ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chinaka Hodge - Writer, educator
Poet, playwright, filmmaker and educator Chinaka Hodge uses her own life and experiences as the backbone of wildly creative, powerful works.

Why you should listen

Chinaka Hodge is a writer and educator from Oakland. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and studied Writing for Film and Television at  USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. Her work has been featured in Believer Magazine, Teen People Magazine, Newsweek, San Francisco Magazine, on PBS and NPR, and in two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry. She was an Associate Producer on Simmons Lathan presents Brave New Voices for HBO.

She is a Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, was a playwright-in-residence at SF Playwrights Foundation and serves as a Visiting Editor at The California Sunday Magazine. She is an inaugural Senior Fellow at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

More profile about the speaker
Chinaka Hodge | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2016

Chinaka Hodge: What will you tell your daughters about 2016?

Chinaka Hodge: O que você contará para suas filhas sobre 2016?

Filmed:
1,264,818 views

Com palavras que cortam como cacos de vidro, Chinaka Hodge disseca 2016 e expõe 12 meses de violência, profunda tristeza, medo, vergonha, coragem e esperança neste poema original sobre um ano que nenhum de nós esqueceremos tão cedo.
- Writer, educator
Poet, playwright, filmmaker and educator Chinaka Hodge uses her own life and experiences as the backbone of wildly creative, powerful works. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Tell your daughters of this year,
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Conte as suas filhas sobre este ano,
00:15
how we woke needing coffee
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como acordamos precisando de café,
00:17
but discovered instead cadavers
strewn about our morning papers,
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mas, em vez disto, encontramos cadáveres
espalhados por nossos jornais matinais,
00:21
waterlogged facsimiles
of our sisters, spouses, small children.
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repleto de cópias de nossas
irmãs, esposas e filhas pequenas.
00:26
Say to your baby of this year
when she asks, as she certainly should,
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Conte a sua bebê sobre este ano
quando ela lhe perguntar, como o fará,
00:30
tell her it was too late coming.
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diga-lhe que foi um pouco tarde.
00:31
Admit even in the year we leased freedom,
we didn't own it outright.
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Admita que mesmo no ano em que alugamos
a liberdade, não a possuímos.
00:36
There were still laws
for every way we used our privates
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Ainda havia leis sobre como
usamos nossas partes íntimas,
00:39
while they pawed at the soft folds of us,
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enquanto eles apalpavam nossas dobras,
00:41
grabbed with no concern for consent,
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agarravam sem se preocupar
com nosso consentimento,
00:44
no laws made for the men
that enforced them.
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sem leis para os homens
que as fazem cumprir.
00:47
We were trained to dodge,
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Fomos treinadas para nos esquivar,
00:49
to wait, to cower and cover,
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esperar, nos encolher e nos cobrir,
00:52
to wait more, still, wait.
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esperar mais, permanecer, esperar.
00:55
We were told to be silent.
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Mandaram-nos nos calar.
00:57
But speak to your girls of this wartime,
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Fale às suas filhas
destes tempos de guerra,
00:59
a year preceded by a score of the same,
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um ano precedido por mais do mesmo,
01:02
so as in two decades before,
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assim como nas duas décadas anteriores,
01:04
we wiped our eyes,
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enxugamos nossos olhos,
01:06
laced caskets with flags,
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envolvemos caixões em bandeiras,
01:08
evacuated the crime scene of the club,
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saímos da cena do crime da boate,
01:10
caterwauled in the street,
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gritamos na rua,
01:11
laid our bodies on the concrete
against the outlines of our fallen,
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deitamos nossos corpos no chão
sobre o contorno de nossas quedas,
gritamos, "É claro que fomos importantes,"
01:14
cried, "Of course we mattered,"
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01:16
chanted for our disappeared.
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cantamos pelos desaparecidos.
01:18
The women wept this year.
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As mulheres choraram neste ano.
01:20
They did.
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Elas choraram.
01:21
In the same year, we were ready.
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Nesse mesmo ano, estivemos prontas.
01:24
The year we lost our inhibition
and moved with courageous abandon
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O ano em que nos desinibimos
e avançamos corajosamente
01:27
was also the year we stared down barrels,
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foi também o ano que olhamos
dentro do cano da arma,
cantamos os grous do céu,
nos curvamos e defendemos,
01:29
sang of cranes in skies,
ducked and parried,
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01:32
caught gold in hijab,
collected death threats,
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achamos ouro em Hijab
recebemos ameaças de morte,
01:34
knew ourselves as patriots,
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nos declaramos patriotas,
01:36
said, "We're 35 now, time we settled down
and found a running mate,"
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dissemos: "Temos 35, hora de
acomodarmos e encontrar um parceiro".
01:39
made road maps for infant joy,
shamed nothing but fear,
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Criamos mapas para a alegria infantil,
só nos envergonhamos do medo
01:42
called ourselves fat and meant, of course,
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chamamo-nos de gordas,
querendo dizer, é claro,
01:44
impeccable.
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impecáveis.
01:45
This year, we were women,
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Neste ano, fomos mulheres,
01:47
not brides or trinkets,
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não noivas ou enfeites,
01:49
not an off-brand gender,
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não um gênero de quinta,
01:51
not a concession, but women.
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não uma concessão, mas mulheres.
01:53
Instruct your babies.
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Instruam sua filhas.
01:54
Remind them that the year has passed
to be docile or small.
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Lembrem-nas de que o tempo
de ser dócil ou frágil já passou.
01:58
Some of us said for the first time
that we were women,
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Algumas disseram pela primeira
vez que éramos mulheres,
02:00
took this oath of solidarity seriously.
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levaram a sério
essa promessa de solidariedade.
02:03
Some of us bore children
and some of us did not,
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Algumas de nós conceberam
filhos e outras, não,
02:05
and none of us questioned
whether that made us real
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nenhuma de nós questionou
se isto nos tornava reais
02:07
or appropriate or true.
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ou apropriadas ou verdadeiras.
02:09
When she asks you of this year,
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Quando ela perguntar sobre este ano,
02:11
your daughter, whether your offspring
or heir to your triumph,
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sua filha, seja sua prole
ou herdeira do seu triunfo,
do seu lado confortável da história
abalada e tornando-se mulher,
02:14
from her comforted side of history
teetering towards woman,
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02:17
she will wonder and ask voraciously,
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ela vai imaginar e perguntar anciosamente,
02:20
though she cannot fathom your sacrifice,
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embora não compreenda seu sacrifício,
02:22
she will hold your estimation of it holy,
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ela achará sua opinião sagrada,
02:24
curiously probing, "Where were you?
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Investigando curiosamente, "Onde estava?
02:27
Did you fight?
Were you fearful or fearsome?
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Você lutou?
Você foi destemida ou medrosa?
02:30
What colored the walls of your regret?
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Do que se arrepende?
02:32
What did you do for women
in the year it was time?
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O que você fez pelas mulheres
quando teve tempo?
02:34
This path you made for me,
which bones had to break?
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Este caminho que criou para mim,
o que teve que sacrificar?
02:37
Did you do enough, and are you OK, momma?
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Você fez o suficiente, e está bem, mamãe
02:40
And are you a hero?"
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E você é uma heroína?"
02:41
She will ask the difficult questions.
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Ela vai fazer perguntas difíceis.
02:43
She will not care
about the arc of your brow,
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Não vai se importar com a sua surpresa,
02:46
the weight of your clutch.
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o peso da sua bagagem.
02:47
She will not ask of your mentions.
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Ela não pedirá suas referências.
02:49
Your daughter, for whom you have
already carried so much, wants to know
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Sua filha, pela qual você
tanto sofreu, quer saber
02:52
what you brought, what gift,
what light did you keep from extinction?
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o que você trouxe, qual presente,
qual luz você não deixou apagar?
02:55
When they came for victims in the night,
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Quando eles procuravam
por vítimas à noite,
02:57
did you sleep through it
or were you roused?
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você dormiu ou foi acordada?
03:00
What was the cost of staying woke?
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O quanto custou ficar acordada?
03:01
What, in the year we said time's up,
what did you do with your privilege?
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No ano que dissemos que o tempo acabou,
o que fez com o seu privilégio?
Alegrava-se a miséria dos outros?
03:05
Did you sup on others' squalor?
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03:06
Did you look away
or directly into the flame?
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Você desviou ou olhou direto na chama?
03:08
Did you know your skill
or treat it like a liability?
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Conhecia sua aptidão
ou a tratou como obrigação?
03:11
Were you fooled by the epithets
of "nasty" or "less than"?
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Você foi enganada pelo
"repugnante" ou "menos que"?
03:14
Did you teach with an open heart
or a clenched fist?
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Você ensinou de coração
ou com um punho cerrado?
03:17
Where were you?
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Onde você estava?
03:18
Tell her the truth. Make it your life.
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Diga-lhe a verdade. Sempre.
Confirme. Diga, "Filha,
eu encarei o momento
03:20
Confirm it. Say, "Daughter, I stood there
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03:22
with the moment
drawn on my face like a dagger,
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que se desenhou a minha frente
como uma uma adaga,
03:24
and flung it back at itself,
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que voltava a si mesma,
03:26
slicing space for you."
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cortando o espaço para você."
03:27
Tell her the truth, how you lived
in spite of crooked odds.
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Diga-lhe a verdade, como viveu
apesar das poucas chances.
Diga que você foi corajosa,
03:30
Tell her you were brave,
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03:31
and always, always
in the company of courage,
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e sempre, sempre
com a coragem como companheira,
03:33
mostly the days
when you just had yourself.
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principalmente nos dias
que você estava só.
03:36
Tell her she was born as you were,
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Diga-lhe que ela nasceu como você,
03:38
as your mothers before,
and the sisters beside them,
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como sua mãe, e as irmãs dela,
03:40
in the age of legends, like always.
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na era das lendas, como sempre.
03:43
Tell her she was born just in time,
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Diga-lhe que ela nasceu na hora certa,
03:45
just in time
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na hora certa
03:47
to lead.
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de liderar.
03:48
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Maria Carolina Siqueira
Reviewed by Wanderley Jesus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chinaka Hodge - Writer, educator
Poet, playwright, filmmaker and educator Chinaka Hodge uses her own life and experiences as the backbone of wildly creative, powerful works.

Why you should listen

Chinaka Hodge is a writer and educator from Oakland. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and studied Writing for Film and Television at  USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. Her work has been featured in Believer Magazine, Teen People Magazine, Newsweek, San Francisco Magazine, on PBS and NPR, and in two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry. She was an Associate Producer on Simmons Lathan presents Brave New Voices for HBO.

She is a Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, was a playwright-in-residence at SF Playwrights Foundation and serves as a Visiting Editor at The California Sunday Magazine. She is an inaugural Senior Fellow at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

More profile about the speaker
Chinaka Hodge | Speaker | TED.com