Ep. 72 Race to Speak Up: Turning the Pain of Bullying Into Power | Conversations with Jackie

What happens when you take one of the most painful experiences of your life and turn it into a mission to protect and empower others? In this powerful episode of **Speak Feed Lead Conversations with Jackie Bailey**, Jackie sits down with **Devin W. Moore — Speaker, Author, and Founder of Race to Speak Up** — for an important conversation about bullying, racism, mental health, empathy, and the courage to use your voice. After experiencing bullying and racism as a young teenager, Devin made a decision: he wasn’t going to allow those experiences to take away his power. Instead, he began speaking up. That decision eventually became **Race to Speak Up**, Devin’s anti-bullying organization dedicated to educating and empowering students, parents, educators, workplaces, and communities to recognize bullying, understand its impact, and take meaningful action. During their conversation, Jackie and Devin explore the lasting effects bullying can have on mental health, why hurt people can sometimes hurt others, and why addressing bullying requires us to look beyond the behavior and understand what may be happening underneath it. Devin also introduces the importance of becoming an **“upstander”** — someone who safely supports a person being targeted rather than simply watching from the sidelines. He shares how his workshops use education, real-life scenarios, role-playing, positive affirmations, and practical calls to action to help young people recognize their own ability to create change. They also discuss why these conversations need to begin early, how childhood experiences can follow us into adulthood and the workplace, and how replacing negativity with empathy, understanding, and positive action can help break the cycle. In this episode, you’ll discover: 💙 Why finding the courage to speak up can help you reclaim your power 🧠 How bullying can affect mental and emotional well-being 🤝 What it means to be an upstander instead of a bystander 🌎 Why our differences should be recognized with understanding rather than used to divide us 🎯 How parents, educators, students, workplaces, and communities can help interrupt the cycle of bullying ✨ How Devin transformed his own experiences into a mission to empower others Devin is also the author of **Devin Speaks Up**, a children’s anti-bullying book that extends his mission of helping young people understand that their experiences matter—and so do their voices. At the heart of Devin’s work is one powerful message: **Always race to speak up against bullying.** 🎙️ **Race to Speak Up: Turning the Pain of Bullying Into Power** Learn more about Devin W. Moore and **Race to Speak Up** at **RaceToSpeakUp.com**. If this conversation speaks to you, please **like, comment, subscribe, and share this episode** with someone who may need to hear its message. #SpeakFeedLead #ConversationsWithJackieBailey #DevinWMoore #RaceToSpeakUp #StopBullying #AntiBullying #SpeakUp #MentalHealthAwareness #YouthEmpowerment #BeAnUpstander #BullyingPrevention