Michael Rain: What it's like to be the child of immigrants
مايكل راين: ماذا يعني أن تكون طفلًا لوالدين مهاجرين
TED Resident Michael Rain communicates ideas through written and visual stories. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
when I was in the third grade,
with a Ghanaian staple dish called "fufu."
من غانا يُدعى "فوفو."
made of cassava,
مصنوعة من الكاسافا،
which is a dark orange color,
would keep me warm on a cold day.
سيوفر لي الدفء خلال اليوم البارد.
and I opened my thermos,
What's a fufu?" they asked.
send me to school with fufu again.
or chicken noodle soup
that my friends were eating.
between what was unique to my family
بين ما تتميز به عائلتي
came to the US almost 50 years ago.
الولايات المتحدة قبل خمسين عامًا تقريبًا.
in a northern region of Ghana,
في المنطقة الشمالية من غانا،
his bachelor's degree in accounting
بكالوريوس في المحاسبة
joined him years later.
in lower Manhattan,
her own women's clothing store.
متجرها الخاص للملابس النسائية.
around the world
these different classifications.
or Korean-Americans or Nigerian-Brits.
من أصل كوري أو بريطانيين من أصل نيجيري.
and experiences different
in a country different than our parents,
عن بلد آبائنا،
في أن يسيء الآخرون فهمنا
to the largest number of immigrants
وهي موطن لأضخم عدد من المهاجرين
in a place like New York,
في مكان مثل نيويورك،
person to find their place.
من الجيل الأول أن يجد له مكاناً.
that formed my understanding
a student asked me
that his parents told him
who come to the US
وقد جاؤوا إلى الولايات المتحدة
and they laughed a bit,
but because it was a generalization.
بل لإنه كان تعميماً.
enough to eat in Ghana
ما يكفي من الطعام في غانا
more complex as I got older.
مع تقدمي في السن.
of black American students,
من الطلاب الأمريكين السود،
why I sounded differently than they did
different than theirs.
and he shared his own confusion
when he first came to the US.
المتحدة لأول مرة.
when he was in Ghana, everyone was black,
كان الجميع ذو بشرة سوداء،
would only consider me to be
يعتبرونني
and complex cultural issues
والمسائل الثقافية المعقدة
in the United States,
tell me it's Latinos,
immigrant demographic?
بين المهاجرين؟
but it's actually African immigrants.
تثقيفاً لكن الحقيقة هم المهاجرين الأفارقة.
out of the eight countries
Muslims only live in the Middle East,
المستهدفين يعيشون فقط في الشرق الاوسط،
banned people are Africans.
بالحظر هم أفارقة.
and policy and religion,
والسياسة والدين،
about immigrants are incorrect.
المهاجرين غير صحيحة.
like workplace diversity and inclusion,
والشمول في مكان العمل،
gender-ethnicity combination
to senior managerial positions,
إلى مناصب إدارية عليا،
least likely to be promoted.
بأن يترقوا إلى مناصب عليا.
is part of my work
for people to find these stories.
البحث عن هذه القصص.
of portraits and firsthand accounts
first-generation immigrants just like me
من المهاجرين أمثالي،
for the countries we grew up in,
للبلدان التي ترعرع بها،
for many of us who are misunderstood
للعديد منا نحن الذين يُساء فهمنا
their countries of origin
لربط بلدانهم الأصلية
you might know are Enodi.
الذين قد تعرفهم كـ Enodi.
States, Barack Obama,
باراك أوباما،
or Caribbean immigrants.
of first-generation folks.
in North America and Europe,
how critical we are
smells new or different to you --
غريباً عليكم أو يختلف عنكم...
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Rain - Digital storytellerTED Resident Michael Rain communicates ideas through written and visual stories.
Why you should listen
Michael Rain communicates ideas through written and visual stories. He is the creator of ENODI, a digital gallery that chronicles the lives of first-generation Black immigrants of African, Caribbean and Latinx descent, and the co-founder of the emerging tech startup ZNews Africa, a Google, Facebook and Microsoft accelerator member that builds mobile app, email and web products.
Rain's creative and commercial work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Upscale Magazine and the Harlem Arts Festival. He has moderated panels and delivered remarks on entrepreneurship and digital media at major events and conferences at the US Department of State, Harvard Business School, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and the NYU Stern School of Business.
Rain earned a BA in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from Columbia University. He is a 2017 TED Resident and a fellow at the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is Ghanaian-American, a lifelong New Yorker and Brooklyn native.
Michael Rain | Speaker | TED.com