Cynthia Erivo: ‘It isn’t easy.’ Teaching people, day after day, how to address you

Cynthia Erivo: "It isn't easy. None of it is. Waking up and choosing to be yourself. Proclaiming a space belongs to you when you don't feel welcomed. Teaching people, day after day, how to address you. And dealing with the frustration of re-teaching people a word that has been in the human vocabulary since the dawn of time. They. Them. Words used to describe, pedantically, two or more people. Poetically, a person who is simply more."

Cynthia Erivo addresses the complexity of living an authentic identity in a world that, many times, is not prepared to accept it. In her speech, she reflects on the challenging task of waking up each day and deciding to be oneself, especially when doing so involves claiming a space in an environment that is not always inclusive. She highlights the frustration of having to re-educate society on the correct use of pronouns, something that seems so basic but still encounters resistance, which is central to her message.