Motivational Speaker Comes to Proctor
By Brian Perry, '11

     Have you ever been in a public place, seen a black person, and uncontrollably started shouting out insulting racial comments?  That’s what happens to Marc Elliot.  

       Marc is 23 years old, and has had Tourette’s syndrome since he was a kid.  Tourette’s causes people to say things, make noises, and repeat movements with little or no control over their actions.    Marc has turned the negative impact of his Tourette’s into something beneficial by teaching tolerance and speaking on how having tolerance can improve lives and make us happier.

Marc is now so open with his Tourette’s that he travels around to colleges, high schools, businesses, and organizations to preach tolerance.  He believes that tolerance is vital to getting through life.  Throughout his story, Marc repeated, “live and let live.”  Marc’s response to that quote is, “Naturally, humans believe that people who are different from them are strange, but what you do may be strange to them as well.  You just need to live your life, and let them live their life.”

Most of Marc’s experiences he shared with the Proctor community involved tolerance.  The people Marc spoke about in his stories were not tolerant of his involuntary behaviors.  

Marc spoke about when he was seventeen and was on a bus going from St. Louis to Indianapolis.  Boarding the bus home to St. Louis, Marc was in line with a lot of black people.  His Tourette’s tic at that moment was saying the “N” word.  He explained to them that he had Tourette’s and no control over his words, but they still were incredibly offended.  He told the bus driver, who was black as well, that he had Tourette’s.  When everyone got on the bus, she conveyed to the passengers that he had Tourette’s and there was nothing to worry about.  A woman from the line stood up and asked, “Then why does he get to say the “N” word?”  The bus driver, upset and offended, then said that he needed to either get off the bus or they would call the police.  He needed to call his parents to get him a ride home.  This story and the ensuing altercation made the local television news.

Marc Elliot has changed people’s lives with his stories, and will continue to inspire many as he inspired me.  His stories are uplifting, usually have some comic relief in them, and will teach all who listen a lesson about tolerance.  

Next time you see someone acting differently, or “weirdly,” make sure you don’t make any assumptions, and that you live and let live.