Courage is contagious. When one person stands up for something they believe in or does something courageous, it makes it much easier for other people to join them and do the same courageous act. One courageous act can inspire many others.
Damon Davis lived miles away from Ferguson while the protests were happening. During his TED Talk, he tells about how guilty he felt staying away from the situation. As an African American, he gets involved and goes to visit Ferguson to see what's occurring.
Damon describes himself and the rest of the crowd tensing up and getting nervous when they see the cop cars and the cops with all of their gear. But no one backs down. One person's courage spreads to the entire crowd. It is much easier to do something that scares you if you're standing with other people. You support each other. It's harder to do things standing alone.
Davis states in his talk, "We should be conveyers of courage in the work that we do." This means that whatever we are doing, we should always do it with courage. We should not back down, but persevere through any fear and doubt.
We can be courageous in everything that we do; so many little things can be considered courageous. Helping someone in need, standing up for someone or something you believe in, one small step in going after your dream. One thought. One decision. One act. All courageous.
Davis also talks about the different types of people. He says, "I think that we are the wall between the normal folks and the people that use their power to spread fear and hate." People who use their courage for good are helping eliminate problems in the world caused by people who use their power to spread fear and hate. They are going above and beyond by doing something to erase the fear instilled by some people of power.
Fear is contagious. Courage is contagious. What will you spread?
