Rashaud Red Hopes to Bridge the Gap Between Baton Rouge Youth & Local Law Enforcement

Content Provided by our sponsor:

Rashaud Red is a student at Mentorship Academy — a school with an innovative and creative background for students like Rashaud whose goal is to bring about change in their community — and one of the 12 local speakers you can come see speak on Feb. 28 at TEDxLSU 2015.

Red is the event’s youngest speaker, and says he’s honored to take on the challenge because it’s important for individuals of all ages to become aware of issues such as race and race relations. “I want to represent my community, kids my own age, and those even younger than myself to the best of my ability.”

I connected with Red recently to learn a little more about his life and background. Here are the highlights of our conversation.

What are your favorite artists or albums?

Kendrick Lamar and Toni Morrison.

What’s the last picture you took in your phone?

Well, I don’t have a phone, but I imagine if I did, recently it would have been a picture of the score results from the Cowboys and Packers game.

What do you think is one of the best things about Baton Rouge?

There is a lot of room for change and growth, which leaves someone like me the opportunity to take part in shaping the future of the area.

What’s been the most difficult part about putting together your TED Talk?

Trying to condense so many things I consider to be extremely important for the topic and for me into just a few minutes.

If you had to choose three celebrities or community members to see your TED Talk, who would they be and why?

Well, I’d want people who have a reputation for contributing to positive causes and movements, like Ellen or Oprah for example. Others that come to mind would be Gov. Bobby Jindal and President Obama.

TEDxLSU has a mission of creating dialogue in our community. What are we not talking about that we should be?

In the media, there is a tendency to focus more on the negativity and the aftermath of a situation or event rather than focusing on actions or ideas that could bring forth solutions and changes. From my experience, most people are still uncomfortable with having open and honest discussions involving race and issues pertaining to it. It isn’t often that we encourage racial dialogue, and it’s because of this lack of encouragement that ties within the community are so weak.

Where do you see Baton Rouge in 10 years?

I see Baton Rouge as a leader. I think if we, as a community, could focus on initiating more programs that target true areas of need, such as youth and law enforcement, then we have the potential to make a positive change for Baton Rouge, to serve as an example for what every major city could strive to be.

To learn more about Rashaud and TEDxLSU 2015, follow TEDxLSU on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Connect with Rashaud and his fellow speakers on Feb. 28.