Alok Vaid-Menon discusses the relationship between success and the status quo in this TEDxMiddlebury talk. They draw upon experiences at Stanford and beyond and perform spoken word poetry.

Alok performs with DARKMATTER, a queer South Asian spoken word duo and organizes with the Audre Lorde Project, a queer people of color organizing center in Brooklyn. Alok's body, gender, history, and trajectory are in a constant state of flux, hypocrisy, and contradiction. Alok identifies as an interruption, will you allow them to proceed? To read their poetry visit returnthegayze.tumblr.com

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)