They Matter Too
(Episode 79)
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Beyond the 20%: Embracing Global Voices in a Western-Dominated World
The Overlooked Majority
In an interconnected world, we've been blindfolded by an illusion—that Western perspectives represent the global standard of excellence and innovation. This couldn't be further from the truth. The Western world accounts for merely 20% of our global population, yet its voice echoes disproportionately through our media, education, and cultural frameworks. What about the remaining 80%? Their voices—rich with wisdom, creativity, and solutions—remain muffled beneath the dominant narrative. This isn't just a statistic; it's a profound imbalance that robs us all of extraordinary potential and paradigm-shifting perspectives that could transform our collective future.
A Journey Toward Radical Inclusivity
My path as Fatima Bey has been one of awakening—painful at times, exhilarating at others. As a MindShift coach, I've witnessed firsthand how limited worldviews suffocate innovation. This realization ignited a fire within me to create spaces where marginalized voices don't just exist—they thrive and lead. This passion manifests in every decision I make, from designing a deliberately lightweight website that doesn't punish those with limited bandwidth to ensuring navigation feels intuitive across cultural backgrounds. When I implemented translation capabilities across 50+ languages, it wasn't a business strategy—it was a declaration that everyone deserves access to knowledge, regardless of where they were born or what language flows from their lips. This isn't charity; it's justice long overdue.
Pebbles vs. Diamonds: The True Cost of Limited Perspective
We've become collectors of pebbles, frantically gathering what lies at our feet while ignoring the diamonds gleaming just beyond our immediate reach. This metaphor shatters into reality when I think of Myles Munroe—a man whose wisdom now resonates in presidential palaces and corporate boardrooms worldwide. Yet he emerged from a community many would dismiss with a casual glance. His journey from obscurity to global influence isn't exceptional—it's emblematic of countless brilliant minds dismissed because they exist outside our comfortable 20% bubble. Every time we settle for the familiar, we're actively rejecting transformational brilliance that could solve our most pressing challenges. The tragedy isn't just that we miss these gems—it's that we've convinced ourselves they don't exist.
Breaking the Cultural Cage: A Message to Our Youth
To the young people reading this—your potential terrifies those invested in maintaining the status quo. The constraints placed upon you—the expectations to conform, to follow predetermined paths, to speak only when spoken to—these aren't protective barriers; they're prison walls designed to contain your revolutionary spirit. The world doesn't need more followers of tradition; it desperately needs your unfettered imagination and courage to question everything. Your perspective, especially if you come from communities traditionally silenced, carries solutions we desperately need. Don't let anyone convince you that your voice matters less because of where you come from, what language you speak, or what traditions shaped you. Your difference isn't a deficit—it's your superpower.
The Treasure Hunt: Uncovering What We've Been Missing
This isn't simply about recognizing injustice—it's about embarking on a profound treasure hunt for the brilliance we've collectively ignored. I challenge you to examine what gems you might be walking past daily. What voices do you automatically tune out? Whose wisdom have you dismissed because it didn't come packaged in familiar wrapping? The most life-altering insights often come from those we least expect to teach us. This requires more than passive acknowledgment—it demands active pursuit of diverse perspectives, uncomfortable conversations, and the humility to recognize that our current worldview, no matter how educated we consider ourselves, remains tragically incomplete. The treasures awaiting us in the overlooked 80% won't simply fall into our laps—we must dig with intention, listen with humility, and amplify with purpose.
Can I read the full transcript of this episode?
Fatima Bey: 0:01
Welcome to MindShift Power Podcast, the only international podcast focused on teens, connecting young voices and perspectives from around the world. Get ready to explore the issues that matter to today's youth and shape tomorrow's world. I'm your host, fatima Bey the MindShifter, and welcome everyone. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different. I'm Fatima Bey the Mindshifter, and welcome everyone. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different. I'm Fatima Bey the Mindshifter. This episode is about planting a thought seed in your mind.
Fatima Bey: 0:32
I want to explain something to you that most of you probably don't think about. Western civilization represents roughly just 20% of the global population. I want you to let that sink in for a second. Only roughly 20% of the world is considered Western civilization US, uk, australia, just to name a few. We often design content, products and experiences for this 20%. That means 80% of the world's population is frequently overlooked, at least by us. Within that 80%, there is untapped potential. There are talents and ideas that we have never heard of, that we've never seen, we've never experienced, we've never had the opportunity to experience why we don't cater to them. We only cater to the small 20%. We're so busy running around trying to impress one another in this 20% world, that we're ignoring 80% of the world's potential. I'm going to explain something to you that really brings this home.
Fatima Bey: 1:33
I'm going to use myself as an example of what I'm talking about today my website. I just rebuilt myself from the ground up. It's in the. You can take a look at it. It's fatimabaycom. It's just my name, but I rebuilt my entire website recently and my website is set up in a very particular way. If you visit it, you will notice that it doesn't really look that typical, especially for people in my arena. Like other coaches and people in my arena, there's no big picture files. I only have a few videos, very simple and easy navigation. In fact, I created a blog for each and every single episode of this podcast. So why would we, as an international mind shift coach, create a very simple website? It's pretty but it's simple in functionality. Why did I do that? I'm going to explain to you why I did that.
Fatima Bey: 2:25
So, within that 80% of the world, within those other cultures and other places in the world, connectivity to the internet is an issue. You see, here in the US, we take in the US and other places like here, we take internet connectivity for granted because it's just available to us and we complain if something isn't fast. We are just used to this level of connectivity. Many parts of the world don't have that. That is actually a privilege and quite often expensive, and even in some places in the world where they do have connectivity, the issue is they have limited data, just like we used to pay for minutes here in the US for our phones. Many people in the world still live on that sort of system where they have to pay for data. That's a big deal.
Fatima Bey: 3:09
So when I and also the hearing impaired, so the hearing impaired we often don't think about them when we create things. We kind of like do things on the side for them, but we don't actually always think about them enough, I would say, because some people do. But the hearing impaired, I want to make sure they have access to my podcast as well, which is why I created the blog. I want every teen in the world, literally who can, to have access to the impactful conversations that happen on this podcast. I don't just want to talk to the 20%. We have enough information already. We're going to use it or not. I really want to make sure that that other 80 percent of the world teens in the world can actually have access to the same things that you and I do, because they matter too.
Fatima Bey: 3:54
The other thing I did when setting up my website is I made sure that my website is translatable in over 50 languages around the world, because not everybody speaks English. Why does that have to be a barrier? Since they matter too, why not find a way to give them access and my website automatically translate into the language that of your location, basically, but you can also choose languages. Why did I do that? For the same reason, I made the design simple Because they matter too, and I want them to know that. I want them to have just as much access to everything else that we in the 20% world have. Now, I just use that as an example to strike a point.
Fatima Bey: 4:36
Let me give you some other numbers. Do you know that only 66% of the world has strong internet? That means 30, 34% of the world does not have strong internet, so even if they could pay for data, they still might not be able to get it. Well, I think they matter too, so that's why I had a website set up easy enough, where someone with low data can still navigate everything on there. And if they can't listen to the audio because it uses up too much data, they can at least read about it. Many countries sell data the way, like I said, the way we used to do in the US, and this can be very costly for them.
Fatima Bey: 5:12
I don't think most of you really understand what a big deal it is to navigate some of these websites that we create here in the 20% world. We want to be big and flashy and sell ourselves, especially coaches. So look at me why you need my expertise. Blah, blah, blah. All of that stuff that we put, that we front load into our landing page on our websites. They take up a lot of data because we use a lot of big files animations, videos. All of those things matter. You don't optimize photos. All of those things matter, and you know what that means. You're only going to reach the 20% because a lot of the people around the world can't load that Correction. 34% because we're talking about internet connectivity and that piece. That means there's a considerable amount of people that you're not reaching because you're focused on just a few, and this means that many of these people without internet connectivity at you know strong internet connectivity they don't have access to something that could change their lives, because maybe you have the thing that they need to hear, but you haven't considered them, so they haven't mattered to.
Fatima Bey: 6:16
I want to give you this analogy Ignoring the 80% of the world, who is not Western civilization. Ignoring the 80% of the world is like picking up pebbles because they're close and not looking just a little bit further to see the precious gems that are worth even more. Are you ignoring gems out there while focusing on pebbles even more? Are you ignoring gems out there while focusing on pebbles?
Fatima Bey: 6:40
There's a man by the name of Miles Monroe. He died in 2014, but he was one of the greatest minds of the last century. He really was. Look him up. He really really was. Don't have time here to tell his whole life story, but I'm just going to point out a couple of things about him. He came from a third world country and used to sleep on a dirt floor with rats and roaches. He was told that people like him could never excel. He was literally told that Fast forward to the future. He became very wealthy, one of the most. I don't know how many books this man wrote. He was an author. He wrote maybe a hundred or so books. I really don't even know because I didn't look up the number, but he wrote many, many, many books. He was an author, he was a speaker and very, very wealthy. But the key thing I want to point out about him is he was an influencer to world leaders. I would say, out of everything we know about the man, that was his biggest asset. He had the ear of world leaders. Kings and queens and presidents and world leaders literally would listen to this man, and he was a Christian man and he preached and taught from the Bible, and many of these people in the world who listened to him were of other religions and faiths, yet they listened to him. He grew up in a third world country. He was a part of that 80%. He was part of the people that the people ignored. He was part of the ones who.
Fatima Bey: 7:57
You can't be anything. People like you don't go anywhere. Some of you are like yeah, do you? Some of the world's greatest inventions and cures are lying in places that we are brushing off or not considering, and I want you to take this, no matter what your age is. I want you to take this to home. What are you ignoring around you that might be a precious gem, while you're sitting around playing with stones, sitting around playing with pebbles, ignoring the gems that are down the street, in the city next to you, in the state next to you, because they don't look like you, because they're poor, because they're whatever detail, fill in the blanks. What gems are you missing out on?
Fatima Bey: 8:37
Now I'll take a moment to talk to the teenagers, in particular, teens listening to this or reading this right now. I want you to know that you matter and I want you to know I don't want you to be like the generations before you. I want you to be better. Be better than us. Be better than us, who only pay attention to the 20% and miss out on the treasures of the 80%. Be better than us. Recognize the gems in life, because you are the generation that's going to make this world better. We have already screwed it up. You are the people, you are the generation that can make this world better by making it different, by doing it different, by recognizing that there are gems around you and you just got to pay attention. Stop staying within the confines of what your culture has taught you, and I don't care what country you're from. All of us have cultures that have taught us, good and bad, every single one of us. Get outside, climb outside that box. Discover what's outside, what your culture has taught you, discover the precious gems that are out there. But the biggest gem I want you to discover is the one you see when you look in the mirror. Yeah, you, you are one of the most precious gems in the world and I want you to know that. I see you and I believe that you are the most precious gem in the world.
Fatima Bey: 9:42
The greatest potential is usually untapped potential. What's in you teenage boy, teenage girl that's untapped, that you've hidden because it's not accepted? What's in you that you haven't let people see, that you haven't let out? What's in that great big mind of yours that you think no one will listen to? You probably have the answer to one of the world's problems, but you're not letting it out.
Fatima Bey: 10:05
I want you to know that you matter too, and to everyone listening or reading this out there again, I want to plant that thought in your head While you're sitting around playing with pebbles or focusing on pebbles.
Fatima Bey: 10:17
What gems are you missing out on? What great value are you ignoring playing with the 20% and missing out on the greatest potential of all time because you want to focus on the pebbles, because they're close to your feet. Look a little further, find those gems, and for any teenager out there listening, I really want to know that you're listening, that you're reading, whichever way. So if you go to fatimabaycom slash podcast, or you can go to mindshiftpowerpodcastcom and send me a message, let me know that you understand that you matter too, and I want to leave you guys with this thought here there are gems that look like stones until you get close enough to see their brilliance. They matter too. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow or subscribe to MindShift Power Podcast on any of our worldwide platforms so you, too, can be a part of the conversation that's changing young lives everywhere. And always remember there's power in shifting your thinking.
