Heroism is overrated. It is always movements that lead to large-scale change, though our dominant cultural narrative of change focuses on individuals. It is not naive to think you can change the world, it is naive to think you could be in the world and not change it, but that change happens in community.

David LaMotte is a songwriter, speaker and author. He has performed over 3500 concerts and released thirteen full-length CDs of primarily original music, as well as four books, touring in all of the fifty states and on five of the seven continents over his 35-year career. He holds a master’s degree in International Studies, Peace, and Conflict Resolution from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, which he attended as a Rotary Peace Fellow. He is the former Clerk of the AFSC Nobel Peace Prize Nominating Committee, and a co-founder of Senderos, Inc., which has been working to support education in Guatemala since 2004. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with his wife and son, an old dog, and five chickens. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx