DARING TO SPEAK FOR OTHERS
Victoria Pannell, 15 year old model, actress and activist
Good Morning,
It is good to see so many strong, influential women in the room, hello to the men also. People often asked me how I came into public speaking. When I was 11, I was asked to speak at a barbershop on the effects of children without a father. It is a subject I know all too well. I spoke to the men and told them I wished I had a dad to carry me on his shoulders, call me a princess, and make me feel like baby girl. When I started telling them about the father/daughter dance that had taken place the night before and I didn't have a dad to take me, I started crying. The men and women came up to me afterwards and gave me hugs. The owner of the barbershop offered to take me to every father/daughter dance until I graduate.
It was the last man that came up to me that had the most impact. He told me he had on sunglasses because he didn't want anyone seeing him cry. He removed the glasses and through red tear stained eyes told me if he had heard me speaking earlier in his life he would have made better decisions when it came to having children. My words had power. If I could change the mind of one male to understand the importance of being a father to his children, I could change the minds of many men and women and stress the importance of family. I have been speaking since on topics ranging from growing up without a dad, human and child sex trafficking and social injustice.
When you dare to speak up for others you give some of your strength to others who at that moment lacks strength. Every battle is not yours, every cause is not yours. Pick the causes that you are willing to go to battle for. Activism is a relationship with a cause. It requires love in dealing with that issue and fighting until you get a solution to the problem. It requires loyalty and commitment. When there is an issue that you think about first thing in the morning until you pray about it at night, you have found your cause. When you are that passionate about a cause you will see it through until the change comes. When you dare to help others it is joyful and you feel alive.
Victoria Pannell
I mostly speak on child sex trafficking because I have a safe place to sleep at night. I have a village that protects me. Because of the comforts I have I'm supposed to speak out for young people that lack basic comfort and safety. I'm supposed to use social media to bring awareness that millions of children are sexually and labor trafficked worldwide. A lot of people refer to social media as facebook family or twitter family. Well, share with your social media family some of the things wrong in society. Ask them to get involved. People always think blood relative when they hear the word family. Family is people that love and protect you, instruct you and be there for you. There is a serious breakdown of the family structure in our society. There is a serious lack of God in our society. What if we grabbed our bibles the way we grab our cell phones? The more we get back to picking up our bibles the more we will have guns being put down.
These days you have less opposition bringing a weapon into the schools than you have if you mention God. I remember a time when I would thank God for waking me up in the morning, I would say my grace before eating. I would read my bible. Life seemed easier then. I had the confidence in knowing I knew God and acknowledged him. We have to go back to what works and that is having God first and foremost in our lives. You can't be afraid to mention God. So many times you may want to refer to God in a conversation but we don't want to offend anyone. Imagine that, denying God so we don't offend someone that doesn't believe in him. Dare to call on his name no matter who is listening.
So many nonprofit organizations that were created to improve humanity do not work well together because of human ego. How many crisis could be solved faster if egos and worrying about who will get credit was tossed aside and we gave God the glory?
One day my mom asked me to clean up my room. I didn't know where to start. She told me to start with a corner. I did. I stood back and looked at the little space that I had cleaned and felt proud UNTIL I looked around the rest of the room. The rest of the room looked even more messed up now that I had a little section cleaned. It is easy to take care of your space, your comfort zone. But how long can you feel comfortable knowing what lies outside of your clean 4 walls? You can start in your corner as long as you finish at the ends of the earth.
The world needs women ready mentally and physically to go from the comfort of their corner in their community to global mountain highs and valley lows throughout the world. Society needs a daring type of woman. A woman whose faith is stronger than her fear, a woman that once connected to a cause is too purpose driven to turn back, a woman whose voice can go from a whisper to a thunderous roar. A woman that knows how to be tough in battle but compassionate enough to stop and hug someone in need of comfort. A woman that can withstand the hatred that comes sometimes when you stand strong and firm against acts of injustice. Yes, society worldwide is in need of daring women. Dare you answer the call?
It is not an easy job that is why it is a job for a woman. Well, I am a young woman in the making that has answered that call. 1) Hello, I'm Victoria Pannell. 2) Where do you need me? 3) I'm there.