I'm Elise Hu, you're listening to Ted Talks daily, the people of Belarus have been under authoritarian rule since 1994, subject to police violence and everyday assaults on their freedoms.

This year, something started changing. Tens of thousands took huge risks by taking part in anti-government demonstrations showing fearlessness against state violence.

What happened and what can we learn from it? From her talk at Ted Women, 20-20 Bella, Russian politician Svetlana Sihanouk's has an inspiring lesson for the rest of us.

Hi, I'm Sally Russian, while a host of a podcast from Ted called Pingrup, in every episode you'll travel with local journalists and creators as guides, get lost in the new vibe and tap into surprising ideas. Next up, explore the virtual worlds that give people unique places to work out problems they never could in the real world. That's pin drop from Ted Check-Out, pin drop on Apple podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen. On August 12, twenty twenty two groups of girls went out to protest in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, they put on white clothes and went barefoot out into the street.

In the morning, some went to Komarovsky Market in the center of town. Later that day, the other group gathered with flowers at the eternal flame under the Victory Monument. They stood together, holding hands, and they started to sing the Belarusian lullaby, waiting for the police cars to arrive. They knew the police would pick them up just like that, barefoot with flowers in their hands, that they would take them to the police station, beat them up and try to humiliate them.

And yet they did it anyway. This year, something changed in Belarus, a country of more than nine million people that has been ruled by an authoritarian leader since 1994. This young women were protesting the latest rigged election result, which had taken just a few days earlier, their small expressions of protest very quickly expanded into massive peaceful women led demonstrations all across the country. Within just a few days, a few hundred thousand people took to the streets. And demonstrations have continued ever since, the likes of which Belarus' has never seen before.

All this despite the fact that the president proclaimed himself re-elected and that more than 10000 people have been detained, hundreds tortured and at least six killed. Many people wonder why the people of Belarus are speaking up now, what makes them keep taking to the streets despite unprecedented police violence, despite state lawlessness? The answer I hear the most is that people have become fearless. And it's something we have become together. Because fear is the province of one, it feeds on isolation, it doesn't discriminate men, women, children, elderly.

All of us can feel fear, but only as long as we are on our own. Fearlessness takes to it only works if and when we show up for each other. Show up so that your neighbor, your colleague, your friend, his courage. And they will do the same for you. A lot has been made of my own role in the presidential election of August 2020, how I stepped in to run for my husband Serguei when he was jailed and it became clear that the authorities would deny him his chance to run himself.

How I rightfully won the election and became the elected leader of a democratic Belarus. But the official results only gave me 10 percent of the vote, and I was forced into exile with my children. How I had to fight for those who voted for me and whose voice the regime wants to steal. How fearless I am. But there were many moments when I was frightened and I wanted to step down. I was threatened and forced to believe that I am alone in this fight.

And yet the more cities I visited, the more people showed up for the rallies, the less fear I had. And then in the days before the election in Minsk, sixty thousand people came to show their support for me and I was no longer afraid. I never wanted to do any of this, I was never overly political and I never planned to run for office, I wanted to be a mom and a wife. But by faith in the will of my people, I was elevated to to this position.

And I accept this with a sense of duty and pride. I will not give up. And I will show up for people because they show up for me. Our courage is born from unity. Our solidarity is our strength. I also now understand that being fearless is a commitment, it is a decision you make every single day. It is a responsibility. You take responsibility for one another. In this regard, I'm no different from my fellow Belarusians.

They support is tangible, they solidarity grows in progression. When there are two of you, you are daring, when you are 100, you are brave. When there are thousands of you, you are fearless and once you are tens of thousands, you become invincible. Thank you. Ted Talks Daily, is hosted by Elise Hu and produced by Ted, the music is from Allison Layton Brown. In our Mixu is Christopher Fazi Bogon.

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