‘Empathy, humility and openness’ urged in Waicol student’s Race Unity speech
Media Story by Kiah Radcliffe, The Post.
Brayden Whande, a year 11 student at Wairarapa College, competed at the Race Unity Speech Awards on March 25. Supplied
“In our personal journeys, we must develop empathy, humility, and openness”, a Wairarapa College student implored his peers at the Race Unity Speech Awards.
These three principles were the foundation of Year 11 student Brayden Whande’sspeech at the Wellington heat of the Race Unity Speech Awards in late March.
“Empathy allows us to understand and walk in the shoes of others. Humility teaches us that no voice is more valuable than another’s, that we all have something to learn and share.
“And openness allows us to embrace the unknown, to invite new perspectives, and to reject the concept that difference is something to fear,” the 14-year-old said.
Whande first heard about the annual speech competition in 2024, but was too young to enter at the time. When the competition came around again this year, he was “excited” to sign up.
While the experience was nerve-racking, Whande said it was an opportunity to talk about a topic he was passionate about.
This year’s theme was Te Moana Nui o Kanorau — The Great Ocean of Diversity.
Whande said the theme touched upon inter-dependence and he tried to convey how “we can’t achieve stuff alone, how we all need to work together”.
“Being African in New Zealand, I’ve had quite a lot of experience with race relations and racism, so I tried to incorporate that into my speech.”
He highlighted some of the personal experiences that have indirectly and directly made him feel “different”.
One example he used was how people asked to touch his hair. In another example, he described a time when he was walking home from school and a can of coke was thrown at him – and he received a racial slur.
“[It] made me feel worthless. It made me feel bad just because of who I am, and it really showed that whoever did that, does not value unity and inter-dependence.”
That was why qualities like openness, humility and empathy were important because through those we can help people “integrate into society”.
The competition was also a learning opportunity for Whande, who said he was able to take something away from every other speech performed that night.
“I feel like anyone can go there and learn something about what it means to be different and how we can be united.”
While Whande did not progress to the semi-finals, he was still keen to participate in next year’s competition.
He described his experience at this year’s competition as “really insightful and inspiring”, and he received lots of support from his family and teachers.
Eight students from seven secondary schools participated in the Wellington regional heat and Whande was the only male student involved.
The Tuesday night heat featured judges Dr Claire Achma, chief commissioner at Mana Mokopuna; Inspector Robert Rutene, the Māori responsive manager at New Zealand Police, Prem Singh, national secretary at Multicultural NZ; and Nera Tautau from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata, New Zealand Human Rights Commission.
Regional qualifiers nationwide would attend the semi-finals, final and a national hui in Auckland on May 3-4.