“Positivity is something worth fighting for, and the fight is not with others. It’s internal.” – Do these words sound familiar? It was last month only, when Lee Thomas, an entertainment reporter with vitiligo, shared these words on TED Talk’s stage. Recently, Kayla Cooley Herndon, another vitiligan’s story got live on TEDx Talks’ YouTube channel. 12 years old vitiligo fighter has been bullied since age 4, because of the unusual patches on her skin.
In a 7:25 minutes long talk, Kayla shared how she came to realize that self-respect is the key to being treated respectfully by others – “Vitiligo has taught me how to love and accept myself because I need to show the world how to treat me.”
Pain is often the root of bullying. If you show kindness to a bully, you just might make the world a better place. “We need to start sticking up for one another and change how everyone should act. We need to make our world a better place,” Kayla compelled everyone in the room to applaud her.
“We all forget that we all deserve love and respect and that’s why I’m here to remind you that you have to be there for one another.” Throughout her talk on the TEDx stage, Kayla emerged as a young girl with vitiligo, trying to make a positive impact on society and teaching everyone a lesson on self-love. Watch the full video below:
For those who are new to TEDx
TEDxs bring forward TED’s mission (of creating ideas worth spreading) to local communities across the world. TEDx events are organized by curious individuals who seek to spark conversations and discover ideas. TEDx events are planned independently under a free license granted by TED (hence recorded by TED Talks). Hence, Kayla Cooley Herndon,’s TEDx Talk adhered to the TED conference format but was independently organized by a local community, in this case, Hellenic Classical Charter School, New York.
