Deeyah Khan: What we don't know about Europe's Muslim kids
Deeyah Khan: Det vi ikke ved om Europas muslimske børn
Deeyah Khan is working to create intercultural dialogue and understanding by confronting the world's most complex and controversial topics. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I knew I had superpowers.
at jeg havde superkræfter
because I could understand
fordi jeg kunne forstå og relatere
of brown people,
brune mennesker,
a conservative Muslim guy.
en konservativ muslim.
my Afghan mother, my Pakistani father,
afghanske mor og pakistanske far,
but laid-back, fairly liberal.
afslappede og ret liberale.
of white people.
hos hvide mennesker.
understand each other,
was always really worried.
even with the best education,
den bedste uddannelse,
according to him.
diskrimineret, ifølge ham.
to be accepted by white people
accepteret på af hvide,
with me when I was seven years old.
da jeg var syv år gammel.
or it's got to be music."
med sport eller indenfor musik."
bless him -- so it was music.
så det blev altså musikken.
he gathered all my toys, all my dolls,
mit legetøj, alle mine dukker sammen
a crappy little Casio keyboard and --
lille Casio keyboard og ...
for hours and hours every single day.
i timevis hver eneste dag.
for larger and larger audiences,
optræde for større og større publikum,
almost a kind of poster child
nærmest indbegrebet af
nice things about brown people,
om brune mennesker,
that my superpower was growing.
superkræfter vokse.
walking home from school,
på vej hjem fra skole,
my favorite sweets called "salty feet."
favoritslik kaldet "salte fødder."
salty licorice bits in the shape of feet.
fodformede saltlakridser.
I realize how terrible that sounds,
hvor forfærdeligt det lyder,
I absolutely love them.
Jeg elsker dem.
in the doorway blocking my way.
i døråbningen og blokerer den.
and as I did that, he stopped me
og da jeg gør det, stopper han mig
you little Paki bitch,
din lille Paki tæve,
to wipe the spit off my face,
tørre spyttet af mit ansigt,
hoping that any minute now,
håbede på at der snart
and make this guy stop.
og stoppe denne fyr.
and pretended not to see me.
og lod som om de ikke så mig.
because I was thinking, well,
for jeg tænkte jo
Where are they? What's going on?
Hvor er I? Hvad sker der?
coming and rescuing me?
I didn't buy the sweets.
at jeg ikke købte slikket.
the more successful I became,
attracting harassment from brown people.
chikaneret af brune mennesker.
felt that it was unacceptable
omgangskreds fandt det uacceptabelt
to be involved in music
at være indenfor musikken
to become attacked at my own concerts.
angrebet under mine egne koncerter.
I was onstage, I lean into the audience
scenen og læner mig ud mod publikum,
is a young brown face
et ungt brunt ansigt,
of chemical is thrown in my eyes
et eller andet kemikalie i øjnene,
and my eyes were watering
og mine øjne løber i vand
of Oslo, this time by brown men.
Oslo, denne gang af brune mænd.
stopped me in the street one time,
der stoppede mig på gaden og sagde
I hate you so much
at jeg skulle passe på.
and the job of whores,
islamisk lære og var et job for ludere,
you are going to be raped
ville jeg blive voldtaget
another whore like you will not be born.
kunne føde horeunger som mig.
to treat me like this -- how come?
mig sådan her - hvorfor dog det?
the two worlds,
mine to verdener,
between my two worlds.
and the harassment was constant.
og chikanen konstant.
my mother sat me down and said,
at min mor sagde til mig
we can no longer keep you safe,
eller garantere din sikkerhed,
I packed my suitcase and I left.
pakkede min kuffert og rejste.
was that nobody said anything.
dengang, var at ingen sagde noget.
at jeg rejste fra Norge.
nobody said anything.
ingen sagde noget.
because she is one of us."
for hun er en af os."
you know at the airport,
I ved nok ude i lufthavnen
you have these different suitcases
alle disse kufferter,
that one suitcase left at the end,
the one that nobody comes to claim.
ingen kommer og henter.
I'd never felt so lost.
Aldrig følt mig så fortabt.
I did eventually resume my music career.
genoptog jeg min musikkarriere.
the same old story.
den samme gamle historie.
saying that I was going to be killed
at jeg ville blive dræbt
were going to flow
many times before I died.
mange gange før jeg døde.
to messages like this,
få beskeder som den,
now they started threatening my family.
truede min familie.
I left music and I moved to the US.
forlod musikken og flyttede til USA.
to do with this anymore.
med det at gøre mere.
going to be killed for something
ikke dø for noget,
it was my father's choice.
det var min fars valg.
at det jeg ville
however many years of my life
hvor mange, af mit liv
for various organizations
for mange organisationer,
with young Muslims inside of Europe.
were suffering and struggling.
både kæmpede og led.
with their families and their communities
familier og samfundet omkring dem,
about their honor and their reputation
op i deres ære og omdømme
and the lives of their own kids.
so alone, maybe I wasn't so weird.
alene og måske ikke så anderledes.
of my people out there.
don't understand
growing up in Europe
der vokser op i Europa,
with people that we choose.
heartlands of Europe.
højborge i Europa.
in the world, we're not free.
er vi ikke frie.
does not belong to us,
tilhører ikke os selv,
and their community.
og samfundet omkring dem.
and they are suffering alone.
to honor-based violence and abuse.
til æresrelateret vold og misbrug.
years of working with these young people,
arbejde med disse unge mennesker,
being scared and hiding
på at være bange og gemme mig
going to have to do something.
that my silence, our silence,
min tavshed, vores tavshed
my childhood superpower to some use
barndoms superkræfter til noget
sides of these issues understand
af disse udfordringer til at forstå
between your family and your country.
fanget mellem sin familie og sit land.
and I started telling these stories.
og fortælle disse historier.
the deadly consequences of us
de fatale konsekvenser
Kurdish girl in London.
der boede i London
whatever her parents wanted.
hvad hendes forældre bad om.
that her parents chose for her,
hendes forældre havde valgt
and raped her constantly.
to her family for help, they said,
hos sin familie, sagde de
and be a better wife."
a divorced daughter on their hands
fraskilt datter i familien,
bring dishonor on the family.
kaste skam over familien.
her ears would bleed,
and she found a young man that she chose
fandt en ung mand efter eget valg
and buried underneath the house.
og begravet under huset.
she had been beaten to death
og tævet til døde
on the orders of her father and uncle.
efter ordre fra faren og onklen.
in England five times asking for help,
5 gange for at bede om hjælp,
going to be killed by her family.
familie ville slå hende ihjel.
so they didn't do anything.
så de gjorde ingenting.
facing these problems
vores unge de samme problemer
and within their families' communities,
deres familiers omgangskreds,
that they grow up in.
de vokser op i.
they look to the rest of us,
så vender de sig mod os andre
several people said to me,
var der mange der sagde til mig
this is just their culture,
at sådan er deres kultur,
do to their kids
being murdered is not my culture.
ikke er en del af min kultur.
from backgrounds like me,
the same protections
og den samme beskyttelse
I wanted to try and understand
ville jeg prøve at forstå
Muslim kids in Europe
unge muslimer i Europa
to have to face my worst fear:
til at se min værste frygt i øjnene:
for most of my life.
det meste af mit liv.
most of my life.
det meste af mit liv.
interviewing convicted terrorists,
at interviewe dømte terrorister,
what was very obvious already,
og tidligt stod klart
Europe's colonial baggage,
Europas fortid som kolonimagt
failures of recent years,
fejltrin i nyere tid,
in finding out was what are the human,
finde ud af hvad de menneskelige,
are susceptible to groups like this.
var modtagelige overfor grupper som disse.
was that I found wounded human beings.
var at jeg fandt sårede mennesker.
that I was looking for,
jeg var på udkig efter,
it would have been very satisfying --
være meget tilfredsstillende -
were torn apart
and the countries that they were born in.
de lande, som de var født i.
is that extremist groups, terrorist groups
terroristgrupper
of these feelings of our young people
vores unge til deres fordel
channeling that toward violence.
styrer dem mod vold.
your family and your country
din familie og dit land,
is more important than you
vigtigere end dig
will always be white and never you."
franskmand altid være hvid og ikke dig."
the things that they crave:
de ting de higer efter:
a sense of belonging and purpose,
tilhørsforhold og mening,
og accepterer dem.
til at føle sig magtfulde.
are finally seen and heard.
bliver pludselig set og hørt.
for our young people.
for our young people and not us?
der gør det og ikke os?
is that we have to understand
are attracted to this.
bliver tiltrukket af dette.
of some of the guys in the film.
nogle af mændene i filmen.
is that so many of them --
var at så mange af dem -
have absent or abusive fathers.
der var fraværende eller voldelige.
and compassionate father figures
medfølende faderfigurer
brutalized by racist violence,
ofre for racerelateret vold,
to stop feeling like victims
to my horror, that I recognized.
faktisk noget jeg genkendte.
as a 17-year-old as I fled from Norway.
som 17-årig, da jeg flygtede fra Norge.
and torn between cultures.
og splittet mellem kulturer.
I did not choose destruction,
jeg ikke destruktionen.
instead of a gun.
is because of my superpower.
var mine superkræfter.
is the answer, instead of violence.
fremfor vold er svaret.
come to terms with the fact
didn't have to be on a collision course
at være på kollisionkurs,
where I found my own voice.
jeg fandt min egen stemme.
like I had to pick a side,
at jeg skulle vælge side,
of our young people today
of radical Islam
radikal islams verdenssyn
that festers in these open wounds.
initiated into the village,
en del af landsbyen,
just to feel its warmth."
blot for at føle dens varme."
to meet your expectations?
opfylde jeres forventninger?
why they're so angry and alienated
sig vrede og fremmedgjorte
before their happiness?
højere end deres lykke?
their experiences,
deres oplevelser med jer
to seek it somewhere else?
tempted by extremism,
der fristes af ekstremisme,
that your rage is fueled by pain?
bunder i smerte?
to resist those cynical old men
disse kyniske gamle mænd,
for their own profits?
for egen vindings skyld?
a happy, full and free life?
just another dead Muslim kid?
muslimske barn, der dør?
listening to our young people?
begynde at lytte til vores unge?
into something more constructive?
mod noget konstruktivt?
what happens to them.
med deres skæbner.
to make them feel differently?
dem til at føle noget andet?
to see them and notice them
at se dem og bemærke dem
or the perpetrators of violence?
eller dem, der udfører det?
and consider them to be our own?
om dem og se dem som vores egne?
of violence look like ourselves?
når ofre for vold ligner os?
and heal the divisions between us?
og fjerne opdelingerne iblandt os?
to give up on each other or on our kids,
hinanden og vores børn,
will not work against extremists.
ikke fungere mod ekstremister.
to huddle in our houses in fear,
krybe i skjul i vores huse af frygt
more wounds in our societies
åbne sår op i vores samfund,
to spread their infection more widely.
at sprede deres smitte.
sent this photo of her daughter.
dette foto af hendes datter.
for extremists.
kryptonit for ekstremister.
with their superpowers
deres superkræfter
that we need to build together,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Deeyah Khan - FilmmakerDeeyah Khan is working to create intercultural dialogue and understanding by confronting the world's most complex and controversial topics.
Why you should listen
Deeyah Khan is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary film director and founder of Fuuse, a media and arts company that puts women, people from minorities and third-culture kids at the heart of telling their own stories. In 2016, Khan became the first UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for artistic freedom and creativity. She has received many honors for her work supporting freedom of expression, human rights and peace, including the Ossietzky Prize, the University of Oslo's Human Rights Award and the Peer Gynt Prize from the Parliament of Norway.
Born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi ancestry, Khan's experience of living between different cultures, both the beauty and the challenges, shapes her artistic vision. Her 2012 multi-award winning documentary, Banaz: A Love Story, chronicles the life and death of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman murdered by her family in a so-called honor killing. Khan's second film, the Grierson and Bafta award-nominated Jihad, involved two years of interviews and filming with Islamic extremists, convicted terrorists and former jihadis. One of Fuuse's recent initiatives, born of Deeyah’s own experiences, is sister-hood, a digital magazine and series of live events spotlighting the voices of women of Muslim heritage. Khan has also produced a number of critically acclaimed albums, including Listen to the Banned, a compilation that brought together musicians from around the world who have been subject to persecution, 'censorship and imprisonment.
The focus of Khan's work and access to voices that are often overlooked and misunderstood has led to increasing demand as a speaker at international human rights events and platforms including the United Nations. She was described by The Times of London thus: "To say Deeyah Khan is an inspiration is an understatement. She is one of the bravest, most indomitable women … facing down bullies and extremists with intelligence and unflinching spirit."
(Photo: Geir Dokken)
Deeyah Khan | Speaker | TED.com