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Your Creative Superpowers Can Help Protect Democracy | Sofia Ongele | TED

“Democracy is more fun and inviting when you take it into your own hands,” says creator and activist Sofia Ongele. If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas: Follow TED! X: Instagram: Facebook: LinkedIn: TikTok: The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and…

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“Democracy is more fun and inviting when you take it into your own hands,” says creator and activist Sofia Ongele.

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52 Comments

52 Comments

  1. @RickLambert963

    January 24, 2024 at 7:33 am

    We have invaded the world by spreading democracy. Now it came home to destroy our republic. Can wonder woman super powers even say the Pledge of Allegiance?

  2. @jennifernowakowski2601

    January 24, 2024 at 7:34 am

    Amazing ❤⚘

  3. @MrQuestful

    January 24, 2024 at 7:34 am

    I love this! I believe our democracy thrives when we have people not just voting, but actively participating in it. We need more tools to encourage engagement. It is my belief that we are at the beginning of a new formatting of government, one that is elevated by the participation of many and our collective wisdom.

    • @RickLambert963

      January 24, 2024 at 7:46 am

      We are a republic. Try saying the pledge of allegiance.????‍♂️????????

    • @MrQuestful

      January 24, 2024 at 3:27 pm

      @@RickLambert963 “Try saying the pledge of allegiance” bruh, did you forget the part where y’all tried to overthrow democracy and pretended like you could lie your way out of it because “you thought you won”
      sit yourself down, son.

  4. @a.i.8583

    January 24, 2024 at 7:44 am

    “Democracy” has become a dog-whistle for the authoritative state.

    • @RickLambert963

      January 24, 2024 at 7:48 am

      Democracy is the mob rules. Save our republic from the democracy invasion.

  5. @jtoolr

    January 24, 2024 at 8:01 am

    Where’s this “democracy” located?

  6. @Dragonlove3

    January 24, 2024 at 8:01 am

    Oh no

  7. @Kurtos25

    January 24, 2024 at 8:18 am

    Democracy sucks. Stupid people should not be in a position of power and Stupid people shouldn’t vote them in

  8. @paulschultz2751

    January 24, 2024 at 8:31 am

    Sounds like you want to have the freedom to have your opinions heard but censor and silence other people’s opinions you don’t like. Wow you’re just a stunning and brave free of speech advocate. So long as it’s your speech it’s great. Did you used to work at Twitter?

    • @BobQuigley

      January 24, 2024 at 9:00 am

      Take your meds plz.

    • @TheNguyenben85

      January 24, 2024 at 9:08 am

      Do you have a Brian ????

    • @vesawuoristo4162

      January 24, 2024 at 9:27 am

      What opinions is she silencing?

    • @1goldinga

      January 24, 2024 at 9:59 am

      Y’all realise democracy is the 51% telling the 49% what to do…but since voter turn out isn’t 100% it’s more like 31% telling 30% and forcing 40%.

    • @Ribberflavenous

      January 24, 2024 at 11:47 am

      Squelching bad ideas and actors is a big part of democracy. How is majority rule not suppressing the minority? The tricky part is maintaining the ability for the minority speech and having a baseline of rights in a constitution so that some rights like speech, protest, and legal redress are protected regardless of popularity. That way minority voices/issues can grow and be promoted as the majority evolves. For good or ill though, It is always about how active the group is. example: Women’s reproductive rights are restricted even though the majority supports it because the pro-life movement is extremely active and their rights were protected. The ballot initiative in Ohio was the response to that group’s activity. All democracy in action.

  9. @sluggle7694

    January 24, 2024 at 8:38 am

    ????

  10. @hammersmusic6009

    January 24, 2024 at 8:49 am

    Brilliant and inspiring. Thank you.

  11. @jennapecor1865

    January 24, 2024 at 8:50 am

    It’s truly an amazing superpower how propagandists can create a headline.

  12. @Rajiv_Vyas

    January 24, 2024 at 8:58 am

    another western democracy freak! what is democracy? Can it be called democracy if it is controlled by a few politicians and financial backers? As long as there is a government, it is not democracy.

  13. @marcosluna7792

    January 24, 2024 at 8:59 am

    Lame

  14. @VoLtrex31

    January 24, 2024 at 9:29 am

    You should protect Democracy in Russia, Africa, China, Iran, and so on…. Sofia Ongele can just make money on videos.

  15. @joecota2644

    January 24, 2024 at 9:36 am

    Yo i follow her tiktok!

  16. @kdtwing

    January 24, 2024 at 9:40 am

    Sounds like trolling.

    • @nessy99279

      January 24, 2024 at 9:50 am

      It is bc the government stays trolling us????????????

    • @kdtwing

      January 24, 2024 at 11:15 am

      But it doesnt add to the debate, @@nessy99279 But it doesn’t add to the debate it, prevents it.

  17. @Ribberflavenous

    January 24, 2024 at 9:50 am

    Activism is great, enabling people with petiton submission is great. I am iffy on the method used on CRT reporting -that was a bot effectively doing DDOS on a site to render it unsable. I completely agree the site was abhorrent, but there are others that find reproductive or LBGTQ rights a problem. Should they be silenced by a bot? If that petition writer was used to address the issue to the sponsor, one click-one petiton then a real representation would be made. Bots are often used as internet terrorism, not a great look for organizations espousing democratic activism. Other than that, great talk, great ideas and I wish you success!

    • @bryannorris8049

      January 24, 2024 at 11:13 am

      More if we as society accept these methods when applied for “acceptable” reasons, there is no reason they shouldn’t be employed for purposes we find “unacceptable.”

    • @dan-allen

      January 24, 2024 at 2:25 pm

      I partly agree with you but I’ve become convinced that most government officials in my home country of America no longer represent the interests of the majority (there have been several decent studies over the past decade to estimate the impact of voter preferences on legislation and they’ve all found effectively zero correlation).

      Over and over in history we see that power/authority naturally seeks to expand and entrench itself which is why it’s important that democratic systems have room for disruption to counter that tendency. America has long protected (although it’s also being eroded) the right to protest when citizens disagree with their government. 

      There’s nothing un-American about challenging and frustrating our government; our right to do so is written into the constitution. The founding of the country was itself an act of defiance against a government that didn’t serve the people.

      All of this is to say, I believe that if the citizens disagree with the actions of their government they should apply pressure in opposition (and in proportion, without causing unnecessary harm). 

      I’m much more worried about keeping government accountable to its people than about the headache created for the administrator of some government reporting tool when it gets spammed by angry citizens.

    • @Ribberflavenous

      January 24, 2024 at 3:02 pm

      @@dan-allen I am US as well btw and I think we are basically like minded. Thanks for the response.

    • @dan-allen

      January 24, 2024 at 4:35 pm

      @@Ribberflavenous I’m glad you posted the original comment because the balancing act is so important. The flip side of democratic society is that we have to take on more responsibility: we need to find ways to hold government accountable to the people *and* minimize the harm caused by our actions.

    • @Ribberflavenous

      January 25, 2024 at 10:54 am

      @@dan-allen Absolutely. Democracy is advanced citizenship. it is not easy to protect the rights of those you disagree with – it takes a conscious effort and sometimes gritted teeth. When a dearly held belief is desecrated (for lack of a better word), there will be anger. It is tough to look past that. I am not perfect in that, but I earnestly try.

  18. @69Solo

    January 24, 2024 at 10:13 am

    She is gorgeous! ????

  19. @Romewasnotbuilt_inaday

    January 24, 2024 at 10:24 am

    Lets study English with us and become to watch ted relaxly !!

  20. @maribellelebre6809

    January 24, 2024 at 11:08 am

    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the tipline solution!!!!!!!!!!

    • @joshpatt8341

      January 25, 2024 at 6:33 am

      It’s was a classic “denial of service” attack. It may have felt good, but it was basically a cyber attack.
      There are problems with launching a cyber attack on a site put up by the state of Virginia to get feedback from the public, just because you don’t like the kind of feedback they are asking for.

  21. @OminousFilm

    January 24, 2024 at 11:35 am

    Don’t take freedom for granted.

  22. @OminousFilm

    January 24, 2024 at 11:36 am

    Common sense ALWAYS rules all.

  23. @OneaeBlack

    January 24, 2024 at 11:36 am

    Common sense ALWAYS rules all.

  24. @zevan6147

    January 24, 2024 at 11:52 am

    ????????

  25. @OminousFilm

    January 24, 2024 at 11:52 am

    The true problem is that most public service officials these days barely speak to their public about needs, always away behind closed doors, now that’s not really public service is it?

  26. @OneaeBlack

    January 24, 2024 at 11:52 am

    The true problem is that most public service officials these days barely speak to their public about needs, always away behind closed doors, now that’s not really public service is it?

  27. @born2rock4life

    January 24, 2024 at 11:58 am

    As a professional artist, I look forward to helping educate others on 2a and safety, aside from mentoring those who wish to learn skills in creative arts. Thanks so much for helping reinforce my decision to have been doing so for well over a decade. The land of the free and constitutional Republic is what we have and provided the opportunity to speak today, and if we want the upcoming generation to have those same opportunities we must all do our part to teach and help those around us.

  28. @rager4able

    January 24, 2024 at 12:05 pm

    Voter suppression? ????

  29. @Billabonggg2011

    January 24, 2024 at 12:59 pm

    Oh my god all the comments saying “We’Re A rEpUbLiC” — we are a DEMOCRATIC republic. There’s a distinct difference.

  30. @talixius

    January 24, 2024 at 2:56 pm

    What a beautiful woman.

  31. @hrdcpy

    January 24, 2024 at 9:02 pm

    Bill Ackman ????????????????

  32. @patrickmoon7586

    January 24, 2024 at 10:47 pm

    social network and coding are a good method to speak out democracy. But it also requires a challenging courage.

  33. @Bythirteen

    January 25, 2024 at 2:46 pm

    wow, Sofia is straight up amazing in so many ways. More power to ya!

  34. @Retly_Ai

    January 29, 2024 at 1:49 pm

    Make America great again.

    • @AlkebulanRoot

      January 31, 2024 at 8:23 am

      ????

  35. @MeerHamzaJadoon.

    January 30, 2024 at 12:59 pm

    Very inspiring

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