Marc Bamuthi Joseph: What soccer can teach us about freedom
Marc Bamuthi Jospeh: Ce que le foot peut nous enseigner sur la liberté
TED Fellow Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a curator of words, ideas and protagonists. His bold, poetically-driven work investigates social issues and cultural identity. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
rising up against gravity
contre la gravité
jamais retomber.
on the soccer pitch.
après avoir marqué un but.
par une vague d'adrénaline
to revive the dead,
qui ressuscite les morts,
at a contemporary arts center,
dans un centre d'art contemporain,
that doesn't bleed or sweat or cry.
qui ne saigne, ne pleure, ne sue pas.
are going to live in a time
vont vivre dans un monde
are fresh water and empathy.
seront l'eau claire et l'empathie.
et les sculptures majestueuses
and majestic sculpture
pour aller avec.
avec une esthétique merveilleuse
to turn that inspiration
pour changer cette inspiration
et j'aime le sport.
who loves sports.
my latest piece /peh-LO-tah/
/peh-LO-tah/
was a means for my own immigrant family
comme un moyen pour ma famille de migrants
and normality and community
à une communauté
et d'agression sur l'identité du migrants,
and assault on immigrant identity,
as an affirmational tool
comme un moyen de s'affirmer
and immigrant kids,
et d'enfants d'immigrés,
movement patterns on the field
aux schémas de mouvements sur le terrain
across social and political borders.
les barrières sociales et politiques.
play on endangered ground.
jouent sur un terrain dangereux.
that they use to plan the next goal
pour marquer le prochain but,
to navigate the next block.
passer le prochain obstacle.
and even divisively,
et même conflictuelle,
"build this wall,"
« construisez ce mur »,
that are beautifully designed
merveilleusement conçus
back to something that exists inside
qu'il existe quelque chose à l'intérieur,
part soccer tournament,
moitié tournoi de foot,
field of inquiry
de /peh-LO-tah/
political action for young people.
les jeunes basée sur le sport.
"Moving and Passing."
« Moving and Passing ».
site-specific performance
une performance spécifique au site
for the urgent question
pour la question urgente
de la jeunesse immigrante.
a 15-year-old kid from Honduras
du Honduras
to two Nigerian immigrants.
de deux immigrés Nigérians.
dribbling through cones
à dribbler entre les cônes
a marching band comes down the field.
sur le terrain.
with the exuberance of culture,
avec l'exubérance de la culture,
à travers l'art,
would explain Black Lives Matter,
expliquerait Black Lives Matter,
would explain gun control,
expliquerait le contrôle des armes,
is the perfect metaphor
est la métaphore parfaite
nos propres libertés.
that we can all agree to do together.
d'accord de faire ensemble.
of this spinning ball.
de cette planète Terre.
to connect the joy of the game
in sight of a better position.
d'une meilleure position.
to connect their families' histories
les histoires de leurs familles,
after the ball beats the goalie,
que la balle est rentrée dans les cages,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Marc Bamuthi Joseph - Arts activist, spoken word artistTED Fellow Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a curator of words, ideas and protagonists. His bold, poetically-driven work investigates social issues and cultural identity.
Why you should listen
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a steadfast believer in empathy as the most valuable currency in building community, and he seeks to spark curiosity and dialogue about freedom, compassion and fearlessness through pioneering arts stewardship and education. A 2017 TEDGlobal Fellow, Bamuthi graced the cover of Smithsonian Magazine as one of America's Top Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences; artistically directed HBO's "Russell Simmons presents Brave New Voices"; and is an inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship, which annually recognizes 50 of the country’s greatest living artists. Dance Magazine named him a Top Influencer in 2017.
Bamuthi's evening-length work, red black and GREEN: a blues, was nominated for a 2013 Bessie Award for "Outstanding Production (of a work stretching the boundaries of a traditional form)" and he has won numerous grants including from the National Endowment for the Arts and Creative Capital Foundation. His noted work /peh-LO-tah/ is inspired by soccer and Bamuthi's first generation American experience, intersecting global economics, cross-border fan culture and the politics of joy.
Bamuthi is the founding Program Director of the non-profit Youth Speaks, and he is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one-day festivals which activate under-resourced parks and affirm peaceful urban life. His essays have been published in Harvard Education Press; he has lectured at more than 200 colleges, has carried adjunct professorships at Stanford and Lehigh, among others, and currently serves as Chief of Program and Pedagogy at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph | Speaker | TED.com