Transcript of Megan Rapinoe’s Inspiring Speech: ‘It’s time to come together… We have to be better…. have to love more, hate less.’
by Weldon Johnson
July 10, 2019
LetsRun.com is a running site, but we’re also big sports fans across the boards.
This morning, while we were taping our weekly podcast, I asked the rest of the staff for an excused absence and cut out after about just 15 minutes as I wanted to try and catch the ticker tape parade for the US Women’s World Cup team. I got downtown just in time to catch a glimpse of some of the players as they rolled past me just before they got to New York City Hall.
I then hopped back on the subway to go back home and when I got there, the players’ speeches were still going on.
I thought the end of Megan Rapinoe’s speech was truly inspiring. Best speech I’ve heard from an athlete in ages. She called on all of us to be better, while at the same time showing some humility.
Watch the end yourself or read the transcript of her charge to everyone.
"This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better. We have to love more. Hate less. We got to listen more and talk less," Megan Rapinoe says. "It's our responsibility to make the world a better place." https://t.co/7LJHPDVRm9 pic.twitter.com/5s5OuS4Gsx
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 10, 2019
Rapinoe: ‘This is my charge to everyone. We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We got to listen more, and talk less’
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“I think I’ll just end with this. This is my charge to everyone. We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We got to listen more, and talk less. We got to know this is everybody’s responsibility, every single person here. Every single person who is not here. Every single person who doesn’t want to be here. Every single person who agrees and doesn’t agree. It is our responsibility to make this world a better place. I think this team does an incredible job of taking that on our shoulders and understanding the position that we have and the platform we have within this world.
Yes we play sports. Yes we play soccer. Yes we’re female athletes but we’re so much more than that. You’re so much more than that. You’re more than a fan. You’re more than someone who just supports sport. You’re more than someone who tunes in every four years. You’re someone who walks these streets every single day. You interact with your community every single day. How do you make your community better? How do you make the people around you better? Your family? Your closest friends? The 10 closest people to you? The 20 closest people to you? The most 100 closest people to you? It’s every single person’s responsibility.
There’s been so much contention in these last years. I’ve been a victim of that. I’ve been a perpetrator of that.
With the fight with the federation, (I’m) sorry for some of the things I said, not all of the things.
‘It’s time to come together’
But it’s time to come together. This conversation is at the next step. We have to collaborate. It’s takes everybody. This is my charge to everybody, ‘Do what you can. Do what you have to do. Step outside of yourself. Be more. Be better. Be bigger than you’ve ever been before. If this team is any representation of what you can be, when you do that please take this as an example. This group is incredible. We took so much on our shoulders to be here today, to celebrate with you today. And we did it with a smile. So do the same for us. Please, I ask you.
New York City, you’re the mother fucking best.
**
In my ideal world, President Trump would “be more, be better, be bigger” and reach out to the team and invite them to the White House, and they would accept his invitation and it truly would be “One Nation, One Team.”
Sometimes, dreams become reality, but even if they don’t, Megan Rapinoe’s closing remarks remind us of a better way to live.