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  • ♪ (industrial music) ♪

  • (silence)

  • - I am not black.

  • ♪ (light music starts) ♪ I mean, that's what the world calls me.

  • But... - Huh.

  • - (Prince Ea) ...it's not me.

  • - I think I've seen other videos by this guy.

  • - (Prince Ea) I didn't come out of my mother's womb saying,

  • "Hey, everybody, I'm black." - Hmm.

  • - (Prince Ea) No, I was taught to be black.

  • - Mm-hmm.

  • - (Prince Ea) And you were taught to call me that

  • along with whatever you call yourself.

  • - Is the idea like, "I'm just a person. Don't label me"?

  • - (Prince Ea) It's just a label. - (quavering sigh)

  • - (Prince Ea) See, from birth, the world force-feeds us these

  • labels. - Oh, wow.

  • - (Prince Ea) And eventually, we all swallow them.

  • - That's right. - (Prince Ea) We digest and

  • accept the labels. - Everything is based on a label,

  • no matter what.

  • - (Prince Ea) But who we truly are is not skin deep.

  • Listen, I'm not here to tell you... - This is very cool.

  • - (Prince Ea) ...genetically we're all mixed in.

  • - Right. - (Prince Ea) Race in the human species

  • doesn't exist or how every historian knows that race

  • was invented in the 15th century...

  • - I love seeing all the different people.

  • - (Prince Ea) And it has worked perfectly.

  • No.

  • I just want to ask one question.

  • Who would you be if the world never gave you a label?

  • - Dude, I'd be Alix. - (Prince Ea) Never gave you a

  • box to check. - Who can check just one box?

  • - (Prince Ea) Mexican? Asian?

  • Native American? - It's pretty deep.

  • - (Prince Ea) Indian?

  • No.

  • We would be one.

  • We would be together. - Hell yeah.

  • - (Prince Ea) We would be one.

  • - That's right. - (Prince Ea) We would be together.

  • - Together. I love this. - (Prince Ea) ...of calling human beings

  • black people or white people, these labels

  • that will forever blind us

  • from seeing a person for who they are.

  • - Got chills. This dude's amazing. - (Prince Ea) ...judgmental,

  • but instead seeing them through the judgmental, prejudicial,

  • artificial... - I like the hope behind it.

  • - (Prince Ea) ...of who we think they are.

  • Where there is division, there will be conflict.

  • And conflict starts wars.

  • Therefore, every war... - That's right.

  • Every war is over a label 150,000%.

  • - (Prince Ea) So the answer to war, racism, sexism,

  • and every other -ism is so simple

  • that every politician has missed it. - Wow.

  • - (Prince Ea) It's the labels. We must rip them off.

  • Isn't it funny how no baby is born racist...

  • - No. - (Prince Ea) ...yet every baby cries

  • when they hear the cries of another. - This is gonna make me cry.

  • - Oh. This is gonna make me cry now!

  • - (Prince Ea) ...deep down, we were meant to connect

  • and care for each other.

  • That is our mission.

  • Please listen. - Amen, brother.

  • - (Prince Ea) ...distort our vision,

  • which is why half of those watching this will dismiss it

  • or feel resistance... - This is so beautiful.

  • - (Prince Ea) ...just remember... - How could you dismiss that?

  • - (Prince Ea) Human beings were not meant to be slapped with

  • labels like groceries in supermarkets.

  • DNA cannot be regulated by the FDA.

  • We were meant to be free.

  • And only until we remove them all and stop living in

  • thinking so small will we be free... - Mm-hmm.

  • - (Prince Ea) ...to see ourselves in each other for who we...

  • - That's a beautiful image. - (Prince Ea) ...truly are.

  • - (softly) Oh gosh.

  • Okay, guys. I need a tissue.

  • - It's a beautiful sentiment.

  • I can't afford to be colorblind,

  • 'cause people don't look at me that way.

  • There's certain labels that I choose to identify with.

  • I say that I'm Chicano. I say that I'm queer.

  • I'm not afraid to say that I am those things,

  • because it's important.

  • ♪ (light industrial music) ♪

  • - (Finebros) So what are your initial thoughts

  • after watching this video? - (takes deep breath)

  • It was beautiful. I loved the message.

  • - I think that it's really touching.

  • - I like this, because it advocates in favor of

  • a unified world.

  • - It was so... emotional.

  • Before kids are affected by the family or society,

  • no kid is looking at another kid

  • and thinking they look different.

  • - It's the message we need (emphasizing) exactly right now.

  • This thing in our country about labeling--

  • it makes me so angry.

  • - (Finebros) This is a video by Prince Ea,

  • who's a spoken-word artist who's made content on topics

  • ranging from politics to the environment.

  • What do you think about him using his talents in this way?

  • - I think it's great.

  • - No one wants to hear speeches.

  • If you put it in a poetic and almost like a song,

  • you'll listen to it.

  • - It's kinda boring to watch a politician.

  • So when you see a video of someone younger

  • and they're talking passionately about something they feel,

  • I think that's really inspirational.

  • - It's so memorable, and it sticks with you.

  • He's speaking to younger people especially, I would say,

  • through a way that they can connect in.

  • - The words would've done it, but the way that he phrases it.

  • Then you start thinking about all these things

  • and everything you've experienced

  • and maybe even things that you've said in the past.

  • And you're like, "Dude, I suck."

  • - So many people, um,

  • use their talents to further themselves in their career

  • and don't have much to say.

  • People have grown up facing so much adversity,

  • seeing so many horrible things.

  • And they want somebody to speak on their behalf,

  • 'cause not everybody has a platform.

  • - (Finebros) What was the message that Prince Ea

  • was trying to convey here? - Well, there was the labeling.

  • Cultural diversity. Just peace, world peace.

  • - The message is about labels and social constructs.

  • - Not label people anymore, because it's silly, you know?

  • We're all one.

  • - Don't let labels, um, make you shortsighted.

  • See past that label and see the whole person.

  • - We are the ones that put labels on each other.

  • We don't come with labels.

  • It's a great message. Is it realistic? No.

  • - (Finebros) Have you yourself dealt with your race

  • impacting any aspect of your life? - Oh yeah, many times.

  • My whole life.

  • - Not race, but I am Jewish, so I have definitely dealt with

  • several situations of pretty extreme antisemitism.

  • - When I was in grammar school,

  • I had a friend who lived about eight houses down.

  • And her parents did not allow her

  • to play with the Mexican kids that lived down the street,

  • and that was me.

  • - I've seen it myself.

  • You know, moms clutching their child to their side

  • when they see my son that's tall and brown.

  • He will physically try to shrink himself down.

  • And it's not because of anything he has done.

  • It's all external.

  • - They see me and they look at my hair.

  • And they kinda prejudge me, you know, a little bit.

  • But once they get past it, they see I'm just a regular person.

  • You know, I'm not just a stereotype.

  • - I'm Middle Eastern.

  • I remember being in middle school

  • and putting "Asian" because the Middle East is in Asia.

  • And my teachers would be like, "You're not Asian."

  • And I'm like, "Okay, so what am I?"

  • You're telling me to check a box, but no box fits me.

  • - (Finebros) Some have said about the video

  • that focusing on the labels given to people

  • ignores the systematic racial issues that do exist in the world,

  • and having an open dialogue about the differences

  • is the way to combat that

  • versus telling people that the labels shouldn't exist.

  • What do you think about that thought?

  • - I don't really get that criticism, honestly.

  • - I don't think you can just completely forget about it,

  • 'cause it's still there.

  • I mean, yeah, I'd love to eliminate labels.

  • But that just doesn't happen.

  • - It's nice in this idealistic world

  • where we don't have to see these labels.

  • But that is not the case.

  • People are so more covert with their racism.

  • - You can't just do away with systematic racism.

  • It's not that you don't see race.

  • It's that you accept them as equals.

  • - I don't think he's saying, "Just throw it away."

  • He's saying that, if you think about it,

  • it's really ridiculous.

  • We can't just forget about it and act like it doesn't exist.

  • But we can help do away with it

  • by exposing the system for what it is.

  • - (Finebros) As a country, we sometimes act as though

  • we've moved beyond the issue racism,

  • that it was something from the past.

  • As an adult living in the United States,

  • do you see racism as the major issue of our time?

  • - Yeah. I mean, it's still a major frustration of our time.

  • - I think it's different. I don't know that it's worse.

  • And I don't know that it's better, but it's just different.

  • - Yeah, I do.

  • Especially in the gay community as well.

  • Things within the gay community,

  • it's about the physical before who that person actually is.

  • - It's all over.

  • But through technology

  • and our connections to different people

  • that we weren't able to connect to five years ago,

  • ten years ago, it's slowly getting better.

  • - It matters more so today,

  • because we're supposed to be so past that.

  • We're supposed to be so evolved from that.

  • - (Finebros) Finally, do you think the impact of videos and art

  • created by people like Prince Ea

  • and how it gets shared in social media

  • does effect change for these issues? - Absolutely.

  • - I think that video will have an impact.

  • It's not to be taken lightly. Media is powerful.

  • - I think it's beautiful. And I think whether people

  • are sharing it on YouTube or on Facebook,

  • if it's gonna affect someone and make them think for a second,

  • I think it's amazing.

  • - Sharing it's nice. Just doing that at the click of a button,

  • that's easy. But talking about it.

  • That's what's important.

  • - Once you've shared that video,

  • you have to take what it said, absorb it, and apply it.

  • The varying sides have to be willing to meet and talk about this.

  • We need to work harder together.

  • (silence)

♪ (industrial music) ♪

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