Isabel Wilkerson: The Great Migration and the power of a single decision
Isabel Wilkerson: A Grande Migração e o poder de uma decisão
The author of "The Warmth of Other Suns," the story of the Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who uses narrative history to bring to light our shared humanity. Full bio
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in nearly all of our families.
em quase todas as nossas famílias.
that they had known.
tudo aquilo que conhecia
a young person's endeavor.
feito por pessoas jovens.
when you're on the cusp of life.
quando ainda temos muita vida pela frente.
existe esse jovem
somewhere in our background.
or the Pacific Ocean.
ou o Oceano Pacífico.
that will cross rivers and mountains
que cruzará rios e montanhas
will be freedom in the North.
será a liberdade no Norte.
their grandparents,
who had gotten them to this point.
que o fez chegar até esse ponto.
to make the crossing with them.
de fazer essa travessia com ele.
of the people who had raised them,
das pessoas que os tinham criado,
telephone service.
de longa distância.
did not even have telephones.
nem sequer tinham telefone.
about the people who had raised them
sobre as pessoas que os tinham criado
"Your father has passed away."
if you are to see her alive again."
se quiser vê-la ainda viva."
in nearly all of our families
todas as nossas famílias,
that changed the course of families
mudar o percurso das famílias,
e até mesmo da História
that we may not realize.
que podemos não perceber.
of six million African Americans
de afro-americanos
no sul dos EUA,
until the 1970s.
até aos anos 70.
was the first time in American history
na história dos EUA
had to flee the land of their birth
tiveram que fugir da sua terra natal
that they had always been.
que sempre tinham sido.
um movimento de pessoas,
of political asylum
known as Jim Crow.
conhecido por Jim Crow.
that you could and could not do
fazer ou não fazer
no aspeto que se tinha.
that it was actually against the law
que era contra a lei
jogarem damas um com o outro
together in Birmingham.
with a person of a different race.
com alguém de uma etnia diferente.
a black person and a white person
um negro e um branco
in some town square.
numa praça pública.
estivesse a ganhar,
que essa pessoa viu,
and this white person playing checkers,
a jogar damas,
of Southern civilization was in peril.
da civilização do Sul estava em perigo.
taking the time
dar-se ao trabalho
there was actually a black Bible
havia uma Bíblia negra
de dizer a verdade no tribunal.
de Jim Crow.
by hands of different races.
por mãos de pessoas de etnias distintas.
human desires to be free,
de ser livre,
of violence to maintain.
de violência para se manter.
somewhere in the American South,
algures no Sul dos EUA,
an African American was lynched
in this caste system
deste sistema de castas
to the start of the Great Migration.
o início da Grande Migração.
for many, many reasons.
por muitas razões.
the economic order of the South,
a ordem económica do Sul,
a supply of cheap labor
uma oferta de mão de obra barata,
to work at the will of the land.
de mão de obra barata
when the North had a labor problem.
o Norte teve um problema de mão de obra.
on cheap labor from Europe --
barata que vinha da Europa
and the steel mills.
nas fundições e nas siderurgias.
came to a virtual halt.
parou completamente.
de mão de obra.
and find the cheapest labor in the land
o trabalho mais barato internamente
in the South,
for their hard work.
pelo seu trabalho.
that they were farming.
que estavam a cultivar.
and not even being paid.
e nem sequer eram pagos.
para o recrutamento.
to this poaching of its cheap labor.
esta caça furtiva à mão-de-obra barata.
to keep the people from leaving.
para impedir que as pessoas saíssem.
from the railroad platforms.
nas estações ferroviárias.
American citizens.
eles eram cidadãos americanos livres.
from their train seats.
e prendiam-nos.
people to arrest,
pessoas para prender,
que tinham esperança,
to get to freedom
de obter a liberdade,
How now will we get out?
"Como vamos sair disto agora?"
out of the South,
para sair do Sul,
beautifully predictable streams
bastante previsíveis
throughout human history.
ao longo da História.
there were three streams.
houve três correntes migratórias.
the Carolinas and Virginia
das Carolinas e da Virgínia
and on up the East coast.
e para a costa leste.
from Mississippi, Alabama,
do Mississípi, do Alabama,
to Cleveland and the entire Midwest.
e para todo o Midwest.
from Louisiana and Texas
wanted to get away,
a todo o custo
within the borders of the United States
dentro das fronteiras dos EUA
were living in the South.
viviam no Sul,
this Great Migration was over,
Grande Migração acabou,
all over the rest of the country.
em todo o resto do país.
nearly a complete redistribution
uma redistribuição quase total
in American history
na história norte-americana,
and were willing to take them.
e estavam dispostos a assumi-las.
in the three centuries
durante os três séculos
had been on that soil at that time.
tinham estado naquela terra.
in 12 generations of enslavement
em 12 gerações de escravatura
nearly a century of Jim Crow.
em quase um século.
to the word "grandparent"
enslavement lasted in the United States?
durou a escravatura nos EUA?
was the first time in American history
foi a primeira vez na história americana
to choose for themselves
por si mesmos,
with their God-given talents
que Deus lhes dera
what they and their children
é o que eles e os seus filhos
and even great-grandchildren
to choose for themselves
de escolher por si mesmos
with their God-given talents.
que Deus lhes dera.
a Toni Morrison as we now know her to be.
como a conhecemos.
and from Georgia.
e da Geórgia.
conseguiria fazer uma coisa
would get to do something
at this point,
and against protocol for African Americans
e contra o protocolo para afro-americanos
growing up in the South,
e se ela lá tivesse ficado.
the single decision to leave,
would get access to books.
teria acesso aos livros.
a Nobel laureate,
um prémio Nobel,
by the Great Migration.
pela Grande Migração.
they brought with them,
trouxeram com eles,
the ancestors --
os seus antepassados,
and the gospel music
e a música "gospel"
through the generations.
através das gerações.
into whole new genres of music.
em novos géneros musicais.
e a espalhar pelo mundo
"Motown" would not have existed.
não existiria a Motown.
his parents were from Georgia.
eram da Geórgia.
he decided he wanted to go into music.
que queria entrar na música.
para viajar por todo o país
to go all over the country
of the Great Migration
da Grande Migração
com eles durante a viagem.
with them during the journey.
were these three girls,
estavam três raparigas
had there been no Great Migration.
se não fosse a Grande Migração.
e muitas pessoas em geral,
and a lot of human beings in general,
porque os pais nunca se teriam conhecido.
because her parents might not have met.
em anos diferentes,
da Grande Migração
of the Great Migration.
of the Great Migration.
da Grande Migração.
que nasceu na Louisiana
who was born in Louisiana
Central Railroad para Chicago,
Central Railroad to Chicago,
de desenvolver o talento
to build on the talent
de desenvolver os talentos
to build on the talents
no país do algodão, o Arkansas.
in the cotton country of Arkansas.
arranjou o seu primeiro saxofone alto.
he got his first alto sax.
que não podem imaginar um mundo
who cannot imagine a world
having gotten a hold of a saxophone.
a segurar num saxofone,
of the millions of people
of the single decision to migrate.
decisão de emigrar.
resistance in the North.
resistência no Norte
toda a injustiça social.
all social injustice.
of the civil rights movement.
do movimento pelos direitos civis.
that they had been forced to flee.
da qual foram forçados a fugir.
of the United States,
o que um presidente dos EUA,
Proclamation could not do.
não conseguiu fazer.
do Norte e do Sul
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Isabel Wilkerson - Journalist, authorThe author of "The Warmth of Other Suns," the story of the Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who uses narrative history to bring to light our shared humanity.
Why you should listen
Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson devoted 15 years to the research and writing of The Warmth of Other Suns. She interviewed more than 1,200 people, unearthed archival works and gathered the voices of the famous and the unknown to tell the epic story of the Great Migration, one of the biggest underreported stories of the 20th century and one of the largest migrations in American history.
The book was named to more than 30 Best of the Year lists, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, among other honors, and made national news when President Obama chose it for summer reading in 2011. In 2012, the New York Times named The Warmth of Other Suns to its list of the best nonfiction books of all time.
Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for her work as Chicago Bureau Chief of the New York Times, making her the first black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer and the first African-American to win for individual reporting.
Isabel Wilkerson | Speaker | TED.com