Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba
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0:15 - 0:16I am Awele.
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0:16 - 0:19Daughter of Alice, granddaughter of Ruth,
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0:20 - 0:24great-granddaughter
of Big Momma Alice and Madir Corine, -
0:24 - 0:29great-great-granddaughter
of Anna and Zitii Benyen. -
0:30 - 0:32It is my hope
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0:32 - 0:37to find my best possible self
in the service of others. -
0:38 - 0:41Now, my daddy, he used to tell me stories.
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0:41 - 0:43My daddy, he would say,
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0:43 - 0:46"I want you to know who you are
and where you come from. -
0:46 - 0:49That will guide you as you discover
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0:49 - 0:50who you must be.
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0:51 - 0:54Now, you listen to this story,
you hear me, baby girl? -
0:54 - 0:55It's not going to be in a book.
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0:55 - 0:57Your teacher is not going to tell it,
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0:57 - 1:00but you need to understand who you are."
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1:01 - 1:02That became a guiding principle
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1:02 - 1:04in the stories that I wanted to tell.
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1:05 - 1:08Stories about legacy of who we are.
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1:10 - 1:12I used to hear all the time
that children are the future, -
1:13 - 1:15but what does that cliché really mean
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1:15 - 1:17and how are we preparing them?
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1:17 - 1:20So I looked for narratives
about young people -
1:20 - 1:23and the legacy that they bring
as agents of change. -
1:23 - 1:26The power that you have right now.
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1:27 - 1:30Today, March 2, 1955 --
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1:30 - 1:33the story that I want to share with you
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1:33 - 1:36comes from 1955, March 2.
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1:36 - 1:39It's about a courageous 16-year-old girl,
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1:39 - 1:41Claudette Colvin.
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1:42 - 1:43And it comes full circle today
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1:43 - 1:46because a week ago today,
in San Francisco, -
1:46 - 1:47my middle school students,
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1:47 - 1:50they performed a program
that I had written, -
1:50 - 1:52"Agents of Change,"
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1:52 - 1:55starting with the reenactment
of Plessy v. Ferguson -
1:55 - 1:58from 1892 to 1896,
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1:58 - 2:00moving to Brown v. Board
and a student-led strike -
2:00 - 2:02by Barbara Rose Johns,
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2:02 - 2:06jumping to Claudette Colvin
and the Montgomery Bus Boycott -
2:06 - 2:10and ending in 1960
with the Sit-In Movement, -
2:10 - 2:13the non-violent movement led by students.
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2:14 - 2:16So I'm going to share the story,
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2:16 - 2:19and I would like to also share
the work I do with it, -
2:19 - 2:21as a case study.
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2:23 - 2:26I paid my dime at the front of the bus,
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2:26 - 2:28and then I ran to the back door
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2:28 - 2:29with the rest of the colored kids
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2:29 - 2:32so the driver wouldn't take off
before we got on. -
2:32 - 2:36Also, well, whites don't want us
walking down the aisle next to them. -
2:37 - 2:38When I got back on the bus,
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2:38 - 2:40colored section was full,
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2:40 - 2:43so, I sat in the middle section.
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2:43 - 2:45I took the last row seat on the left,
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2:45 - 2:46it was right by the window,
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2:46 - 2:49wasn't thinking
about anything in particular. -
2:49 - 2:50"Hey."
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2:53 - 2:56I didn't know the girl
next to me either, this older girl. -
2:56 - 2:58So I just looked out the window.
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2:58 - 2:59Driver went more stops,
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2:59 - 3:02more people were getting on,
colored and white. -
3:02 - 3:04Pretty soon, no more seats were available.
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3:04 - 3:06"Give me those seats,"
the driver called out. -
3:06 - 3:08Colored folks just started getting up.
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3:08 - 3:10White folks started taking their seats,
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3:10 - 3:11but I stayed seated.
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3:11 - 3:14Girl next to me
and the other two across -- -
3:14 - 3:15they stayed seated.
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3:15 - 3:18I knew it wasn't the restricted area.
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3:18 - 3:19"Make light on your feet!"
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3:19 - 3:21Girl next to me got up immediately.
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3:21 - 3:24She stood in the aisle,
then the other two girls. -
3:24 - 3:27But I told myself,
this isn't the restricted area. -
3:27 - 3:29The driver, he looked up,
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3:29 - 3:31looked in the window,
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3:31 - 3:32that mirror.
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3:33 - 3:34He pulled over.
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3:35 - 3:37A pregnant lady, Mrs. Hamilton,
got on the bus. -
3:37 - 3:39She ran to the back and got on,
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3:39 - 3:42not knowing he was trying
to have me relinquish my seat. -
3:42 - 3:44And she sat right next to me.
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3:44 - 3:47"The two of you need to get up
so I can drive on." -
3:47 - 3:51"Sir, I paid my dime, I paid my fare.
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3:51 - 3:53It's my right, you know,
my constitutional --" -
3:53 - 3:57"Constitutional?
Ha-ha, let me get the police." -
3:57 - 4:00Well he got off and he flagged down
two motormen, and they came. -
4:00 - 4:03And those motormen,
they came onto the bus. -
4:04 - 4:06Looked at Mrs. Hamilton.
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4:06 - 4:09"Now the two of you need to get up
so the driver can drive on." -
4:09 - 4:12"Sir, I paid my dime. I'm pregnant.
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4:12 - 4:15If I were to move right now,
I'd be very sick, sir." -
4:16 - 4:18"Sir, I paid my dime too,
you know, and it's my right, -
4:18 - 4:20my constitutional right.
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4:20 - 4:21I'm a citizen of the United States.
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4:21 - 4:25You just read the 13th
and 14th Amendment, it'll tell you so. -
4:25 - 4:27I know the law. My teacher,
she taught it at school." -
4:27 - 4:30You see, my teacher,
she taught the Constitution, -
4:30 - 4:32the Bill of Rights,
the Declaration of Independence, -
4:32 - 4:34Patrick Henry's speech --
I even memorized it. -
4:35 - 4:39My teacher, she would prick our minds,
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4:39 - 4:40trying to see what we thinking about.
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4:40 - 4:43She would say, "Who are you? Hmm?
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4:43 - 4:45Who are you, sitting right here right now?
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4:45 - 4:49The person that people think they see
from your outside? -
4:50 - 4:52Who are you on the inside? How you think?
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4:52 - 4:54How you feel? What you believe?
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4:54 - 4:56Would you be willing to stand up
for what you believe in -
4:56 - 5:00even if someone wants to hold you back
because you're different? -
5:00 - 5:03Do you love your beautiful
brown skin, children? Hmm? -
5:04 - 5:05Are you American?
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5:06 - 5:09What does it mean to be an American? Huh?
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5:09 - 5:13Homework tonight, write me an essay:
"What does it mean to be an American?" -
5:13 - 5:15You need to know who you are, children!"
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5:15 - 5:18My teacher, she would teach us
history and current events. -
5:18 - 5:21She said that's how we can understand
everything that's going on -
5:21 - 5:23and we can do something about it.
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5:24 - 5:27"Sir, all I know is I hate Jim Crow.
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5:27 - 5:30I also know if I ain't got nothing
worth living for, -
5:30 - 5:33I ain't got nothing worth dying for.
So give me liberty or give me death! -
5:33 - 5:36Ouch! I don't care! Take me to jail."
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5:36 - 5:38They dragged her off the bus.
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5:38 - 5:41Next thing, Claudette Colvin
was in a car seat, -
5:41 - 5:43backseat of the police car,
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5:43 - 5:46handcuffed through the windows.
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5:49 - 5:50The following year,
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5:50 - 5:53May 11, 1956,
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5:53 - 5:56Claudette Colvin was the star witness
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5:56 - 5:59in the federal court case
Browder v. Gayle. -
6:00 - 6:02Her, an 18-year-old teenager
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6:02 - 6:06and two others, women, Mrs. Browder.
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6:08 - 6:12Their case, Browder v. Gayle,
went up to the supreme court. -
6:13 - 6:15On the heels of Brown
v. Board of Education, -
6:15 - 6:19the 14th Amendment
and her powerful testimony that day, -
6:20 - 6:23the rest is history.
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6:24 - 6:27Now, why is it we don't know this story?
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6:27 - 6:28The Montgomery Bus Boycott --
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6:28 - 6:31we hear Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King,
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6:31 - 6:33they will forever be lifted up.
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6:33 - 6:36But the role women
played in that movement, -
6:36 - 6:40the role of Claudette, as an up-stander,
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6:40 - 6:44it teaches us important lessons
that challenge us today. -
6:45 - 6:48What does it mean to be a participant?
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6:48 - 6:51A responsible citizen in a democracy?
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6:52 - 6:55And lessons of courage and of faith?
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6:56 - 6:59So I find freedom movement history
that includes young people -
6:59 - 7:02so that they can explore these big ideas
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7:02 - 7:05of identity, your chosen identity,
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7:05 - 7:07and the imposed identity.
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7:07 - 7:09What does membership in society mean?
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7:09 - 7:12Who has it? How do we make amends?
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7:13 - 7:16Race and violence in America,
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7:17 - 7:19as well as participatory citizenship.
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7:21 - 7:24So these stories allow me
to have conversations, -
7:24 - 7:26to speak the unspeakable,
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7:26 - 7:29that many are afraid to have.
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7:29 - 7:31Once in Eugene, Oregon,
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7:31 - 7:34a young, blond-haired,
blue-eyed boy, middle schooler, -
7:34 - 7:36at the end of a performance
in the dialogue said, -
7:36 - 7:38"But Ms. Awele, racism's over, right?"
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7:39 - 7:41And not wanting to answer for him, I said,
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7:41 - 7:45"Turn to the person sitting next to you.
See if you can come up with evidence." -
7:45 - 7:47And I gave them four minutes to talk.
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7:47 - 7:50Soon, they began to tell stories,
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7:51 - 7:53evidence of racism in their community.
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7:54 - 7:58A girl wrote to me,
a high school student in San Francisco: -
7:58 - 7:59"I was going to skip school
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7:59 - 8:02but then I heard
we had an assembly, so I came. -
8:02 - 8:04And after listening to the students talk
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8:04 - 8:07and seeing your performance,
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8:07 - 8:08I thought I should organize my friends
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8:08 - 8:11and we should go down to a board meeting
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8:11 - 8:13and tell them that want
to have advanced classes -
8:13 - 8:15for A through G requirements."
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8:17 - 8:21So, I tell you this story today
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8:21 - 8:24in honor of the legacy of young people
that have come before, -
8:24 - 8:27so that they will have
guideposts and signs -
8:28 - 8:31to be the change
that they want to see in this world, -
8:31 - 8:33as Claudette Colvin was.
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8:33 - 8:35Because she struck down
the constitutionality -
8:36 - 8:37of segregated seats
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8:38 - 8:39in Montgomery, Alabama.
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8:40 - 8:41Thank you.
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8:41 - 8:47(Applause)
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8:47 - 8:49Thank you.
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8:49 - 8:53(Applause)
- Title:
- Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba
- Description:
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Storyteller and educator Awele Makeba combines performing arts and history to tell a powerful story from the American civil rights movement.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 09:02
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Natsuhiko Mizutani commented on English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Lena Capa edited English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Elisabeth Buffard commented on English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba | ||
Claudia Tomazi Peixoto edited English subtitles for Stories: Legacies of Who We Are - Awele Makeba |
Natsuhiko Mizutani
I think the first subtitle (Music) should be removed.
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was edited on 8/17/2015. The first subtitle ((Music)) was removed.
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 10/13/2016.