It has been a little over a week since Meryl Streep took to the stage and made one of the most memorable speeches of the night.

Since that moment, there has been a lot of talk going back and forth about the context of her speech. Some call it brave, others call it cowardly. Some consider it well spoken, others consider it ridiculous.

However, regardless of whichever side you fall under, there are a few very important points we need to take away from her speech.

1. “...Amy Adams was born in Vicenza, Veneto, Italy and Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem. Where are their birth certificates...So Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick ‘em all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

Streep’s point to make here is that we have well-respected people, that we may not even have known the heritage and the culture of, that come from so many different places, and are composed of so many different ethnicities. We all understand that Trump now plans to only remove the illegal immigrants, however there are so many thousands of Americans that rose and are continuing to rise from that that believe no individual born outside of America deserves to be in America. We have Americans that are throwing hate at people because they are different, because they were not born into the same privilege and the same rights as we were. The point here is that so many of our beloved and respected role models, were people who were not born here. They are people whose families worked hard to get them here, they are people who may not have come here legally, and they are people who found a welcoming home here. Something that America needs to remain - a welcoming home.

2. “There was nothing good about it, but it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back.”

Yes, yes, we all know that Trump claims to not have meant to mock the reporter, simply to just ‘put him in his place.’ However, the way it was done was not in kindness, nor was it done in grace. It was done in a way that would very, very clearly make its point, and make that man feel smaller than no individual should ever feel. It was done in a way that opened up people’s mouths to spew hate on the reporter for being disabled, it was done in a way that made people believe it was mockery, not just a way to call out his mistakes. His intentions may not have been to hurt, but the hurt was there, and the hurt was placed, and we as Americans need to remember that we do not have a right to respect, but we must earn it, and prove we deserve it - and part of that means treating others with the same respect you would like to be shown.

3. “...and this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life ‘cause it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose.”

Here, Streep stresses on the importance of being a role model within our nation. She stresses on the importance of respecting others, on treating others with love and kindness, and on remembering that hurting someone because they hurt you only causes more pain. This encompasses all of America. It encompasses the way police have been unlawfully persecuting innocent black lives, and the way individuals have been unlawfully taking police lives in return. It encompasses the way our President-elect has belittled certain groups, and certain races, and the way that individuals have belittled back. When people, especially people with power, use their power to project a voice of disrespect, a voice of pain, and a voice of injustice, that is what the people hear, and that is what the people respond with. Here she is challenging all of her peers, all of her higher-ups, and all of us people watching, to be the better person and to spread love.

Streep goes on to stress on the importance of keeping our news unbiased, supported, and free. She briefly talks about how and why the Committee of Journalists is so necessary, and she finishes her speech off by paying tribute to Carrie Fisher, and reminding us all on the importance, and the healing qualities of the arts.

So whether you agree or disagree with Meryl Streep and her points, remember that in order to gain respect, you must first give it. In order to solve problems, you must first allow yourself to become empathetic; and in order to be a role model, you must first act with dignity and with love.