for people, the fact that the reason there are not enough
:28:39. > :28:43.after-school programmes is not just because they are impossible to set
:28:44. > :28:49.up but have to do with budgets. Here are the people who are making the
:28:50. > :28:57.decisions about the budgets. And the reason there is a lack of childcare
:28:58. > :29:00.is not because, you know, you are the only single mum who need
:29:01. > :29:04.childcare, everybody needs childcare. But there are not enough
:29:05. > :29:09.facilities in place with trained childcare providers and this is what
:29:10. > :29:18.a change in public policy could do to provide everybody support. That's
:29:19. > :29:22.when you start bringing people together and their voices are
:29:23. > :29:31.amplified. Because what is certainly true is that one voice by itself
:29:32. > :29:34.rarely changes something. Two voices have a better shot. 20 voices, OK,
:29:35. > :29:40.we are getting somewhere. It begins with the
:29:41. > :29:41.listening process. So people feel like they are being
:29:42. > :29:44.heard at the outset. Were you someone always interested
:29:45. > :29:53.in politics generally, or is this something that
:29:54. > :29:59.came to you? In a sense, you have been active
:30:00. > :30:07.in College Republicans. One, do you feel as if on college
:30:08. > :30:11.campuses sometimes you are not heard I think there is certainly
:30:12. > :30:23.a perception sometimes among young people who are on the more
:30:24. > :30:30.conservative end of the spectrum that colleges are a bastion
:30:31. > :30:32.of political correctness. Also, have you found ways
:30:33. > :30:44.in which you can connect and have a conversation
:30:45. > :30:48.with the college Democrat and the person who has a different
:30:49. > :30:51.point of view so that we can encourage better conversations
:30:52. > :30:53.and better understanding I think, being interested in
:30:54. > :31:05.politics, I don't know that I came My mother was involved
:31:06. > :31:09.in the PTA when I was a child. The PTA is a lot
:31:10. > :31:14.of work, you know. And think the message
:31:15. > :31:24.something like that would send, She did that because the
:31:25. > :31:33.educational system, more broadly fostered in the town,
:31:34. > :31:36.was important to her and something I think, in eighth grade,
:31:37. > :31:54.which was your first election, At the beginning of the year picked
:31:55. > :32:32.a campaign to follow Each week, we did a report
:32:33. > :32:39.for the teacher on how the candidate Polling information
:32:40. > :32:42.that we had accumulated. It was an interesting process and it
:32:43. > :32:49.taught us to care about the news at a time when maybe that was not
:32:50. > :32:53.something you went home and watched. Something that made you more
:32:54. > :32:57.aware of the issues. I was fortunate enough to go to
:32:58. > :33:00.high school in New Hampshire. It is just part of the whole ethos,
:33:01. > :33:12.every four years they care. That people care about
:33:13. > :33:18.what New Hampshire has to say. One of the things that is a shame
:33:19. > :33:30.in that process is that there is a group that is as active every
:33:31. > :33:33.four years because They are big in the
:33:34. > :33:36.towns they are from. You have people active every four
:33:37. > :33:42.years and are sort of gone You have some if you are brought up
:33:43. > :33:48.a certain way, you are brought up to believe that your opinion
:33:49. > :33:51.is going to count for something, then go
:33:52. > :33:54.on to do big things... I had a friend that I went to high
:33:55. > :33:57.school with, she has been She ran for an open seat.
:33:58. > :34:05.That is just how it goes up there. In terms of being involved
:34:06. > :34:09.in politics, I was fortunate enough to take a year between high
:34:10. > :34:11.school and college. I worked in Washington,
:34:12. > :34:13.DC at the Senate. That is an eye opening
:34:14. > :34:17.experience because it forces you to confront,
:34:18. > :34:19.in a real way, what You gain a lot of information
:34:20. > :34:22.very, very quickly. I am immensely grateful
:34:23. > :34:25.for the opportunity. After coming here, that
:34:26. > :34:28.changed my worldview. I thought I would come
:34:29. > :34:30.here and be an economist, like every first-year believes
:34:31. > :34:32.at some level here. And that, coupled
:34:33. > :34:40.with my time at the Institute of Politics, which was a good,
:34:41. > :34:43.structured force to show that there was many venues
:34:44. > :34:46.to engage civically. Let me explore things
:34:47. > :34:50.like campaigning in Iowa. As for being a Republican
:34:51. > :34:57.on a college campus, yesterday, NBC ran an article on their website
:34:58. > :35:00.and it did not say who we were, just the composition was one
:35:01. > :35:03.Republican, and the rest Maybe three people sent me
:35:04. > :35:12.the article and say, is it you? It depends on the setting
:35:13. > :35:28.whether it is something you are At the Institute of Politics,
:35:29. > :35:33.most people know at this point. In the beginning of 2016,
:35:34. > :35:39.caucus season going on, those of us who had been in Iowa
:35:40. > :35:44.and could do the caucus maths, The issue of the hot
:35:45. > :35:50.commodity in the room There were venues certainly
:35:51. > :35:54.when I would not have brought it up or would not have been particularly
:35:55. > :35:56.forthcoming with it. I think people suspected
:35:57. > :35:58.it, but I did not... I will leave that to the other
:35:59. > :36:01.student Government people I don't necessarily know
:36:02. > :36:09.what I was afraid of, but I think there is a sense that,
:36:10. > :36:15.if you harbour a view that does not jive with the majority view,
:36:16. > :36:17.that you can expect some level of ostracisation
:36:18. > :36:19.from certain people. You can expect people to assume
:36:20. > :36:26.the worst aspect of you based I don't think anyone sitting in this
:36:27. > :36:33.room agrees with their party on 100% I might be wrong, but if you raised
:36:34. > :36:42.a hand I can't see you. So I think being a Republican
:36:43. > :36:46.on a college campus is, Most people don't agree with you,
:36:47. > :36:53.and when you engage in the dorms and the dining halls with those
:36:54. > :36:56.people who are able to see you, the person, and you,
:36:57. > :36:58.the person with the political views, you are forced to know yourself well
:36:59. > :37:01.and do soul-searching well. And to understand why
:37:02. > :37:04.it is you think what you think. And what part of your past
:37:05. > :37:20.about what you believe now. I think the other thing is there is
:37:21. > :37:27.a significant empathy gap. Not just here but everywhere. I think most
:37:28. > :37:31.people have not had in their homes for dinner in a real weight someone
:37:32. > :37:38.who is significantly different from them, politically racially. We have
:37:39. > :37:44.cloistered ourselves. The liberal bastion of college campuses
:37:45. > :37:53.certainly can be true. I lucky year. The School is committed to accepting
:37:54. > :38:00.our thoughts. I think a broader societal problem, if you look at the
:38:01. > :38:04.county map of 2016, you had a lot of counties where it was over 80% of
:38:05. > :38:09.the vote and the reverse was true for the president now. There is not
:38:10. > :38:19.understanding. It is not just that we are reading different use, we do
:38:20. > :38:22.not each other any more. -- difference news. We require more
:38:23. > :38:30.civility I think. APPLAUSE
:38:31. > :38:38.A lot of problems with our politics that at home we blame politicians a
:38:39. > :38:55.lot for the failure of each of us to grasp each other well. Your mentor,
:38:56. > :39:04.Lugar, ... People could not stand to see their member bridge a gap on a
:39:05. > :39:09.human level. There is an empathy gap and people see politics in this
:39:10. > :39:14.generation and say, this is ugly, this is mainly, this is something
:39:15. > :39:19.you have pretty experienced people doing. And if the country is a ship
:39:20. > :39:26.and politicians are sellers, maybe at the ballot moves a degree either
:39:27. > :39:31.way. -- sailors and the vote moves a degree either way.
:39:32. > :39:36.You cannot really run a country where half of it hates the other.
:39:37. > :39:48.Somehow, we are going to have to find ways to bridge that with people
:39:49. > :39:56.who are not like us. On this page, other than me, you have run for
:39:57. > :40:08.office. I am the oldest. I know you last, but I did, too, once. Right
:40:09. > :40:12.here in this cutie. -- community. What prompted you to run for office,
:40:13. > :40:19.which is a different kind of engagement. What did you take from
:40:20. > :40:28.the experience? Digital discouraged, did you feel, OK, this was fine? Or
:40:29. > :40:37.if not fun, was it worth it? Would you encourage other young people to
:40:38. > :40:42.take their shot? For me, the first time I ever did something that is
:40:43. > :40:48.considered separately engaged. I could not vote until after the Iraq
:40:49. > :40:51.war had already started. The first time I thought of doing something
:40:52. > :40:56.for this country was protesting the Iraq war. I felt passionately we
:40:57. > :41:02.were in the wrong part of history there. I think you are also at that
:41:03. > :41:10.point. I agreed with you at the time. I could not vote but I felt at
:41:11. > :41:18.a lot of the time civic engagement in a sense gets stuck in the dynamic
:41:19. > :41:24.of voting, electoral engagement, does not always expand. We have to
:41:25. > :41:35.expand, the wager mother date. Or being on a board for nonprofit. --
:41:36. > :41:39.the way your mother date. -- the way your
:41:40. > :41:47.to directly answer the question around why I went from protesting to
:41:48. > :41:53.working at a nonprofit, organising, thinking electoral politics is one
:41:54. > :42:00.of the many routes I am going to engaging, for me that happened in
:42:01. > :42:04.2010. After organising I saw a lot of the jargon used against us as
:42:05. > :42:09.young people at that time, I did not understand. I went back to college
:42:10. > :42:21.to understand public policy language. When I rang, my last and
:42:22. > :42:41.is Patel, not a lot of Patels in office. There are a lot more Patels
:42:42. > :42:49.men Obamas. I had a joke, but I am not going to. I do not want to get
:42:50. > :42:53.stuck in this two party language. But there is a lot of different cult
:42:54. > :43:00.of personalities and politics that people get drawn to. Can't really go
:43:01. > :43:06.beyond the questions you are allowed to ask within. I wanted to protest,
:43:07. > :43:11.run for office, run a small business, do the organising, figure
:43:12. > :43:15.out what is the most effective way that I want to live my life, be
:43:16. > :43:19.happy, and inspire a whole generation of folks who look like
:43:20. > :43:26.me, or South Asian immigrants or Muslim background. I want people to
:43:27. > :43:32.feel like they can do anything. Also, Illinois has establishment
:43:33. > :43:38.politics that is really old. Not all day and age, but I thinking. A
:43:39. > :43:46.monopoly of power, money, ideas that only come from few families or
:43:47. > :43:48.sometimes a few zip codes. I want to say that is not how we should move
:43:49. > :43:55.forward. APPLAUSE
:43:56. > :44:03.A couple of thoughts based on some of the things that folks have said.
:44:04. > :44:11.First of all, you say, Horatio, there are a lot of different ways to
:44:12. > :44:15.engage being important. Sometimes, people think, if you are not running
:44:16. > :44:24.for office, or it is not election day, there is no other ways of
:44:25. > :44:25.getting involved. The parent teacher Association is a perfect example of
:44:26. > :44:33.what we want to encourage. There are writers and social
:44:34. > :44:38.thinkers out there who would argue that one of the problems we have
:44:39. > :44:48.with politics right now is that the mediating institutions, the unions,
:44:49. > :44:55.the churches, the PTA groups, the Rotary Club, a lot of the voluntary
:44:56. > :45:01.organisations that used to exist, sororities and fraternities, that
:45:02. > :45:09.used to bring people together to then work on issues, that those have
:45:10. > :45:13.declined. And the statistics show that people are less likely to be
:45:14. > :45:19.involved with various organisations in the community than they used to
:45:20. > :45:25.be. And what that means is then people don't have some of the same
:45:26. > :45:36.habits of being together on a common project. We become a more
:45:37. > :45:43.individualistic society and that has spill-over effects when it comes to
:45:44. > :45:50.political participation and empathy because you are interacting with
:45:51. > :45:54.your people on a regular basis. The second thing is how to do with how
:45:55. > :46:01.we get information so I want to see what people thank. I think a lot of
:46:02. > :46:10.us who have been in politics for olive oil to see a change from 20
:46:11. > :46:14.years ago, certainly 30 years ago, where it used to be everybody kind
:46:15. > :46:18.of had the same information and we had different opinions about it but
:46:19. > :46:26.there was a comment baseline of facts. And that the Internet in some
:46:27. > :46:33.ways has accelerated this sense of people having entirely separate
:46:34. > :46:39.conversations. And if this generation is getting all of its
:46:40. > :46:44.information through its phones then you don't have to confront people
:46:45. > :46:50.who have different opinions or different experience or different
:46:51. > :46:57.outlook. If you are liberal then you are on MSNBC, if you are
:46:58. > :47:01.conservative you are on Fox News. You read the Wall Street Journal or
:47:02. > :47:05.you read the New York Times. Whatever your choices are. And maybe
:47:06. > :47:16.you are just watching cat videos, which is fine. LAUGHTER
:47:17. > :47:20.So one question I have for all of you is how do you guys get your
:47:21. > :47:28.information about the news and what's happening out there and are
:47:29. > :47:39.the ways in which you think we could do a better job of creating a common
:47:40. > :47:45.conversation now you have 600 cable stations and all these different
:47:46. > :47:51.news outlets that basically are offering one set of opinions. If
:47:52. > :47:55.there are two sets of opinions they are just yelling at each other so
:47:56. > :48:00.you do not get the sense there is conversation going on. And the
:48:01. > :48:03.Internet is worse. It's become more and more polarised. How much do you
:48:04. > :48:09.think that affect how people think about issues and are other ways that
:48:10. > :48:13.that could be changed given that most of your information and
:48:14. > :48:19.certainly for the younger people coming up behind you, even more,
:48:20. > :48:27.they are getting their information primarily off their phones. I think
:48:28. > :48:30.social media has its pros and cons. When it comes to getting information
:48:31. > :48:35.about what is going on in the world it is way faster on social media
:48:36. > :48:39.than it is on a newscast but on the other hand it can be the downfall
:48:40. > :48:42.because what if you're passing the wrong information? Or the
:48:43. > :48:47.information is not presented in the way it should be? So that causes a
:48:48. > :48:54.clash in our generation and I think it should go back to the old school.
:48:55. > :49:02.I think phones, social media, should be eliminated because, not, wait
:49:03. > :49:07.wait wait, I think I should rephrase myself! I think when it comes to
:49:08. > :49:13.politics and important information that can influence younger
:49:14. > :49:18.generations it should be organic. Politicians should actually reach
:49:19. > :49:22.out and physically talked to the community so there cannot be any
:49:23. > :49:27.misconception on the information being passed because social media,
:49:28. > :49:32.going on to Twitter or Facebook, anybody can hack your social media
:49:33. > :49:36.page which causes problems. To actually go out to the community,
:49:37. > :49:41.the community will feel more welcome and and I think that goes back to
:49:42. > :49:47.actually getting involved because to have somebody shake your hand and
:49:48. > :49:50.look at you and talk to you is more heartfelt feeling, to actually
:49:51. > :49:55.listen to what that person has to say. Is interesting. One of the
:49:56. > :50:00.other things you bring up and you have said what I am thinking, is
:50:01. > :50:04.going back to the basics and having in person conversations. One of the
:50:05. > :50:08.things I see as most important is people being able to listen and
:50:09. > :50:12.understand rather than listening to respond. There does not have to be
:50:13. > :50:17.an immediate response. I learned that in marriage by the way!
:50:18. > :50:24.LAUGHTER Just a tip for you young people.
:50:25. > :50:28.Listening to understand rather than listening to respond. That will save
:50:29. > :50:34.you a lot of heartache and grief. Sorry. LAUGHTER
:50:35. > :50:40.Just a little tip. I think it's something our generation, we find it
:50:41. > :50:45.easier to hide behind Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, being able to
:50:46. > :50:48.have in-person conversations and listen to the other side is the only
:50:49. > :50:55.way we are going to get anything done. I think it's important to
:50:56. > :51:00.engage with the leaders of that community and instead of going in
:51:01. > :51:05.there and thinking because it affects you in another city doesn't
:51:06. > :51:09.mean it's going to be the same dynamics in this neighbourhood. I
:51:10. > :51:14.think it's important to understand that. I want to help but I need to
:51:15. > :51:20.be humble and listen to people that have lived through it and have more
:51:21. > :51:26.of a clear understanding of what is needed. Dialogue is important,
:51:27. > :51:31.deliberation is important. You need to critically analyse people's
:51:32. > :51:38.views. Then you can create a plan off of that. I definitely think, as
:51:39. > :51:46.far as like, where you get your news from, diversity is important. Not
:51:47. > :51:49.every news station that leans Republican is horrible, it's nice,
:51:50. > :51:56.you need to understand how the other side banks. -- how the other side
:51:57. > :52:00.thinks. But I really believe that not shunning people who have
:52:01. > :52:05.different views from you, recognising that you do want to help
:52:06. > :52:08.but respecting the fact that there are people who have been here longer
:52:09. > :52:11.than you that have lived through these issues and you need to work
:52:12. > :52:24.with them instead of outsourcing help. Any other thoughts? I think,
:52:25. > :52:27.there was an interesting, it was either in the Journal or the Times
:52:28. > :52:32.shortly before the election that showed they made a generic
:52:33. > :52:34.Republican Facebook page and generic Democratic Facebook page and they
:52:35. > :52:45.showed you the news articles which would be in the feed. And the facts
:52:46. > :52:51.of the case, we now live, there are rumours we do not have fact any more
:52:52. > :52:58.in society, I am in a winger sticks class called truth now and they
:52:59. > :53:03.played us a documentary with the man who was a defence attorney in the
:53:04. > :53:07.Bronx during the 70s. He will tell you that if you ask somebody what
:53:08. > :53:12.shape the table is you can get three answers. If you are sitting at the
:53:13. > :53:14.table it's a rectangle, if you are underneath that it's the ceiling and
:53:15. > :53:19.if you are looking at it from the side it's got a rounded edge so it's
:53:20. > :53:25.a semicircle. I think that's basically where we are with the
:53:26. > :53:31.news. I don't know if the coverage where of the same issues that people
:53:32. > :53:35.would find factual difference anyway. I think part of the problem
:53:36. > :53:41.is we don't agree on what the issues are that are pressing and facing the
:53:42. > :53:45.country. I don't know how you get there but I don't think the national
:53:46. > :53:52.dialogue messily starts online or in the press. I think it starts
:53:53. > :53:55.door-to-door. That's how people go about campaigning, in that right now
:53:56. > :53:59.it's easy to sort of know you have numbers if you can only get them to
:54:00. > :54:02.show up and there is no onus to work to get somebody else to turn out for
:54:03. > :54:07.you to persuade them your point of view is correct. Instead there is a
:54:08. > :54:12.broad incentive to spend millions of dollars on advertising and is seeing
:54:13. > :54:21.if my opponent is elected the apocalypse will a car, rivers or run
:54:22. > :54:29.red and Hawaii will sink. There has to be aligned to make all things
:54:30. > :54:32.happen. I think at all levels there has to be a conversation and people
:54:33. > :54:36.have to be willing to talk to each other again. Maybe that'll start in
:54:37. > :54:41.middle school where you see in a class who has different views and
:54:42. > :54:44.commit part of social studies time to have people talk to issues of the
:54:45. > :54:48.day and why they think what they think but we have to get back to a
:54:49. > :54:55.place where people talk to each other again. That's been a running
:54:56. > :55:03.theme. I will say this, the reason I was able to run for the United
:55:04. > :55:10.States Senate was because, in addition to my base here in Chicago
:55:11. > :55:18.I had spent a lot of time travelling around the state. And over time I
:55:19. > :55:25.got to know people in parts of Illinois that today would be
:55:26. > :55:31.considered red and I lucked out effectively that I was under the
:55:32. > :55:35.radar screen so political ads did not characterise me. So people would
:55:36. > :55:44.meet me, even though I am this Chicago lawyer from a liberal
:55:45. > :55:51.district with an Arab sounding name, but I would show up. And you would
:55:52. > :55:57.have a conversation. And you talk about their kids and basketball,
:55:58. > :56:04.what was happening on their jobs. People got a sense that my frames of
:56:05. > :56:10.reference and my values were not so different from theirs. And that gave
:56:11. > :56:17.me the ability to break through some of the assumptions that people might
:56:18. > :56:20.have otherwise had. And in some ways Iowa was the same way, I am
:56:21. > :56:25.travelling around the state as you know from having worked there, its
:56:26. > :56:30.retail politics. You're going door-to-door and talking to people.
:56:31. > :56:36.We did not have a huge amount of money particularly initially for TV
:56:37. > :56:43.ads so it was just meeting people. And that does change peoples
:56:44. > :56:47.assumptions. When they get a chance to know somebody directly. So part
:56:48. > :56:56.of what we are going to have to figure out is how do we create
:56:57. > :57:00.greater opportunities. That's true between red parts of the state and
:57:01. > :57:08.blue parts of the state. It is true even within the city of Chicago. I
:57:09. > :57:17.was, yesterday, with a group of young men who are part of a
:57:18. > :57:22.programme designed to give them opportunities and pathways away from
:57:23. > :57:33.violence and crime. These are some young people from 18-24, all were
:57:34. > :57:37.African-American except one who was Latino. Many of them already had
:57:38. > :57:45.prison records. And had done some pretty rough stuff. Several of whom
:57:46. > :57:52.had already been shot, in some cases multiple times. None of whom had
:57:53. > :57:58.grown up with fathers. Many of whom had effectively been orphaned when
:57:59. > :58:06.they were very young. So this would be the stereotypical profile of
:58:07. > :58:11.somebody who has a good likelihood of shooting or getting shot here in
:58:12. > :58:17.Chicago. Part of the violence. That has been plaguing the city. What was
:58:18. > :58:26.striking when you sat down with these guys was there young people.
:58:27. > :58:31.And if you had listened to them talking you would recognise them as
:58:32. > :58:39.not that different from any other young man, 18-24. What was different
:58:40. > :58:47.was the circumstances. They had grown up in some cases in foster
:58:48. > :58:55.care or other mother was a drug addict and they have been neglected.
:58:56. > :59:03.So even within the city boundaries, a lot of times we will characterise
:59:04. > :59:08.our neighbours, as something entirely different than us. That we
:59:09. > :59:13.cannot understand that we are afraid of we cannot communicate with and
:59:14. > :59:21.political rhetoric reinforces that. And they need to be heard as well
:59:22. > :59:26.because if the six of you had been in that conversation you would have
:59:27. > :59:33.come away not saying these are some thugs or super predators that I
:59:34. > :59:38.cannot relate to, you would actually say if I had gone through what they
:59:39. > :59:44.went through I'm not sure how things would have worked out for me either.
:59:45. > :59:52.And that creation of empathy then promises a different kind of civic
:59:53. > :59:56.response and political response from the one we so often have. So that
:59:57. > :59:58.hearing other people I think is vital and the question is are other
:59:59. > :00:07.ways in which we can create opportunities to do that for more
:00:08. > :00:11.young people earlier on? Before the lines and divisions start hardening.