You're listening to a special archive presentation of TED Talks Audio.

This talk features author and digital strategist Lavi Ajai, recorded live at TED Women 2017.

I'm a professional troublemaker.

As my job is to critique the world, the shoddy systems, and the people who refuse to do better.

As a writer, as a speaker, as a shady Nigerian, I feel like my purpose is to be this cat.

I am the person who's looking at other people like, I need you to fix it. is to be this cat.

I am the person who's looking at other people like, I need you to fix it.

That is me.

I want us to leave this world better than we found it.

And how I choose to affect change

is by speaking up, by being the first and by being the domino.

For a line of dominoes to fall, one has to fall first, which then leaves the other

choiceless to do the same. And that domino that falls, we're hoping that, okay, the next

person that sees this is inspired to be a domino.

Being the domino for me looks like speaking up and doing the things that are really difficult,

especially when they're needed, with the hope that others will follow suit.

And here's the thing. I'm the person who says what you might be thinking,

but dare not to say.

And a lot of times people think that we're fearless,

the people who do this, we're fearless, we're not fearless.

We're not unafraid of the consequences

or the sacrifices that we have to make by speaking truth to power.

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