Clint Smith: How to raise a black son in America
קלינט סמית': איך לגדל ילד שחור באמריקה
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
follow the rules that they did.
אחרי חוקים שהם יצרו.
have to mow the lawn?
in my oatmeal?
with questions like this.
and realizing that sometimes,
ללהיות ילד ולהבין שלפעמים,
even when I didn't exactly understand why.
אפילו כשלא באמת הבנתי למה.
me to think critically.
to reconcile the tension
understand the realities of the world,
את המציאות של העולם,
the status quo as inevitable.
את הסטטוס קוו כבלתי נמנע.
in and of itself,
Brazilian author and scholar Paulo Freire,
הסופר הברזילאי והמלומד פאולו פריאר,
about the need for education
awakening and shared humanity.
ביקורתית ואנושיות משותפת.
"Pedagogy of the Oppressed,"
"פדגוגיה של המדוכאים,"
authentically human
lately, this idea of humanity,
הרעיון של אנושיות,
is afforded the privilege
the past several months,
as unarmed black men, and women,
at the hands of police and vigilante.
הלוקחים את החוק לידיהם.
has transpired after them
about raising a black boy in America
בנוגע ללגדל ילד שחור באמריקה
understand in the way that I do now.
בדרך בה אני מבין עכשיו.
how profoundly unfair it must have felt
כמה לא הוגן בצורה מעמיקה זה בטח הרגיש
to strip away parts of my childhood
להסיר חלק מהילדות שלי
overnight field trip to another city,
בטיול שדה לעיר אחרת של יומיים,
into our own water-filled battle zone.
לאזור קרב מלא מים משלנו.
lay between the streetlights,
across the pavement.
grabbed me by my forearm
with an unfamiliar grip.
made me look in front of my friends,
לי להראות לפני החברים שלי,
fear consuming his face,
as your white friends.
other than your own teeth."
מאחורי משהו חוץ מהשיניים שלך."
into the empty of the night,
all of this away.
inundated with my entire life:
can see them, don't move too quickly,
במקום שאפשר לראות אותן, אל תזוז מהר מדי,
in an armor of advice,
wouldn't steal the breath from our lungs,
לא היה גונב את הנשימה מריאותנו,
a memory of this skin.
not casket or concrete.
would make us better than anyone else
שזה יעשה אותנו טובים יותר ממישהו אחר
to keep us alive.
with the same message,
when we became old enough
to be hammered to the ground,
שמוכן להדפק לתוך האדמה,
synonymous with something to be feared.
למשהו לפחד ממנו.
cannot simply be a child?
להיות פשוט ילדים?
are too dangerous for your breath,
מסוכנים מדי לנשימה שלכם,
of making a mistake,
את המותרות של טעות,
wake up in the morning.
who raised us to understand
for the backside of a bullet,
לצד האחורי של כדור,
and laughing until our stomachs burst.
ולצחוק עד שהבטן שלכם מתפוצצת.
how to raise our hands in class,
איך להרים את הידיים שלנו בכיתה,
aren't worthy of this world.
it's not because others don't,
זה לא בגלל שאחרים לא,
are worthy of existing without fear,
לאשרר שאנחנו ראויים לחיות בלי פחד,
the moment he is born,
for anything other than a toy.
בטעות למשהו חוץ מצעצוע.
build this world into something new,
לא יכולים לבנות את העולם הזה למשהו חדש,
on a t-shirt, or a tombstone,
than the fact that they had lungs,
חוץ מהעובדה שהיו להם ריאות,
one of us can breathe.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Clint Smith - Poet, educatorClint Smith's work blends art and activism.
Why you should listen
Clint Smith is a writer, teacher and doctoral candidate at Harvard University studying education, incarceration and inequality. Previously, he taught high school English in Prince George’s County, Maryland where, in 2013, he was named the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year by the Maryland Humanities Council.
Clint is a 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and author of the poetry collection Counting Descent. He has received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Cave Canem and the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Boston Review, American Poetry Review, Harvard Educational Review and elsewhere. He was born and raised in New Orleans, LA.
Clint Smith | Speaker | TED.com