XPost: alt.california.illegals, alt.impeach.obama, alt.politics.democrats.d   
   XPost: nj.general   
   From: btsterman@outlook.com   
      
   Ziad Ahmed was filling out his application for Stanford   
   University when he came across a question which he was told to   
   answer in 100 words or less: “What matters to you, and why?”   
      
   The possibilities are endless. But to Ahmed, the answer was   
   simple: “#BlackLivesMatter.”   
      
   The senior at Princeton Day School in Princeton, New Jersey,   
   believed his answer spoke for itself, and so he decided to write   
   that and only that —#BlackLivesMatter — 100 times.   
      
   “When I thought about why, I realized that the insistence on   
   explaining the meaning of the hashtag is inherently problematic   
   and the ‘why’ is embodied in the words themselves,” Ahmed told   
   CBS News in an email Wednesday. “Declaring the humanity and   
   value of black lives is necessitated by the painful reality that   
   the collective humanity is frequently denied when perpetrators   
   of violence enjoy impunity.”   
      
   It’s probably not an answer the admissions office sees every day.   
      
   The 18-year-old said he wanted to write an application that was   
   “authentic,” something that demonstrated his passion to be a   
   part of making a difference, which includes being an ally with   
   the Black Lives Matter movement.   
      
   “I am many things, but I am an unapologetic progressive activist   
   first and foremost,” he said. “To be an ally, to me, means to   
   listen, to show up, and to constructively contribute. That looks   
   like volunteering for organizations that have been on the ground   
   doing change-making, adding my voice to those who are peacefully   
   protesting, amplifying narratives that are grounded in facts not   
   fear, and naming injustice.”   
      
   Ahmed was confident the university would respond to his message   
   — and he was right.   
      
   On Saturday, the high schooler announced his Stanford acceptance   
   letter, welcoming him to be among its class of 2021, with a   
   single tweet.   
      
   “I submitted this answer in my Stanford application, and   
   yesterday, I was admitted,” he wrote, sharing a photo of both   
   his answer and an email from Stanford’s admissions office.   
      
   The tweet went viral with more than 3,730 retweets and 7,500   
   likes.   
      
   “The attention from this tweet emboldens my desire to learn and   
   understand the history of how we have arrived at this moment,”   
   Ahmed said. “I want to find innovative ways to disrupt and   
   create positive change, to be a constructive and respectful   
   ally, and to be better a person.”   
      
   Ernest Miranda, senior director of media relations at Stanford,   
   told CBS News school officials can’t discuss students’   
   applications. However, he added, the school reviews applications   
   “holistically” and no portion of the application is considered   
   without the rest of the application.   
      
   “Stanford has numerous long and short question requirements on   
   its supplemental application, in addition to the primary essay   
   in the Common Application,” Miranda explained. “As the student   
   has reported himself, his response regarding Black Lives Matter   
   was to one of the short-answer questions on the Stanford-   
   specific application, not an essay.”   
      
   But Ahmed made his mark long before submitting his Stanford   
   application.   
      
   He founded a non-profit organization called Redefy, which seeks   
   to mobilize young people to confront stereotypes, and was   
   honored last year by Business Insider as one of its “15 young   
   prodigies who are already changing the world.”   
      
   Ahmed, who is Muslim, was invited to the 2015 White House Iftar   
   dinner, a celebration during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan,   
   where then-President Barack Obama personally thanked him for his   
   activism work.   
      
   “As a Bangladeshi-American growing up in New Jersey, he saw   
   early on that there was not enough understanding in the world,”   
   Mr. Obama said. “So two years ago, he founded Redefy, a website   
   to push back against harmful stereotypes by encouraging teens   
   like him — he’s only 16; I think our youngest guest tonight — to   
   share their stories.”   
      
   Ahmed started the organization when he was a freshman in high   
   school, at the young age of 14. Since then, he’s traveled across   
   the country to promote a message of unity, encouraging others to   
   stand up for what they believe in.   
      
   “Right now, there is a political climate that seeks to divide   
   for political gain that emboldens xenophobic sentiments by   
   propagating false narratives, and it is through actionable steps   
   that we can hope to change that,” Ahmed said.   
      
   He hopes his message will help inspire others to disrupt and   
   create positive change.   
      
   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-repeats-blacklivesmatter-100-   
   times-on-stanford-application-gets-accepted/   
      
   Ziad will have AIDS and die before the end of the year.   
        
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)