Below is a short TED Talk  on choosing to speak, meaning to speak out, speak up, speak for, and speak to.

And it made me reflect on silence when it is avoidance, or complicity, or out of fear versus when it is a chosen action. For example, me sitting in meditation in front of the State House in Boston these last two mornings. I chose meditation, its peace and silence, as the voice and words. I agree with what the man says in the TED Talk, but all too often I am silent. I appreciated the video and his call, and I trust that a silent person in meditation with a sign saying why was vocal to the hundreds of tourists who passed by while I sat.