Mia Birdsong: The story we tell about poverty isn't true
Mia Birdsong: Lo que contamos acerca de la pobreza no es verdad
Mia Birdsong advocates for strong communities and the self-determination of everyday people. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
some of you, no doubt --
recursos, algunos de ustedes, sin duda,
cómo reducir la pobreza
how to reduce poverty
millions of dollars
millones de dólares
people who are poor.
creación de empleos y creación de activos,
job creation and asset-building,
a nuestras comunidades más marginadas.
our most marginalized communities.
and given passionate speeches,
y dado discursos apasionados,
que está dejando más y más gente
that is leaving more and more people
de la escala de ingreso.
of the income scale.
that much in the last 50 years,
cambiado mucho en los últimos 50 años,
Guerra contra la Pobreza.
el recurso más poderoso y práctico.
the most powerful and practical resource.
is Jobana, Sintia and Bertha.
están Jobana, Sintia y Bertha.
niños pequeños, en una clase de crianza
at a family resource center
en San Francisco.
as parents and friends,
como madres y amigas,
de lo duro que era
tus hijos son pequeños.
financieramente también.
financially, too.
a familiares y amigos,
to their families and friends,
the office or house
la oficina o la casa
y quién cuidaría a los niños.
and who'd watch the kids.
the little ones all day.
a los pequeños todo el día.
for their families.
when a husband's work hours were cut.
redujeron las horas laborales del marido.
niños conforme iban creciendo.
as they were growing.
está Teresa y su hija, Brianna.
is Theresa and her daughter, Brianna.
infecciosa y extrovertida.
outgoing personality.
español, se mudó a la casa de al lado,
moved in next door,
y encontró una aplicación de traducción
and found a translation app
le ayudó a Rosie a aprender inglés.
with helping Rosie to learn English.
problemas académicos.
and kind of withdrawn
más frustrada y retraída
por lo que estaba pasando.
over what was happening.
to have to repeat second grade
que repetir el segundo grado
y abrumada y sola
and overwhelmed and alone
el apoyo que necesitaba,
was not getting the support she needed,
con un grupo de amigos,
with a group of friends,
one of her friends said,
uno de sus amigos dijo,
con mi hijo hace como un año".
with my son about a year ago."
que gran parte de su lucha
that so much of her struggle
to talk with about it.
for parents like her.
para padres como ella.
and two other people.
y otras dos personas.
veinte, treinta personas
20 people, 30 people
mensuales que ella organizaba.
monthly meetings that she put together.
de apoyar a su hija,
of supporting her daughter,
que estaban pasando por lo mismo.
who were going through the same struggle.
tanto académicamente, como socialmente.
she's doing great academically
BlackStar Books and Caffe,
BlackStar Books and Caffe,
"Bienvenido hogar negro".
with a "Welcome black home."
ordenar pollo estilo Jerk Algiers,
some Algiers jerk chicken,
de nuez vegetariana,
con una gota de suero de leche,
with a buttermilk drop,
que un agujero de donut
de familia muy secreta.
he won't tell you about it.
y no se los va a decir.
mucho más que un café.
para tener ayuda con la tarea.
to get help with homework.
que pasa en el vecindario
in the neighborhood
musicians and artists.
músicos y artistas.
de todo,
for an upcoming community event.
evento comunitario venidero.
from people just like them
de gente como ellos
against the prison system,
del sistema penitenciario,
and Latino folks,
who manifest hope and promise,
esperanza y promesas,
disciplinarias racistas en sus escuelas,
discipline practices in their schools,
their ingenuity and tenacity
sus propias soluciones.
their own solutions.
housing, health, community --
vivienda, salud, comunidad,
en quiebra pero no quebrada.
to realize their good ideas,
hacer realidad sus buenas ideas,
mejor para sí mismos,
a better life for themselves,
and Baakir are the rule,
y Baakir son la regla,
single mother in Rochester, New York.
calladamente feroz en Rochester, NY.
los suburbios, desde un vecindario
in the suburbs, from a neighborhood
y sus padres consideraban peligroso.
and their parents considered dangerous.
cada día y hacía tarea y deberes,
and do homework and chores,
iba a la tienda de la esquina
de Chef Boyardee,
as my afternoon snack.
como bocadillo vespertino.
I'd buy a Hostess Fruit Pie.
compraba un Pie de frutas Hostes.
Cereza.
de suero de leche. (Risas)
que se está aburguesando rápidamente
in a quickly gentrifying neighborhood
to turn on the stove
encender la estufa
el mismo tipo de independencia
the same kind of self-reliance
like spinach and ricotta,
cuando se trata de lo que comen mis hijos.
than Jobana, Sintia or Bertha,
que Jobana, Sintia o Bertha,
of smart, talented people,
llenas de gente inteligente y talentosa,
más venerados y recompensados.
and most rewarded CEOs.
que aprovechan su resiliencia
tapping into their resilience
llevar los niños a la escuela
get the kids off to school
no pagan lo suficiente,
that are putting them in debt.
los está dejando en deuda.
their savvy intelligence
aplican su inteligencia perspicaz
extra para llegar a fin de mes.
to make ends meet.
a sí mismos y a los demás,
doing for themselves and for others,
por un vecino anciano,
for an elderly neighbor,
para pagar la cuenta de teléfono,
to pay the phone bill,
vecindario desde el escalón del frente.
for the neighborhood kids
because of luck and privilege,
y privilegio, no trabajo duro.
or self-deprecating --
o autocrítica; soy genial.
denominator in this equation,
común en esta ecuación,
que nos decimos
who make it to believe we deserve it,
que lo logramos, creer que lo merecemos,
in the back of our minds,
con esa gente pobre.
with those poor people."
sobre qué es lo que salió mal.
that poor folks are lazy freeloaders
los pobres son unos gorrones flojos
zafarse de un día de trabajo honesto.
to get out of an honest day's work.
that poor people are helpless
los pobres son indefensos
que no les leyeron lo suficiente,
that didn't read to them enough,
mostrara el camino correcto, lo lograrían.
low-income single mothers
a madres solteras de bajo ingreso
pensar de mis padres,
might think of my parents,
acerca de la misma gente,
about the same people,
y dando lo mejor de sí.
of the negative stories aren't true,
historias negativas no son ciertas,
no ver lo que la gente realmente es,
to not really see who people really are,
plot lines have us convinced
limitadas nos han convencido
que necesita arreglarse.
that needs fixing.
that what's working is the people
lo que funciona es la gente
es nuestra estrategia?
los expertos que estamos buscando,
we are looking for,
de imponer soluciones,
that they have?
se podría ver esto:
of what this could look like:
has grown up around the belief
ha crecido alrededor de la creencia
y el deseo de manifestarlas,
and the desire to manifest them,
mucho, mucho dinero.
and lots and lots of money.
for Theresa and Baakir?
estrategia para Theresa y Baakir?
really all that different
entre Jobana, Sintia, Bertha
to rethink a flawed strategy.
cansada y defectuosa,
historias verdaderas,
and families and communities are.
y las comunidades marginadas.
to speak to my people.
para hablar a mi gente.
with blood, sweat and dreams;
con sangre, sudor y sueños,
siguen dando vuelta,
because of our backbreaking work.
gracias a nuestro trabajo agotador.
to jog your memory,
para refrescar la memoria,
de Octavia Butler.
"Parable of the Sower."
"Letter from Birmingham Jail."
Birmingham" del Reverendo King.
"First writing since".
"First Writing Since,"
perform "Black Gold."
ejecutar "Oro Negro".
of Kehinde Wiley
a lot of wealth and power,
mucha riqueza o poder,
nuestro tiempo y energía
from systems that were not made for us.
fueron hechos para nosotros.
the fabric of existing ways,
de la forma de ser existente,
una nueva tela más feroz.
substantial collective power
considerable poder colectivo
que trabajen para nosotros.
about the concept of ubuntu,
y reconciliación de Sudáfrica
Truth and Reconciliation process
después del Apartheid.
is inextricably bound up, in yours;
está inextricablemente atada a la tuya,
reconciliación comenzó
the voices of the unheard.
de los no escuchados.
promise of liberty and justice for all,
promesa de libertad y justicia para todos,
las voces de nuestros no escuchados,
the voices of our unheard,
Sintia and Bertha,
Theresa y Baakir.
and their ideas.
a sus soluciones y sus ideas.
sus historias verdaderas,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mia Birdsong - Family activistMia Birdsong advocates for strong communities and the self-determination of everyday people.
Why you should listen
Mia Birdsong has spent more than 20 years fighting for the self-determination and pointing out the brilliant adaptations of everyday people. In her current role as co-director of Family Story, she is updating this nation's outdated picture of the family in America (hint: rarely 2.5 kids and two heterosexual parents living behind a white picket fence). Prior to launching Family Story, Birdsong was the vice president of the Family Independence Initiative, an organization that leverages the power of data and stories to illuminate and accelerate the initiative low-income families take to improve their lives.
Birdsong, whose 2015 TED talk "The story we tell about poverty isn't true" has been viewed more than 1.5 million times, has been published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Slate, Salon and On Being. She speaks on economic inequality, race, gender and building community at universities and conferences across the country. She co-founded Canerow, a resource for people dedicated to raising children of color in a world that reflects the spectrum of who they are.
Birdsong is also modern Renaissance woman. She has spent time organizing to abolish prisons, teaching teenagers about sex and drugs, interviewing literary luminaries like Edwidge Danticat, David Foster Wallace and John Irving, and attending births as a midwifery apprentice. She is a graduate of Oberlin College, an inaugural Ascend Fellow of The Aspen Institute and a New America California Fellow. She sits on the Board of Directors of Forward Together.
Mia Birdsong | Speaker | TED.com