# Todos somos de otra parte | Manuel Sevilla | TEDxCali Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yRRSlsnv74 Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/5yRRSlsnv74 Generated: 2026-01-09T17:03:15.492+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Manuel Sevilla argues that current narratives about migration, particularly those focusing on people displaced from Colombia's Pacific coast, often frame it as a purely negative event stemming from misfortune, failing to recognize the agency, planning, and resilience involved in these journeys, which he illustrates using a suitcase representing the life migrants carry with them. **Key Points:** - Sevilla asks the audience to raise their hands if they or their relatives have lived outside their birth region for over six months, indicating a shared experience of displacement or migration. - He criticizes contemporary migration narratives, especially those concerning Colombians from the Pacific region, for portraying the process only as a result of misfortune or calamity, ignoring intentionality. - Sevilla points out that many migrants, like the educated professionals he mentions (lawyers, engineers, teachers), planned their moves, carrying their skills and knowledge in a suitcase. - He highlights the resilience of migrants from the Pacific region who, despite often lacking resources, built strong local economies through agriculture, fishing, and commerce, contradicting the narrative of pure victimhood. - The speaker encourages the audience to look at their own family tree, search for their own migration stories, and recognize that many ancestors also moved for better opportunities, sometimes even to places like Mexico, the US, Scotland, or Venezuela. - Sevilla concludes by urging the audience to use this understanding to serve others, suggesting that this recognition of agency and planning can help create more humane conditions for current migrants. ![Screenshot at 00:27: The speaker, Manuel Sevilla, stands on stage next to a black suitcase, asking the audience to raise their hands if they or their relatives have lived outside their birthplace for more than six months to establish a shared connection to migration themes.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/5yRRSlsnv74/00-00-27.jpg) **Context:** Manuel Sevilla delivers a TEDx talk titled "Todos somos de otra parte" (We are all from somewhere else) at TEDxCali, centered on reframing the perception of migration. He uses a physical black suitcase on stage, which he suggests is full of skills, knowledge, and plans, to symbolize what migrants carry when they move, contrasting this with the common media narrative that depicts migrants solely as victims of misfortune. ## Detailed Analysis Manuel Sevilla begins his talk by engaging the audience, asking those who have lived away from their birthplace for over six months to stand up, establishing a baseline understanding of displacement or migration within the room. He notes that many of those standing are the descendants of people who migrated from Colombia's Pacific coast, including skilled professionals like lawyers, engineers, and teachers who left during the 60s and 70s. Sevilla points out three main problems with contemporary migration narratives, which he claims media outlets perpetuate: first, that migration is portrayed as a result of misfortune or calamity rather than a planned process; second, that migrants are presented as having nothing, ignoring the skills (like artisanal knowledge) they carry; and third, that the migration narrative from the Pacific region is often simplified to one of poverty, overlooking the fact that these communities built robust local economies through farming, fishing, and commerce. He contrasts this negative stereotype with the reality that many of these migrants planned their moves consciously, aiming for better conditions in health and education, and that their descendants built strong local economies in cities like Cali, Bogotá, and Popayán. Sevilla invites the audience to examine their own family trees for migration stories and to put their ability to serve others to use by adopting a perspective that recognizes the agency and planning behind migration, leading to more humane outcomes. ### Audience Engagement and Setup - Asking for a show of hands from those who have lived away from their birthplace for over six months - Introducing the theme of migration and the concept of "reconnection" - Presenting a black suitcase as a symbol of what migrants carry. ### Critique of Migration Narratives - Identifying three problems in contemporary media portrayals of migration - Narratives focus on misfortune (calamity) instead of planned migration - Migrants are shown as having nothing, ignoring their skills (artisanship, education, professional degrees). ### Counter-Narrative - Highlighting migrants from the Pacific coast who, despite hardship, built strong local economies through agriculture, fishing, and mining - Mentioning that educated professionals (lawyers, engineers, teachers) also migrated - Citing specific examples of people who moved to Cali, Bogotá, Popayán, Mexico, the US, Scotland, and Venezuela. ### Call to Action and Conclusion - Inviting the audience to search their own family trees for migration stories - Urging the audience to use their understanding to serve others and create more humane conditions for migrants - Concluding with thanks. ![Screenshot at 00:02: The opening title graphic for TEDxCali's "Reconexión" event, featuring an abstract 'X' design overlaid with hands and threads, setting a theme of connection.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/5yRRSlsnv74/00-00-02.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:06: The speaker, Manuel Sevilla, is introduced on stage with his name and talk title, "Todos somos de otra parte," framed by the large TEDxCali logos.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/5yRRSlsnv74/00-00-06.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:27: Manuel Sevilla on stage, standing next to a suitcase, addressing the audience and asking them to raise their hands if they have experienced displacement or migration.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/5yRRSlsnv74/00-00-27.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:41: A wide shot of the audience, showing many people standing as requested by the speaker, indicating engagement with the topic of migration.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/5yRRSlsnv74/00-00-41.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:58: The speaker leans on the handle of the black suitcase, referring to it as "la maleta del migrante" \(the migrant's suitcase\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/5yRRSlsnv74/00-01-58.jpg)