Chris Abani: On humanity | TED
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2008
- Chris Abani tells stories of people: People standing up to soldiers. People being compassionate. People being human and reclaiming their humanity. It's "ubuntu," he says: the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me.
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6 years on, still one of the absolute best TED talks I've watched to date.
it’s amazing
We watched this video in my English comp class and it spoke to me so much, I was nearly in tears.
I feel lucky for being able to have met him and got to talk about stuff like this, writing methods and ideas, and then I talked to him about comic books lol.
It's just amazing to see that he stands as such a strong and gentle person after all he has been through. The people who say he's just telling stories that don't say anything missed the whole point. That those people in the stories represent our own humanity through their actions. Terrorizing humanity, as well as affirming its goodness.
This man has seen so much. It's such a wonder that his mind has been preserved and that his humanity has been preserved through all that. But then, I suppose it's the way he looks around him and sees humanity. If everyone did that they wouldn't have so much trouble keeping off the wrong paths
An amazing story teller. Uses his own experience to assert a point.
That was a hard watch, but an important one. Very disturbing, very emotional. It feels wrong somehow to say thank you, but I still want to express my gratitude for this talk.
Stories made me both laugh and cry...amazing talk.
Chris is a golden man! I love his stories!
Now this is what a TED lecture should be like :D
It took me too long to see this, but I'm glad I did. ❤️
Thank you. This guy is really amazing and he speaks truth.
i was so into this video and had headphones on, volume high and the sound of the ending where it says "TED" scared the shit out of me
Tammy Hwang 😂😂😂😂😂😂
there needs to be more people like these.
breathtaking.....
This transcription is for Chris' other Ted Talks lecture on Stories of Africa-fyi. A great talk nonethless.
straight from heart!!
I agree. Despite the commercial however...I'm glad that someone, anyone really, is sponsoring TED...considering how important TED talks are.
Pretty emotional speech
This is one of the great things about the web, books are great, but nothing can compare to a first hand story you know?
The art of storytelling is an age old African tradition. We call it the Oral Tradition. And you are correct. If we lose our little stories we will lose our humanity.
WOW !
What I think the poem means, feel free to add or correct.
Livation defintion, pouring of liquid on the ground as a offering to a deity.
The narrator is a mondern day person imaging the horrors of a old man from the past.
The old man is from the reconstruction era and is share cropping the land he use to be a slave to when he was younger. The overseer is a figure that still haunts him, as the old man still tends the land he was a slave to. The salt of the land could be a allusion to the pillars of salt left after sodom was destroyed. The meaning of this is to draw parallels to sodom and the confederacy, how both were struck down by a righteous power. The ironic part is that even though the old man is free he can still tends the same land, which is why the salt lingers. The missing tooth shows he is not whole, meaning he has never been freed, this is because the government never carried out the promise of forty achers and mule. Which is explored further when he imagines all of the things that he missed out on
The gin being poured is the represents the soothing of pain. Gin is traditionally a sweet drink to rival the pain, which is represented by the salt. The narrator and the man have a connection perhaps the narrator is black, and offers gin to the old man because he is finally free. The reason it connects to ubuntu is because the man feels the suffering of someone he has never met, but he still offers his soul comfort. The kindness of a stranger
singing the names of the dead when they plants seeds.... thats brilliant
Back when TED talks were good.
Wow, yer spec
Hey. I guess we both watch some of the same stuff. I found your last vid b/c it was attached to TED's vid, didn't at first realize it was a few months old.
14:30 for the poem
Turn on the subtitles for an amazing joke
Some of these memories are light weight, and outside our culture, but we laugh. The evil ones in this story are the fascist governments who do NOT see other people as real, as their equal. In essence, your neighbor=yourself. And the world is a small place today. Doesn't matter what label the ones in power take on. Look to what they do. Do you all remember what happened in South Africa, and why Mandela is a hero? In my mind, these videos combat fascism.
הכתוביותתתת):
knock them down and forget their names... :)
No. Brian is alive
:'(
bellybusterr... if this doesnt move something inside of you now.. come back in couple of years.. watch it again.
Kinda like now
I didin't get it.
Did you get it now?
KoryKosky It was kinda hard to understand, but I think one of the critical messages was the fact that the good outweighs the bad.
dont make more videos or else ill have more homeowrk and suffer 😢