Safwat Saleem: Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent
صفوت سليم: لماذا أستمر بالتحدث حتى عندما يسخر الناس من لهجتي؟
Safwat Saleem uses satire and art to bring to light stories of adversity. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
eye contact with anyone.
الصمت الغريب يسأل،
in the room begin to turn toward me
"Have you forgotten your name?"
"هل نسيت اسمك؟"
I want to respond, but I don't.
لكن لا أستطيع،
for all kinds of characters.
is Frankenstein's monster.
هي الوحش (فرانكشتاين).
(SS's voice): (Grunts)
(صوت صفوت): (زمجرة)
a lot for that one.
I made this educational video
the voice of Space Invader.
أصوات غزاة الفضاء.
hitting "refresh,"
I look forward to the next one.
أتطلع لرؤية المزيد.
of a two-part video.
من فيديو على جزئين،
on the second one next.
WHEREEEEE? I need it NOWWWWW!: P
أنا أحتاجه الآآآآآآن،
غير أمي يتحدثون بأشياء جيدة عني،
were saying nice things about me,
is annoying. No offense.
without peanut butter in your mouth?
بدون زبدة فول سوداني في فمك؟
is somewhat constructive. Hit "refresh."
وضغطت "تحديث"
تستعملوا صوت هذا المعلق مجدداً
this narrator again
because of the Indian accent.
بسبب هذه اللهجة الهندية.
have a Pakistani accent.
on the second part of the video.
الثاني من الفيديو.
back to my childhood,
as I can remember.
when he had a question --
كان لديه سؤال --
so I would not have to answer it.
would say I'm not around.
بأنني غير موجود.
and there was usually someone who'd go,
ليقول شخص ما،
feeling that if I spoke,
that there was something wrong with me,
be able to use my voice in my work
each sentence many, many times,
الجملة مرات ومرات،
where I think I suck the least.
is like Photoshop for your voice.
يعادل عمل فوتوشوب للصوت.
make it deeper, add an echo.
إضافة صدى.
and if I stutter along the way,
وإذا ما تلعثمت في جزئية،
voice in my work
to finally sound normal to myself.
لأبدو طبيعياً لنفسي.
using my voice in my work.
about what it means to be normal.
يعني ان أكون طبيعياً.
with expectations.
very few colors in his writing.
الألوان في نصوصه.
is described as wine red,
بالخمر الأحمر،
and sheep are purple.
والخرفان بالبنفسجية،
of the ancient literature --
اليونانية أو الهندية
for why that might be the case
قد يكون
to recognize a color
to make that color.
for many cultures to make --
صنعه لحضارات كثيرة --
fairly early on.
which was much harder to make --
الصعب صناعته --
how to make that color
على إنتاج هذا اللون
until much later as well.
قبل فترة قريبة.
a color might be all around them,
حولهم في كل مكان،
the ability to see it.
put my own experience into context.
the comments on the video,
للمرة الأولى،
all very personally.
على نحو شخصي.
for a narrator to have an accent.
more spelling errors in your writing
أكثر في نصوصك
to help female or minority students.
الطالبات أو طلاب الأقليات
with white-sounding names
أسماء البيض
with black-sounding names.
of what is normal.
does not succeed.
is a better hire than a black employee.
من موظف أسود.
that discrimination of this kind,
من هذا النوع،
to help people that you can relate to
أنت تنتمي إليهم أكثر
that you can't relate to.
أنت لا تنتمي إليهم.
starts at a very early age.
سن صغيرة جداً.
collection every year,
only about 11 percent of the books
فقط من هذه الكتب
that number was about eight percent,
الرقم تقريباً 8%،
today come from a minority background.
يأتون من خلفيات أقلية.
أن يصبحوا أي شيء،
that they can be anything,
that children of color consume
الأطفال السود
don't get to realize
لم يتسنى لها أن تفهم
they are similar to minorities --
الأقليات الصغيرة --
for Ancient Greeks,
لليونانين القدماء،
of what we consider normal,
of what we've been exposed to,
لما أعتدنا النظر إليه،
get a bit difficult.
of normal -- that normal is good,
أن الطبيعي هو الجيّد،
narrow definition of normal is bad.
لتعريف الجيد يعتبر سيئاً.
that preexisting notion of normal
and would rather be in the bathroom.
لو كنت في الحمام،
I'm now slowly starting to use my voice
والآن بدأت تدريجياً في استخدام صوتي
people say that I talk
مجموعة أنني أتكلم
butter in my mouth.
a much better understanding
لدي الآن فهم أكبر
one day and realize
ليكتشفوا
to realize what we had been ignoring
ملاحظة ما كانوا يتجاهلوه
our notion of normal,
لما هو طبيعي باستمرار،
to allow us as a society
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
شكراً شكراً شكراً.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Safwat Saleem - Artist, graphic designer, filmmakerSafwat Saleem uses satire and art to bring to light stories of adversity.
Why you should listen
Safwat Saleem is a Pakistani-American visual artist, graphic designer and filmmaker. He's best known for making politically-charged satirical art. Safwat's artwork has used a variety of media, including illustration, writing, animation, audio, film and sculpture. He often combines several media to create multimedia storytelling experiences that get his audiences talking -- and laughing -- about subjects that tend to otherwise make people feel uncomfortable. Saleem is also the founder of Bandbaja, a Pakistani music magazine that promoted the use of modern popular music as a socio-political tool.
Saleem has a penchant for doing voiceovers in his films for all kinds of silly characters like a bear, sheep, greeting card and a whale to name a few. His work is shown regularly in galleries around the U.S. and has been featured in publications such as Wired, BoingBoing and Brainpickings. Safwat is a TED Senior Fellow and he likes pizza (like, a lot).
Safwat Saleem | Speaker | TED.com