TED Salon The Macallan
Lee Thomas: How I help people understand vitiligo
Filmed:
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TV news anchor Lee Thomas thought his career was over after he was diagnosed with vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder that left large patches of his skin without pigment and led to derision and stares. In a captivating talk, he shares how he discovered a way to counter misunderstanding and fear around his appearance with engagement, dialogue -- and a smile. "Positivity is something worth fighting for, and the fight is not with others -- it's internal," Thomas says. "If you want to make positive changes in your life, you have to consistently be positive."
Lee Thomas - Broadcast journalist, diversity advocate
Lee Thomas has loved to watch, write and share stories his entire life. Full bio
Lee Thomas has loved to watch, write and share stories his entire life. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
When I was young,
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I wanted to be on TV:
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the lights, the cameras,
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the makeup,
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the glamorous life.
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And from my vantage point,
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just outside of a military base
in Lawton, Oklahoma,
in Lawton, Oklahoma,
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I didn't make the distinction
between TV reporter or actor.
between TV reporter or actor.
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It was all the same to me.
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It was either,
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"Reporting live from Berlin"
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or "I shall attend her here and woo her
with such spirit when she comes."
with such spirit when she comes."
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(Laughter)
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It was all special,
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it was all the spotlight,
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and I just knew that it was for me.
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But somewhere along my journey,
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life happened.
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Ah, much better.
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(Applause)
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I have a disease called vitiligo.
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It started early in my career.
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It's an autoimmune disorder.
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It's where it looks like your skin
is getting white patches,
is getting white patches,
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but it's actually void of color.
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It affects all ethnicities,
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it affects all ages,
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all genders,
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it's not contagious,
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it's not life-threatening,
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but it is mental warfare.
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It's tough.
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Now, I was diagnosed with this disease
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when I was working on
"Eyewitness News" in New York City.
"Eyewitness News" in New York City.
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I was in the biggest city in the country,
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I was on their flagship station
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and I was on their top-rated 5pm newscast.
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And the doctor looked me
right in the eye and said,
right in the eye and said,
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"You have a disease called vitiligo.
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It's a skin disorder
where you lose your pigment.
where you lose your pigment.
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There is no cure,
but there a-la-la-la-la".
but there a-la-la-la-la".
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Charlie Brown's teacher.
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(Laughter)
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He said there is no cure.
All I heard was, "My career is over."
All I heard was, "My career is over."
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But I just couldn't give up.
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I couldn't quit,
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because we put too much into this.
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And by "we" I mean Mr. Moss,
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who sent me to speech and drama club
instead of to detention,
instead of to detention,
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or my sister who paid
part of my college expenses,
part of my college expenses,
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or my mom,
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who simply gave me everything.
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I would not quit.
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So I decided to just put on makeup
and keep it moving.
and keep it moving.
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I had to wear makeup anyway.
It's TV, baby, right?
It's TV, baby, right?
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I just put on a little more makeup,
and everything's cool.
and everything's cool.
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And that actually
went very well for years.
went very well for years.
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I went from being a reporter
in New York City
in New York City
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to being a morning show anchor in Detroit,
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the Motor City.
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And as the disease got worse,
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I just put on more makeup.
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It was easy.
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Except for my hands.
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See, this disease is progressive
and ever-changing.
and ever-changing.
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That means it comes and goes.
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At one point, for about a year and a half,
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my face was completely white.
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Yeah, it trips me out too.
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(Laughter)
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Yeah.
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And then, with a little help,
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some of the pigment came back,
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but living through this process
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was like two sides of a coin.
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When I'm at work
and I'm wearing the makeup
and I'm wearing the makeup
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or wearing the makeup outside,
I'm the TV guy.
I'm the TV guy.
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"Hey, how you doing everybody? Great."
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At home without the makeup,
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I'd take it off
and it was like being a leper.
and it was like being a leper.
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The stares, constantly staring at me,
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the comments under their breath.
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Some people refused to shake my hand.
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Some people moved
to the other side of the sidewalk,
to the other side of the sidewalk,
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moved to the other side of the elevator.
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I felt like they were moving
to the other side of life.
to the other side of life.
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It was tough,
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and those were some tough years.
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And honestly,
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sometimes I just had to shelter in place.
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You know what I mean?
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Kind of just stay at home
till I get my mind right.
till I get my mind right.
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But then I'd put my blinders back on,
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I'd get back out there,
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do my thing,
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but in the process of doing that,
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I developed this --
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angry, grumpy demeanor.
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Anger is an easy go-to,
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and people would leave me alone,
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but it just wasn't me.
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It wasn't me.
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I was allowing this disease to turn me
into this angry, grumpy, spotted guy.
into this angry, grumpy, spotted guy.
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It just wasn't me.
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So I had to change.
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I knew I could not change other people.
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People are going to react
and do what they gonna do.
and do what they gonna do.
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But there was a cold hard reality as well.
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I was the one
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that was showing anger, sadness
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and isolating myself.
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It was actually a choice.
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I was walking out the door every day
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expecting the world
to react with negativity,
to react with negativity,
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so I just gave them that mean face first.
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If I wanted change,
the change had to start with me.
the change had to start with me.
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So I came up with a plan.
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Two-parter, not that deep.
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Number one: I would just let people stare,
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drink it in, stare all you want,
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and not react.
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Because the truth is
when I got this disease,
when I got this disease,
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I was all up in the mirror
staring at every new spot
staring at every new spot
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trying to figure out what is going on.
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So I needed to let other people
have that same opportunity
have that same opportunity
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to get that visual understanding.
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Number two:
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I would react with positivity,
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and that was simply a smile,
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or, at the very least,
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a nonjudgmental, kind face.
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Simple plan.
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But it turned out to be
more difficult than I thought.
more difficult than I thought.
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But over time,
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things started to go OK.
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Like this one time, I'm at the store
and this dude is like staring at me,
and this dude is like staring at me,
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like burning a hole
in the side of my head.
in the side of my head.
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I'm shopping, he's staring at me,
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I'm going to the checkout,
he's staring at me,
he's staring at me,
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I'm checking out, he's on the other line
checking out, he's staring at me,
checking out, he's staring at me,
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we go to the exit,
he's still staring at me,
he's still staring at me,
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so I see he's staring
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and finally I turn to him
and I go, "Hey buddy, what's up!"
and I go, "Hey buddy, what's up!"
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And he goes ...
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(Mumbles nervously) "Hi!"
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(Laughter)
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Awkward.
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So to relieve the tension, I say,
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"It's just a skin disorder.
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It's not contagious,
it's not life-threatening,
it's not life-threatening,
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it just makes me look a little different."
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I end up talking to that guy
for like five minutes.
for like five minutes.
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It was kind of cool, right?
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And at the end
of our conversation, he says,
of our conversation, he says,
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"You know, if you
didn't have 'vitilargo'" --
didn't have 'vitilargo'" --
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it's actually vitiligo,
but he was trying, so --
but he was trying, so --
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(Laughter)
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"if you didn't have vitilargo,
you'd look just like that guy on TV."
you'd look just like that guy on TV."
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(Laughter)
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And I was like, "Haha,
yeah, I get that, I get that, yeah."
yeah, I get that, I get that, yeah."
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(Laughter)
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So things were going OK.
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I was having more good exchanges than bad,
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until that day.
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I had a little time before work
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so I like to stop by the park
to watch the kids play.
to watch the kids play.
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They're funny.
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So I got a little too close,
this little girl wasn't paying attention,
this little girl wasn't paying attention,
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she's about two or three years old,
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she's running, she runs directly
into my leg and falls down, pretty hard.
into my leg and falls down, pretty hard.
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I thought she hurt herself,
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so I reach out to try
and help the little girl
and help the little girl
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and she looks at my vitiligo
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and she screams!
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Now kids are pure honesty.
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She's like two or three.
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This little girl,
she wasn't trying to be mean.
she wasn't trying to be mean.
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She didn't have any malice in her heart.
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This little girl was afraid.
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She was just afraid.
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I didn't know what to do.
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I just took a step back
and put my hands by my side.
and put my hands by my side.
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I stayed in the house for two weeks
and three days on that one.
and three days on that one.
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It took me a second
to get my mind around the fact
to get my mind around the fact
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that I scare small children.
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And that was something
that I could not smile away.
that I could not smile away.
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But I jumped back on my plan
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and just put on my blinders,
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started going back out.
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Two months later, I'm in a grocery store
reaching on the bottom shelf,
reaching on the bottom shelf,
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and I hear a little voice go,
"You've got a boo-boo?"
"You've got a boo-boo?"
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It's like a two-year-old, three-year-old,
same age, little girl,
same age, little girl,
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but she's not crying,
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so I kneel down in front of her
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and I don't speak two-year-old
so I look up at the mom,
so I look up at the mom,
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and I say, "What did she say?"
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And she says, "She thinks
you have a boo-boo."
you have a boo-boo."
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So I go, "No, I don't have
a boo-boo, no, not at all."
a boo-boo, no, not at all."
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And the little girl says,
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"Duh-duh-hoy?"
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And so I look to mom for the translation,
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and she says,
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"She thinks you're hurt."
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And I say, "No, sweetie,
I'm not hurt at all, I'm fine."
I'm not hurt at all, I'm fine."
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And the little girl
reaches out with that little hand
reaches out with that little hand
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and touches my face.
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She's trying to rub
the chocolate into the vanilla
the chocolate into the vanilla
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or whatever she was doing.
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It was amazing!
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It was awesome.
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Because she thought she knew what it was,
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she was giving me everything I wanted:
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kindness, compassion.
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And with the touch of that little hand,
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she healed a grown man's pain.
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Yee-ha.
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Healed.
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I smiled for a long time on that one.
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Positivity is something
worth fighting for,
worth fighting for,
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and the fight is not with others --
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it's internal.
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If you want to make
positive changes in your life,
positive changes in your life,
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you have to consistently be positive.
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My blood type is actually B positive.
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(Laughter)
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I know, corny TV guy dad joke,
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my daughter hates it, but I don't care!
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Be positive!
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(Laughs)
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A 14-year-old boy years ago --
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this kid had vitiligo --
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he asked me to show my face on television.
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I wasn't going to do it,
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we've been over this,
I thought I was going to lose my job,
I thought I was going to lose my job,
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but the kid convinced me by saying,
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"If you show people what you look like
and explain this to them,
and explain this to them,
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maybe they will treat me differently."
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Boom! Blinders off.
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I did a TV report,
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got an overwhelming response.
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So I didn't know what to do.
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I took the attention
and focused it back on the kid
and focused it back on the kid
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and other people that have vitiligo.
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I started a support group.
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Pretty soon, we noticed "VITFriends"
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and "V-Strong" support groups
all over the country.
all over the country.
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In 2016, we all came together
and celebrated World Vitiligo Day.
and celebrated World Vitiligo Day.
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This past June 25,
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we had over 300 people,
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all in celebration of our annual event.
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It was amazing.
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(Applause)
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Thanks.
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Now, I'm not going to lie to you
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and say it was quick or easy
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for me to find a positive place
living with this disease,
living with this disease,
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but I found it.
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But I also got much more.
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I became a better man,
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the man I always wanted to be,
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the kind of guy who can stand up
in front of a room full of strangers
in front of a room full of strangers
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and tell some of
the toughest stories in his life
the toughest stories in his life
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and end it all with a smile,
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and find happiness in the fact
that you all just smiled back.
that you all just smiled back.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lee Thomas - Broadcast journalist, diversity advocateLee Thomas has loved to watch, write and share stories his entire life.
Why you should listen
An Emmy-winning entertainment reporter, Lee Thomas's movie review show, "CriticLee Speaking," and his reports originate from WJBK Fox 2 in Detroit, Michigan. Turning White, Thomas's personal memoir of living with the skin disease vitiligo, gained world attention launching his passion to create a clear global path for self acceptance, diversity and inclusion. He is the global spokesperson for the Vitiligo Society of London and Vstrong USA as well as a Certified Diversity Professional with the National Diversity Council (NDCCDP).
Lee Thomas | Speaker | TED.com