Poverty versus privilege: Ashley Canas at TEDxLincoln

Poverty versus privilege: Ashley Canas at TEDxLincoln

What I have discovered is that there is some poverty in privilege and some privilege in poverty. There is poverty in beauty, poverty in thinking, and poverty in lack of perspective. My several encounters with poverty have led me to believe that this is not about judging, but merely an observation of what I have witnessed.The most important thing that I learned in life is to never give up. Canas grew up in Cozad, Nebraska, in poverty with a single mother, but then was the first person in her family to receive a college degree and completed graduate school with a 4.0.  Not bad for such humble beginnings. She believes that the ability to pioneer change starts inside each one of us,  through increased awareness, perseverance and strong, caring actions.  We must be resilient and desire to be more.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)