Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa: Black life at the intersection of birth and death
موندي"فريكونسي" كاتويوا: حياة السود عند تقاطع الولادة والموت
Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa is a storyteller, a truth-teller, a builder and breaker trying to figure out what it means to be human in a world that removes so much of our humanity in order to survive. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
about Reproductive Justice.
عن العدالة الإنجابية.
was defined by Sister Song as:
من قبل مؤسسة سيستر سونغ على النحو التالي:
if and when she will have a baby
ترغبُ في أن يكون لديها طفل
under which she will give birth.
في إنجاب طفلها.
to decide if she will not have a baby
إذا كانت لا ترغبُ في أن يكون لديها طفل
or ending a pregnancy.
to parent the children she already has
في تربية أطفالها الحاليين
all about the joys of motherhood.
weave wonder into this world.
وهو يدفعُ المعجزة إلى هذا العالم.
for something so big, so early.
من أجل شيء كبير جدًا، في مرحلة مبكرة جدًا.
to stomach motherhood in this country.
لتحمّل الأمومة في هذه البلد.
علمتني أمريكا أكثر عن الأمومة والأبوة
has taught me more about parenting
give birth to babies
that this body will birth kin
to be held in prison cells
خلف زنزانات السجن
about being Black in America
to raise my kids right
because it is wrong,
لأنه من الخطأ فعل ذلك
to justify his death?
for his Skittles and sweet tea
لعبته الخشبية وكوب الشاي الحلو
who will watch him
and not wait for them to come.
ولن ينتظرهم للحضور.
when I consider calling 911.
عندما أفكرُ في الاتصال بالطوارىء (911).
that they will not come and kill my son.
أوسكار جراند بأنهم لن يأتوا لقتل ابني.
of the nooses,
when they murder Black boys
عندما يقتلون الفتيان السود
for four hours in the sun.
about being Black in America
of last week's story.
wouldn't even be newsworthy.
is the only Black woman
هي المرأة السوداء الوحيدة
more than our silence.
dark-skinned daughters in distress
اللواتي هنّ في ضائقة
between the lives of your genders?
وسط حياة أجناسكم؟
nothing is a great protector
that looks like this.
about being Black in America
حول كونك أسودًا في أمريكا
I look forward to.
about dead Black children to be naïve
عن قتلى أطفال السود لتكون بسيطة
be a poem written about my kids.
يومًا ما قصيدة عن أطفالي.
who gave birth to poems.
التي تصوغُ قصائدًا.
who doesn't fit into this world.
لا يصلحُ لهذا العالم.
who will live forever
about art and performance.
الفن والأداء
about Black Lives Matter.
عن حركة حياة السود مهمة.
لمؤتمر TED
about Reproductive Justice.
my inability to separate the two.
على الفصل بينهما.
when Trayvon Martin was murdered.
الذي يبلغُ من العمر 17 عاما،
actually values Black life.
لحركة حياة السود مهمة
and healthy communities
or the state or government.
was not held responsible
in the United Stated of America
لأم في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية
the Reproductive Justice framework
about Reproductive Justice
in the Movement for Black Lives,
في الحركة من أجل حياة السود،
to see and feel these similarities.
رؤية وإحساس هذا التشابه.
to remain silent.
البقاء صامتين.
portion from my talk,"
عن حركة حياة السود مهمة من محادثتي"،
our stories were being denied
they deserve to be told on.
the words I had just spoken.
to remain silent.
البقاء صامتين.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa - Writer, youth worker, freedom fighterMwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa is a storyteller, a truth-teller, a builder and breaker trying to figure out what it means to be human in a world that removes so much of our humanity in order to survive.
Why you should listen
Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa is a Kenyan Queer Womyn speaker and performer. Katwiwa is an award-winning, internationally touring poet, author, host, youth worker, social-justice speaker, teaching artist and workshop leader who has spent her life at the intersection of arts, education and activism. Her work in Reproductive Justice, the Movement for Black Lives, LGBTQ+ advocacy and poetry have been featured on Upworthy, OkayAfrica, the New York Times, For Harriet, Everyday Feminism and more.
As a writer, Katwiwa has always centered storytelling as an avenue to create change and believes in "speaking things into existence." Her work is heavily influenced by her heritage and her pan-African upbringing, and centers "the other" and "the in between," places she has often found herself occupying as a black, queer immigrant and emigrant. Her experience of the power of words and stories to impact the lives of those sharing and receiving has pushed her to share and teach the craft as a tool of resistance and advocacy.
Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa | Speaker | TED.com