Two young brothers wanted to speak out for their two sisters with Down Syndrome. The siblings wanted to shoot down bullying and spread a message of love, compassion, and understanding instead.
The 6- and 7-year-old Hollis brothers felt the need to record a YouTube video standing up against bullying for their adopted sisters Meg and Alina; they both have Down Syndrome. The Hollis family lives in a small town in Illinois — one morning, they woke up to the unthinkable.
“We live in a small town in Central Illinois and woke one morning in April 2011 to find our home and cars had been spray-painted,” says mom Anne Hollis. “That day changed my life forever.”
Hateful words like ‘retard’ and ‘get outta here’ were spray-painted in red all across their light yellow house. The family was completely stunned. Even though they lived in a smaller town in the Midwest, the Hollis’ never expected such hate come from people in their community.
Instead of letting the bullies have the last word, the little boys wanted to tell the world that those hateful words are not okay in anyone’s vocabulary.
It wasn’t long after uploading their video that the inclusiveness initiative Everyone Matters took notice of their powerful and emotional message about their sisters; they asked the Hollis family if they could feature their son’s video to their massive global audience. Of course, the family agreed. It was definitely a message worth sharing with the world.
Everyone Matters added an introduction and a beautiful emotional soundtrack, but it’s the Hollis brothers’ message that makes the video as powerful as it is. The adorable six and seven-year-old hold note cards to endearingly tell the world about their amazing sisters that happen to have Down Syndrome.
They hold up words all starting with ‘Re,’ such as ‘Realizing,’ ‘Reaching,’ and ‘Respect.’ All words to tell a story about their sisters. All words that start with ‘Re’ that are far less insulting and horrific as the one spray-painted on their home.
The two young brothers in the video below ask the world to take the pledge to remove the nasty ‘R’ word from their vocabulary; you can take the pledge at R-Word.org.
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