Why English Class is Silencing Students of Color | Jamila Lyiscott | TEDxTheBenjaminSchool
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
- What if someone told you that the way you use language every day had the power to disrupt or uphold social injustice? Language is saturated with history and culture and memory, yet the way that it is policed within our classrooms and our communities is deeply connected to racism and colonialism. Viral TED speaker, spoken word poet, and social justice education scholar Dr. Jamila Lyiscott makes a powerful argument that, to honor and legitimize all students, we must, likewise, legitimize and honor all of their varied forms of written and spoken discourse, practicing "Liberation Literacies" in the classroom. Jamila Lyiscott is currently a visiting assistant professor of Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Coupled with this appointment, Jamila is a Cultivating New Voices fellow within NCTE’s research foundation and was recently named a Senior Research Fellow of Teachers College, Columbia University’s Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME).
Across these spaces, her research, teaching, and service focus on the intersections of race, language, and social justice in education. Recently awarded a Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad grant, Jamila also serves a spoken word artist, community organizer, consultant and motivational speaker locally and internationally. Her scholarship and activism work together to prepare educators to sustain diversity in the classroom, empower youth, and explore, assert, and defend the value of Black life. As a testament to her commitment to educational justice for students of color, Jamila is the founder and co-director o This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
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As a white educator, I think every teacher needs to hear this message. We try to be inclusive, yet we’re products of “the system” as well. I had no idea correcting someone dropping the “to be” verb was a hit on culture. I want all my students to feel welcome in my classroom, but I’m learning every day how far I still need to go. I teach AP classes and it’s really frustrating that I know their AP essays will be graded through white eyes. I have so much more to learn.
The fact that you understand and empathize with what she is sharing is makes you a great teacher. I bet if you're transparent with your students they will appreciate you even more.
You do know that AP exams are scored by people of varied ethnicity, right? And that a rubric is used to determine the score.
It's important for the students to know the grading criteria as well. Code switching is a sign of intelligence.
I find it funny how Ted Talks on these topics have so few views when they're a gold mine of knowledge. Its not your typical feel good motivational Ted Talk but understanding the people you live with (other races) helps break and erases ignorance. Then again a talk on language and dialect might not be for everyone, but being Jamaican I could immediately relate to her early example of how you have to change the way you talk in certain circles as it affects the way your perceived. There's so much to say on these vids but man did she bring her point across well.
Immediately my heart leapt.
To Jamaicans, you think you are not in the same boat as ADOS. Think again! You were colonized into British rule. You may be sovereign, but you cane to the United States to make a better life for yourselves off the backs if ADOS!
I'm bilingual and biracial so this was interesting
We can all relate. Not just Jamaicans.
So true
What a powerful presentation! I especially connected with the lion and man story because I have always understood history to be told through the perspective of the people at the table! As the lion asks, who drew the picture? Who makes the decisions and why? I grew up in post colonial Kenya (born 1962 pre independence) and the rules still applied especially in Catholic schools! If we spoke our mother tongue (mine being Gikuyu) we were severely punished as she says by wearing a sign around our necks, or kneeling on small pebbles for hours on end! OMG, I just realized why my knees are so sensitive!!! Oooo, must bring this up in therapy, wow!! Ngugi Wa Thiongo is one of my favorite authors and he is also Kenyan and Gikuyu! He was my hero growing up as I aspired to be a revolutionary just like him! He was banned in Kenya and I did not read his books until I came to the US to go to college in 1983! Thank you so much for this talk, I needed it this morning! Be well Jamila!
Best talk I've listened to. In Nigeria, the more complex your spoken or written English is, the smarter you are perceived to be.🤔.
anywhere in the English colonised world. Our French colonised family in Senegal, Togo, Mali etc would say the same and we can extend that to Martinique, Guadelope and the say the same about the Portuguese occupied world...
This is also the same in the UK though? I am from the UK and I live in Austria, and it is also very true here. I don't deny there is perhaps a colonial aspect, but it is also easily observable in uncolonised countries.
It's the same way in Cairo...They laugh at you if u speak Arabic correctly, but if you are heard speaking English they automatically assume that you come from a wealthy family and give you respect?
Same situation in India as well... if you speak fluent English, you’re automatically considered smart, sadly... it’s going to take a lot of critical thought and education like this to overcome the colonial mindsets
Dr. Jamila Lyuscott...disrupt the traditional notion of what it means to Read and Write. Invest in under standing ways of Teaching-Learning interactivity.
That last part!!!!! “If we do not have social just practice in the silence then we cannot have social justice in our world”. Very well said...what a way to use all the skills she spoke about in an all encompassing presentation. Very inspiring!! Soul out!!!!
She is so tapped in. Go Jamila! Don't ever stop speaking my sistah.
*sister
Why are you spelling sister that way? Not standard or accurate. Somethings are not subjective.
@@dionsanchez4478 I spell sistah that way, to leave out of the conversation, the people who insist that there is only one way to spell the word "sister". In other words, I'm not talking to you. Is it ok for people to exist who are not addressing you?
@SIMONE VICARI MOORE
Ok, that's cool. There are all kinds of different groups who develop their own lingo, oftentimes with one of the express purposes being that it be a sort of code, intended to be understood by only those who are members of the same group. E.g. teenagers of every generation have done this to an exceptional degree.
But I've never heard of any of them requesting that their private lingo be accepted in place of proper English in the classroom. I gotta hand it to ya - that's pretty ballsy. Power to the people!
@@guitarjunkie2065 By "proper" English do you mean standard English? Are you arguing that dialects are formed for the purpose of ostracising other groups? Are dialects private lingo?
This lady IS articulate!!! "Composite linguistic identity" is NOT a concept i would have thought of myself, lol. That said, she makes a LOT of really good points: language is routinely used as a "filter" or judgmental tool to help people discriminate against "the other" - those not like us, so they need to put in their place when necessary, and more or less ignored otherwise. My parents always told me that the way i talked, the way i use language could considerably help me in life. As a result, i strove to be articulate, to learn new words whenever they came my way, and to learn at least a bit of as many "jargons" or specialized linguistic subsets as possible - physicists, mathematicians, doctors, carpenters, sailors... every major trade has a distinctive "argot" or collection of precisely-defined terms that are peculiar to their trade, and necessary to communicate effectively with them. That said, i now realize i was fortunate to not have had to learn to switch between basic language forms: one language at home and with many of my friends, and another kind of language in "normal, everyday" situations - at school, in the workplace, in public in general. I was surrounded 24/7 with people speaking MMCE - Mainstream Middle-class Canadian English, plus a smattering of wildly different accents (Indian, Chinese, Ukranian, Cape Bretonese, Newfoundland-speak, Scottish, Irish, and what i broadly realized was "lower class" language usage - which i never associated with "race" or ethnicity of any kind, although as in the USA, marginalized groups of people do tend to put less emphasis on learning whatever the "Standard English" of the dominant culture or ethnicity - and hence many end up making many grammatical errors or having a limited vocabulary for most of their lives... and this marks them as being "lower class", and/or as belonging to a marginalized group - which in turn impedes their progress up the Social Ladder, because their language usage stigmatizes them the moment they begin to speak!! Its a stereotypical Viscious Cycle.
I think there are two main ways out of this situation: 1) "Mainstream" society must be taught from an early age to NOT stigmatize/under-value/dehumanize/discriminate against others who just happen to be different from the social norms they grew up with: we must teach both children and adults in our society to become more compassionate, more tolerant, more accepting, welcoming, and open-minded towards those who are different from the mainstream norm, and 2) The leaders (present and future) of marginalized communities should be made aware that language is much more important than many of the people in their communities realize: YES, maintaining cultural heritages is important, but it is also important to learn how to communicate effectively with the "mainstream" of the society they live in!! Children in many countries easily learn two, three or even four languages - such as in Switzerland where almost everyone is multi-lingual: its not that difficult. Each side must reach out to the other: that's the only real way it can work.
I think "eloquent" is a more appropriate description. You make some great points.
altareggo Exactly!!!
Not everyone in Switzerland is multilingual, far from that.
I skimmed your comment, and I strongly agree. We should definitely cherish the original and proper languages for the future generations to come, it's how we pass down principles and morals, it's how we will retain our stories, definitions and be able to interpret appropriately. I love the uniqueness of every culture and language.
@Abraham Diana I agree with you. But just to be clear, that does NOT mean that I don't think I should have to be able to speak properly the language of the country that I'm in. ESPECIALLY if I've grown up in that country!
And also, again to be clear, the only language in her talk that is an original and traditional carrier of culture and its norms, etc, is English. What she is arguing for acceptance of is substituting Ebonics, which is not even a dialect, really - what it is is a very poorly learned and spoken English, a form which is traditional to no one, and which carries with it nothing traditional, nothing in fact but that it is a lot of what impoverished children will have been hearing in their homes and neighbourhoods.
This deserves more attention
Fi real!
MHM!!
Not too long in the 80s when u speak your language either you being flogged or being paid
More attention from our people especially!!
@Michael Sweeney Most white people are speaking ebonics these days they love to copy blacks. Culture Vultures
This is a great warrior. For marginalized people. As great as any on horse with sword. >> 1. Who am I? Awareness >> 2. Agency/Access in the world >> 3. Actualization. >> 4. Achievement >> 5. Alteration & Action
She's right, but silly standardized testing has ruined our ability as educators to incorporate this into our lessons. My students would fail the STAAR test if they were allowed to freely write and represent themselves through their writing. I might find it beautiful, but standardized testing would fail the essay.
So give them times to free write and simply express using whatever language they naturally use as long as they understand that when it comes to tests and graded essays they have to use the institutionally accepted english.
@@transparentsunflower8295 I do. I'm a reading teacher, so I have that indepence to allow free writing. They love it! ❤
Yes, those tests exist as a way to reward those who comply and punish those who do not. It really doesn't care the reasons or the value, just complying with the "standard" as defined by those creating the test. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@ajwalker4416 exactly!
Standardized testing has a very intentional agenda.
Great lecture. I feel very liberated as a South African. Living in Kasi(township).
Correction... Ngugi wa Thiong’o is from Kenya 🇰🇪 in East Africa.
Was coming to the comments to say the same thing.
And I'm from Kenya what a coincidence 🤔🤔
Yep! Kenyans here in support
Myy favorite Novel was Weep Not Child by Ngugu Wa'Thiongo I am from West Africa
Yap. He is definitely Kenyan and NO we are not West African.
I love language, it's how we've evolved to what we are today. The 1 most common trait of successful people is having a vast vocabulary. Not being able to articulate ideas to other people has a much larger impact on our lives than we could ever imagine.
A standard of mastery and excellence is NOT violence! Rather, depriving youth of the knowledge and tools to advance would be injustice. Youth can both embrace their home linguistics AND ADD what will move them forward in the broader world. For example, my English teacher forced me to diagram sentences in Latin, which made me a powerful and accomplished communicator in many fields; my publicly educated peers lacked that advantage and remained among the common. What I am requesting is that educators NOT 'paradigm shift' down in the name of Social Justice -- that would be anything but 'just'. Rather Raise the Bar while accepting the wholeness of who they are :)
@Veritasss Very well said! I have always been sorry about the fact that in my family, specifically my mother's side, no one in my or my mom's generations can speak the language of our ancestors.
This was due to a conscious, deliberate decision on the part of my grandparents, who themselves WERE fluent in both English and their original language. They did this because although they did preserve and pass on family history, they wanted more than anything for their children to be fully assimilated as Americans first and foremost. To have available to them all of the opportunities this country could have to offer, including avoidance of the prejudice to which they themselves had been subjected, which was not insubstantial.
And it worked. My mom and her siblings are all light-enough skinned that without any accent either, there's nothing that would cause anyone meeting them to think they were anything but ordinary middle-class Americans. They all enjoyed all the trappings of middle-class success. I'm just sorry about the language having been lost - but I understand and respect my grandparents' decision.
I think you completely missed the point, pal.
This is exactly what we need to hear and act on. You are doing an amazing job bring attention to the much needed paradigm shift. Fabulous 👏👏👏
English is my second language but I teach Spanish. Too often my students question many of the words and phrases. What I continue to explain is that I teach based on what is found in literacy, not on the streets. Like many cultures, it's pretty much the same things we face in English. Great awareness and presentation.
I've thought about all of this over the years. I'm glad someone brought it to light. I've been told since grade school "Oh you speak so well" or ridiculed by my family "You talk like a white boy." And even though I don't always articulate in standard English, I have noticed that people/groups, etc that aren't representative of PoC have put constant variation and copular absence (and others) to use for monetary gain.
As a product educated individuals from yesteryear my generation was taught grammar and etiquette in the home and would be quickly corrected if we spoke incorrectly! My grandmother, aunts and uncles are surely frowning in their graves due to this Hip Hop Generation!!!
Dropping the final 'g' is part of my original speech dialect too - I code switch between informal small-town/country (some would say hick) and more formal standard speech. Eatin, runnin', talkin', lovin', etc. are the pronunciations that come naturally to me, and others who grew up in my (very White small town) culture.
I understand and appreciate African American vernacular as a legitimate dialect with its own grammar - NOT incorrect speech, and I do not "correct" it, but honor it in my English classroom. I found very enlightening the section on this in "The Language Instinct" by Steven Pinker.
Not disputing anything she's saying at all - I know she knows more than I do about this. Except that final "g' thing. That's definitely not just an African American speech thing. It's a country thing.
I'm glad to be out of that small, very White town for many years and enjoy the rich, diverse culture I live and teach in now.
Why does this have ANY thumbs down?
If this Queen was a professor in MY school, I'd have a PhD by now. Talk about intellectually DOPE AF and motivating! Do it my sista!
regina mapp That’s 127 morons who do not value what she’s saying.
@@naanajuvana1271 period
I didn't allow my children to talk Ebonics or broken native Creole English until they were old enough to write and spell fluently. Once they got past the formative structures, I relaxed. I understand the context of what she's saying however, the Millennials are already changing English as colonial words become redundant from the English Dictionary.
Maybe because... She's wrong
Wow. Wonderful talk. Thank you. Having just finished a semester teaching ESL to newcomers at a school in the mountains of North Carolina, I related much of the talk's themes to my newly arrived hispanic students - forced to take English Lit. 1 even though they barely knew the alphabet. They were demoralized every day, despite an excellent co-teacher who bent over backwards to get things translated for them. A complete waste of their time.
She is very passionate. Great presentation.
@jay She's not angry, don't say that. She's speaking professionally.
She is definitely passionate.
Excellent work you are doing to educate and awaken the social conciousness of your people. Our culture and language do matter and should be embraced/celebrated. Kudos and much success in your endeavors, sister!
Educate people... not just our people! Let's hope they're hearing. If I had to judge by some of the abrasive replies, I would say they are only listening to respond and with malice.
your speech is powerful and many of Americans are unable to articulate and if teachers are able to help their students through the students speech...what a valuable quality and able to assist them to becoming more articulate as students:))
Wish you had been my teacher!!!
In Italy there are hundreds of dialects due to historical reasons: geographic isolation, non-availability of education, foreign domination etc. Most Italians vehemently defend their dialect as an integral part of their local culture and rightfully so. There are dialectical theatres, music, and literature. However, dialects also have a negative aspect too. In the past, only “educated people” spoke Italian, typically only the village doctor, lawyer and priest knew and spoke Italian, everyone else spoke dialect.
These days, Italians have properly interpreted their dialect as part of their culture, like their cuisine (also extremely variable). It is not used as a means of communication in the workplace, schools or hospitals etc.
American “dialects” should not substitute correct English. As an international businessperson I have to continuously adjust my “English” to communicate with the person in front of me. I can’t use the same English with a person from the Czech Republic as with my drinking buddy from high school.
If you want to speak Ebonics with your friends, you’re perfectly free to do that, but if you want to speak it in the corporate boardroom or write your graduation thesis in it, you’re going to have big, big, problems.
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Austrian philosopher
Here in USA as well but H8ers...
I have found that since moving to the US from the UK, I have had to limit and change the way I speak as I lose some people when using the wide vocabulary that I was brought up with. My children also found they had to adjust the way they spoke so they would fit in at school.
I know this is right. I know of other historical examples where language was used to differentiate the rich from the "common", even. Vernacular is wonderful and important. Language shapes the world. But I can't divorce myself from the concept of academic English, both written and spoken, being an important thing to learn for anyone who does communicate in English.
The same is true for other languages, as well. What is taught in French or Japanese classes is the general rules, not the vernacular. It's easier to communicate when the rules of any language are followed. That's just my thoughts on it though.
Language is always changing within cultures. The rules won't, sometimes can't, always be followed. But the rules taught in the classroom do make it easier to communicate if everyone knows the same basics.
I totally agree that all languages be honored in the academic classroom so that Dominant American English and the critical essay are as privileged as the vernacular voices of our students. I believe that Dr.Lyiscott's talk suggests that she too believes this. Great comment!
It is important in all forms of education and discourse that we acknowledge the roles, and powerr, of the formal, the common informal and the close knit group vernacular and how these are inter-woven in our discourse. It is difficult to express these well unless you have inhabited them each enough to practice and validate their respective strengths. Our first reactions to these may be disconcerting due to their unfamiliarity, but that does not reduce their strength. Here in the discussion, the five point essay, while somewhat disrespected, still formed the framework for the alliterative A's of the central message. The less formal speech added the vibrancy and drive to the talk. It all ebbed and flowed in a beautiful pursuit of purpose. This is what we must share with the student. The power lies in the ability to use each well.
HunterHerne
Yes.
We all have more than one version we speak.
Professional
With friends
In personal intimate
If one goes into a bank with a large deposit to open an account. The money earned with sweat, many hours of very hard work.
If the teller and bank manager are speaking to the prospective account holder with ebonics, would the new depositor stay, or go to a bank that addresses the situation professionally?
I think the McDonald's example was a poor one, because McDonald's is very casual, a place you expect the english spoken with friends. Casual.
I think some of you may have missed the point of the speech. I don't think that she is saying that non-standard English speaking students shouldn't learn to use and/or master standard English.
I believe she is laying the foundation for understanding that AAVE is it's own little language, with a deep cultural history and that it may be better to teach standard English to non-standard English speakers like a foreign language.
A highly useful foreign language option that allows students to succeed academically without sacrificing the self and group-esteem of the students.
Fully validated people are always more cooperative and engaged than the invalidated.
T J
I was hoping thats what she meant.
I watched one video here defending ebonics as another language. To use for real.
Its so important for childrens future to learn the right way
Im very glad that you posted this comment.. Thank you.
Great ideas and robust dissection of language. Can I point out that Ngugi wa Thiong'o is actually a East African, Kenyan to be precise and of the Agikuyu Tribe
I absolutely love me some Dr. Lyiscott, I’ve followed her work for years and this really spoke volumes to some of her earlier work! Linguistic Liberation at its finest!
Ooh weee, that part @17:18. The 4th A for achievement: autonomy in rigorous powerful standards for students to show up in the aims of diversity and equity. The institution definitely should be leaders in this! So true!!!!!! Transforming space and discipline! Qualitative research is so underrated ...that’s some imagination with content. That was explained well
I'm gonna come back to this one multiple times. Whew. 🙏🏽Thank you Jamila Lyiscott 🖤
She defended herself from a intellectual and academic space good for her. That's right.
She defended herself from a n intellectual and academic level, Dr. Jamila Lyiscott- disrupt the traditional notion of what it means to Read and Write. Invest in understanding ways of Teaching-Learning interactivity .
Her five A's:
*Awareness.
*Agency and Access.
*Actualization
*Achievement
*Alteration
An
Yes! Speak it!!!
@@eddierocksteady5740 خكهنظظط
@@psycsoci то
I was curious what she will say. She did not disappoint. So predictable. Your English is judged by thousands of years English speakers, thinkers, scholars. Accept it. Accept also the privilege you have you have educated in English. Because believe me it is a privilege. Creole, Pinyin are fine, but it is not proper English, as does not build on the standard English traditions. Ebonics is not substitute for English, it is something apart. It makes you richer, but still. When one code switches, it is not something wrong, it is to connect to a greater audience. There is no utility for diversity of English in the classroom, because it creates disconnect. The richness of minority English is not to be overlooked or forgot, but it cannot be a substitute for standard English. I'm not a native speaker if you speak Jamaican or any other patois, chances are, you loose me. It applies to Cockney, or Gordie English too. Should they be taught in school too?
Even here in south Africa English is to determine how bright u are.
Colonialism and racism
@@teleologicalanalysis5291 Thank you
maybe what u say is true for English as a subject, but what about maths etc? it doesnt matter what language u teach it in- it wont make a difference- u either get it or u dont
@@msmoorad123 it's like if you are fluent in English then u are brighter which is not true many cases
@@hlempheabielsemelane3358 i agree with that
Lol. English!
Truly inclusive i like that. An institution reimagined . perfect
Sis got me after she said "what's good" had to pause the video, like and share right then and there...
EėIS7ar
Right on- it's been time for this to be discussed. Etymology is at the very base of all culture.
But yeah, we never left any cultural finger prints on American Culture.....people who believe that are hilarious. We are a people who always leave our mark every where we go.
Like every other people. The question is what type of mark a people leaves. Is it a lasting mark? Is it good or bad? Does the mark improve upon that which it was made.
Again, its NOT a contest. Its called being a human - why dont you try and focus on leaving positive marks on this world, instead of negative marks to "prove your point" ? Do something good so that when your time is up, you leave this world a little better than when you found it. The world doesnt owe us anything - it was here first.
Yes it's no contest, so please tell that to those who compete, diminish, try to silence, erase, appropriate and claim credit for such as yourselves. I'm pretty sure we left MANY positive cultural marks in American as well as world culture, but people such as yourselves are to busy getting sensitive and trying to minimize that which we have done and continue to do for the benefit of humankind. And before you even try it, no no one is demonizing white people or saying Europeans contributed nothing. I'm just saying that the idea that we as Africans have contributed absolutely nothing to American culture is woefully preposterous.
@@omggiiirl2077 What do you mean "such as yourselves" When did I ever diminish, compete, try to silence, erase you? It obviously IS a contest, because this video nor thread isnt about you, yet you took to it to show you make ONLY positive marks, and you hypocritically denied the marks of others. Double standard much?
@@tellurye my dear firstly, you didn't have to reply. And are we just going to sit here and pretend that you just didn't say first that it was no contest in reply to my comment, as if to be bothered by what I said? That's EXACTLY what I mean when I remarked about people such as yourselves and in your case particularly, attempting to diminish or silence me by saying "again it's not a competition". I can go on and on with perfect examples of how African Americans have started and or developed American cultural fixtures, only to have people such as yourselves, do what you do a then turn right around and act as if we are less than, a threat, good for nothing, or have nothing positive to offer a country you swear up and down us the greatest nation in the world.
I loved what you said but I think we also have to remember that to some extent ""standard" rules can both define us and unite us. I Teach English (as a second language) and live in an environment where many of the "native" English speakers do not speak standard American English ( or spell it - colour). I also went to a school where most of the people , staff and student used a dialect which was different from what I learned at home; it was also different that the norm in America. I learned to negotiate these differences. We were taught, however the importance of being able to speak write and understand the dominant form of English (Standard American as my school was in America). This allowed me to write essays that got me into American Universities, it also means that wherever I go people say they can really understand me when I speak. I think we need to value each persons idiolangage. At the same time people also need to learn a common form of speaking which will allow then to communicate with people from other communities around the world. I also believe that accent and use of non standard language, as well as not being fluent in a language, in no way indicates lack of intelligence .
I, too, am an English Literature teacher @NaomiLevin and disagree with Jamila at 10:48. The 5-paragraph essay, as she noted, is not used to somehow stifle the power of student voices. The essay is not for that. Instead, it is used as a tool to determine or measure the mastery of grammar and language concepts taught in class. Everything she mentioned she loves: rhythm, poetry, and alliteration is taught in school, in an English class, so I'm sure those tools were measured somehow, most likely when she wrote to them either for a test or writing assignment. We also teach etymology and colloquial language. Creative Writing, journaling, Writers/Literature Clubs, diaries, and blogs give students ample cultural space to share their voices in whatever dialect they choose. Sometimes, teachers give them that space to express in the classroom as a timed-writing. So I wholeheartedly disagree with that assertion.
Great work. Ngugi Wathiongo is from East Africa, West Africa.
I feel this deeply.. as a law student I can not tell you how often I get a sideways look for using ebonic as if I am committing a crime by refusing to hide my blackness. There is an unspoken narrative that you owe someone for allowing you into spaces where you are not the majority especially when those spaces are intellectual spaces and as a repayment for your debts you must indoctrinate into the "norm". I am an intellectual I earned my seat just like the people I sit next to earned theirs I do not owe anyone anything the only person I have to prove anything to is myself
Jae Mason Thomas i
your values are corrupted.
@Jae Byrd You're a law student? I hope you do a better job punctuating your papers than you did in that comment. Seeing as how you do claim to be an intellectual, and all... See, I literally couldn't do that, and I do mean literally. My commas and periods go in as I'm writing. The only breaks that are sometimes an afterthought are the paragraphs - frequently, I continue a paragraph, not realizing till after the fact that it's going to be as long as it turns out to be, thus needing to be broken up. But not my sentences.
Also, and most critically, it's not your blackness that is being revealed (I'm pretty sure that's already been noticed) or frowned upon. Rather, it is your inability, or more likely in this case your unwillingness, and Idk which is worse, to speak properly in an environment which so clearly calls for it. I can only hope that it is not also that in speaking Ebonically, you've been speaking with something less than the clarity and precision that are absolutely required in your chosen field.
Speaking in our own language, not french, not spanish, not russian etc. but our own language puts us in tune with our own unique culture and ancestry. When we speak in the tongue of other people it puts us in tune with THEIR culture their ancestry. It gives power to those foreign entities to use and rule over us. Whether living or dead.
Do you know how many African languages there are?!
In part of your statement, you said: "[When we speak in the tongue of other people] "It gives power to those foreign entities to use and rule over us." I would agree to some extent, but also suggest that by using the language of another group, we empower ourselves within that group. As a native English speaker, I am always touched when I am abroad and someone makes the effort to speak to me in English. When I am in a country where I speak the local language, I do so. This respect that I have shown them by learning their language elevates my status within their group. It certainly doesn't imply that they are in some way using their power over me or ruling over me.
The extent to which I agree with you is that English is an insidious language that, once introduced, can effectively cut out the Mother Tongue. How many Irish people speak fluent Irish Gaelic today? It's a dying language. Although English is not the sole language to be guilty of this effect.
Learning another language doesn't need to be insidious, and it isn't... until the people around you try to force you to learn or speak one specific language. That's where the true colonialism lies: forcing people to learn the rules of just one language. It's not about refusing to learn any European languages because you think it makes you feel 'more powerful' to only speak 'your language'-whichever language it is you perceive that to be; it's about insisting on learning all languages you can, including holding your mother tongue close to your heart. While English isn't inherently an African language, African American Vernacular Language-or, AAVE, formerly known as 'ebonics'- is an African dialect, and deserves to be noted, permitted, and promoted within schools from a scholarly standpoint as well as a cultural one. Nelson Mandela himself famously said, "When you speak to someone in a language he UNDERSTANDS, that goes to his head; when you speak to someone in HIS OWN language, that goes to HIS HEART." What he means is, when you're speaking with people in their second (or third, or fourth, etc) language, you are soothing their ego by doing so; but when you speak to someone in their native language, their first language, their MOTHER tongue, a certain affection and warmth can be gleaned, along with a very personal excitement, because the ego has been lost in the process. Now, instead of being just intellectual equals, you are family.
English is based on Germanic. A fairly different language. That would mean that all of the English speaking people in the US are largely not in-touch with their ancestry, except those whose ancestors are German. The Us is made up of peoples of the whole world, who come here to be a part of something special, having a common language is important to our success. Doesn't mean you can't speak in a native African tongue if you so choose to learn one. Oh but did you mean the cultural language of hip hop. Because many white kids speak that language too. Including Hispanics as well. And a side note, When in an African country, they expect you to learn the language there, and correctly so.
@@ILoveTheGreyScale "Germanic" doesn't mean "German". English is not based on German, it's related to it. Meaning they both come from the same original language, which was neither German nor English, in the same way French and Italian both come from Latin, but are distinct from each other as well as from Latin.
Brilliant! I started sharing half-way through - couldn't wait till the end! But a lot more sharing to go yet!🙏🙏🙏
I first met this amazing woman at Michigan State's ULITT while we sat in a cipher facilitated by Toni Blackman. I am so glad to have met her! Keep pushing Doctor!
Correction from her talk - Ngugi Wa Thiong'o is East African Writer. A brilliant Kenyan author 🙌🏽
We use standard English in formal settings-school, business, etc.-and dialect at home or other less formal settings. I’ve been doing it all my life.
Same here in the Caribbean.
That was my thought as well! There is a time and place for everything, we won't be cracking guy jokes at the dinner table with the family.
Who DOESN'T do that? I've never understood what it is that y'all think is so unique about this. The biggest difference I know of is that we never complained that there was anything unfair about having to do so - especially at school, of all places. OF COURSE we were gonna be expected to speak and write in proper English at school. (Smh) !
EVERYONE has been doing this.
They don't like our culture but they sure making money with our culture.
Kind of like those who brag about their advanced degrees,yet have nothing but contempt for the Western Culture who created institutions such as The University and democracy.
@@alansands256 wow... and we share the same surname!
They love our culture, they don't even hate us... they simply need us to be as they define us for their continued oppression of us so they can gain from the use of us!
What she is saying made my day! I teach elementary school kids and I hear them use AA slang in front of me but they dont use it in front of white teachers....we need to study this subject more.
@@herovids1197 Wooooooow! You spoke a word, right there!
There is nothing new about people looking down on new ways of using language. The standard English of today would not fly in 16th Century England. The lower classes of 16th Century English were looked down upon for their use of the language. However, some of the words that were used by lower classes become standard English words over time. I have read many book and watch several documentaries on the evolution of the English language. It is something I am fascinated with it. So I do not buy her argument that racism is the main focus of schools correcting children that do not speak standard English. We have to have a standard that everyone follows. That does not mean we do not adapt our language when we speak to certain groups. It happens everyday. We speak different to our boss, the police, children, our friends, strangers, etc. That is ok and it is human to do this. But we have to have a standard that everyone will follow. Once we master that standard, then we can deconstruct it and use it in different forms. It is like an instrument. When you learn the guitar you learn standard chords in standard tuning. Once you "master" (you never master an instrument) then you can begin to using different tunings, chords etc. to make beautiful sounds.
@Jamila Lyiscott to you queen... Love from Jackson Mississippi, you articulated that eloquently because Lord knows I done witnessed and been through these struggles in college classes...
Thalnk you for challenging us to use our minds in a more expansive way. In the case of English, no matter how it is spoken it can be understood. We attempt to learn other languages in order to communicate with other cultures, why not simply be accepting of other ways of expressing English. The way things are simply and actually not so simply maintains the atmosphere/message being control to fit into someone else's standard. Someone else drew the picture and we never question why we accept it as true or the only truth the only valid way be in our beingness. Peace.
YAS!!!! Keep speaking! Keep sharing this!!! Wake up educators and universities!!
Beautiful talk...thank you!
I appreciate all of the commentary following individuals putting in the work to educate, elevate and encourage growth. I am even more impressed when a fire is lit by the spark and someone is motivated to join the efforts of the few. Stop wasting so much time critiquing and criticizing someone else and use your time to do your part in building your/our communities as well. Js
I was honestly caught off guard too when she asked “what’s good” based on my initial reaction being “nothing much” in anticipation of “what’s up” and realized it didn’t make sense, and didn’t know what the correct thing to say to it was since i wasn’t sure if you take the phrase literally or not, even though I’ve heard other people say it plenty of times before.
Speaking English, the language that can be used to earn RESPECT and be offered the ability to succeed, must be taught and not compromised or excused because of stereotypes and environment where we come from!!!
WITH OUT ETYMOLOGY WE ARE STILL HELD IN BONDAGE.
Gotta find the root
These words or swords create worlds or whirls that spin your mind
Words are swords and used to create worlds or whirls to spin your mind
Interesting speech! Your on 🔥 Thank You! for argumentive statements I can use for my own speech. Thank You!
Jamila: Speaks in an inspiring manner.
Me, in the background: Damn, those earrings CUTE!
The English did the same thing in Ireland we could not speak our own language or allowed to play our own sports 🇮🇪
Your white, these people don't care, all they see is color.
Love being in highschool language comprehension and doing an essay on this video very cool.....
Brilliant! One of the best TEDx Talks I've ever heard!
This is a good example of a person marinaded in racism.
This should have more views and likes... in my opinion.
💖💛💖💖
Well said sis.
Truth always keep hidden TH-cam itself will help hide it all and work together
The fact that this was posted more than 365 days ago and only has 24k views...shows TH-cam algorithm is biased
💣 boom
Exactly
I been noticing a lot lately
Or.....it's NOT a bias......but it shows how Most people, watch videos that Entertain......MORE than they watch those that Educate?!
@@velvetrose7729 possibly but least likely
6:34 Ngugi wa Thiong'o is not West African, he's east african: Kenyan to be precise.. just a point of correction
I heard that I ran to the comments. He was Kenyan and I remember reading one of his books 'The River Between'
And he wasn’t born before colonisation but during it otherwise he will be over 100yrs old lol
Ngugi Wathiongo is Kenyan-An African Writer.
We know he is Kenyan because he writes about his experience in Kenya under
English colonisation.
Americans in general tend to view West Africa as "Africa" as a whole. I keep running into this, but in this case, I think she just had the wrong info at hand. I suspect this lady has a greater understanding than the run of the mill person looking at this topic.
I come from a very small island nation in the Pacific formerly a trust territory of the US, but we gained Independence. Our school system is based on the US curriculum. Today people who do not speak english are frowned upon & looked on as if they are not educated. English is my 2nd language & im thankful i can still speak my native language.
So you're being subjugated by being held to the same identical educational standards as everyone in this county? SMH
I wish I had a teacher like that growing up in Panama!
This is nonsense. Linguistic differences are barriers to understanding. For society to function requires that everyone speak and write more or less the same, which is what schools should be enforcing.
And just what should that "same" be?
We Must Study And Master:
E T Y M O L O G Y! ! !
Your prerogative.
Sadly we need universal translator device. For even with us melanated constantly creating new words and terminology, more than any other people on earth our Moore, Masonic, Ebonic... or whatever ways to perform etymology is sabotaged with our history and rediscovery of self, turning to survival being the focus.
Blacks would be like many in africa speaking many languages by default, being multilingual would open cultures and trading making us again rulers of the world. U.S. natives also spoke various languages in some tribes.
This!!!
Um... I'm sorry, but do you know what it is that "etymology" refers to? (Sorry if that's phrased a bit awkwardly, but it seemed rude to just say "Do you know what that word means?")
ETYMOLOGY:
The origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, earliest known use and changes in form and meaning, tracing its transmission from one language to another, identifying its. Cognates in other languages, and resconstructing, its meaning ancestral form where possible.
The brach of linguistics that deals with etymologies.
THE "TRUE HISTORY" AND "TRUE" MEANING OF WORDS!
"Modern English" is only 500 years old; and it "DOES NOT" gIve you the true history or its true meaning of words.
I wish I knew about the one foot balance technique. Coz ive pushed 3 nieces for hour and hours and hours on their bikes before they grasped on how to balance and ride.
Anyways I have 2 more nieces on my school of bikes and I'll will try this technique.
Thanks for the speech I learned alot. Am from foreign and I understand what you were saying.
I really think that She can get her point across w/o sounding hostile.
Why is it that you immediately go to 'hostility'? Would you say that if she were white? Where are you learning this way of assumption?
I'd say tone affects perception, and a hostile tone will be met with resistance no matter who uses it.
Hey.... I love this.
Wish you could come to Jamaica and facilitate a conversation on this topic..... 👍
I LOVE thissss.
Her words and actions are sooo poetic! 🔥
Well at least this video doesn't silence the voice of the commenters.... becoming a fad these daze to prevent people from discussing what you are presenting to them!! So..... BRAVO!!
A correction though - Ngugi Wa Thion'go is from Kenya in East Africa
Lucy if we are to take her seriously shouldnt this fact that can easily be googled bring everything else she says into question? The answer is yes
Whatever Is Clever Really? ... How?
Lucy ... It was interesting to me to at least once to witness Kenya being confused with the West Africa region. Being a Tanzanian I am used of many things Tanzanian being labelled Kenyan! However, at the global level who really cares? Kenya or Tanzania to most is simply Africa. To them all that is in it is, and will always remain - African ... And I love it as there is no where like Africa the home of humanity with about 2000 live and spoken languages. What a treasure trove of intellectual celebration as it is normal to find someone navigating seamlessly in not less than 4 completely unrelated tongues! That is an example of being articulate! So common that most of us do not even have a word for it for it is not something special. In English Is not what you call polyglots?
You remember a while back when they decided there were too many obese people, to fix that they just changed the definition of obese. This is the same argument.
From the title, I thought this was going to be addressing the issue that most of the literature that we are required to read as a part of formal education (both K-12 and during college) are works written by non persons of color. She, however, makes a different point. One that I also can appreciate, and have experienced growing up in the American education system.
This was an outstanding and thought-provoking talk. Thank you, Jamila.
She's speaking correct English.
We learn Forrest English to speak with those who do not speak out colloquial English.
They don't speak Ebonics in Japan or India.
If we don’t have a standard for everyone then we risk not understanding each other. The standard is there and would remain there even if there were no people of colour in the West, and there would still be disparities of outcomes. If we can all agree on the rules then at least the test is fair.
I am humbled by her brutally in articulation of concepts
Exceptional - that’s a Trini ambassador and citizen of the world.
The way she articulates sounds like her education worked, so I don't see the problem.
I am a kikuyu from Kenya and elementary school pupils are still getting punished by getting forced to wear something on their necks for speaking their mother tongue
Brilliantly expressed. Thank you.. change is mandatory.....Awareness is key...Balance is opportunity...Thank you.. Sis...We are moving forward. Each one teach one....
Excellent TEDTalk! Excellent!
Thank you for sharing.
Also, Ngugi wa Thiong’o is an East African author! 👌🏾😌
Companies speak like us to take our money, but won’t hire anyone that actually speaks like that lmao 😂 shame
Shame on us that we still supporting them!
* still ARE supporting them
The intentions for attempting to include linguistic diversity into the academic environment are noble indeed, however the difficulty appears when someone tries to put this principle into practice. It's easy to acknowledge someone's ability to code-switch between languages, but it just won't be of any use to them if they're not among other code-switchers. I myself can code-switch between some five languages in slow conversations. But what would I gain from code-switching like that in a NYC campus besides making myself harder to understand? I might be able to teach a dozen words in those languages to my friends in a few weeks, but how can I expect the examiner to spend an extra twenty minutes reading my essay just to check on Google Translate whether the twenty weird words he found are from an actual foreign language or just incoherent babble?
Yeah, while it might be nice for a cultural thing like this to exist in general to integrate it into the educational system is just utter insanity. The point of a standardized system is about efficiency, how much easier it is to educate people when all speak in the same way, and including linguistic diversity into the general academic environment would honestly just miss the point. Make a course for it for all I care, if there is not already one for it but more is just over the top and a step into the wrong direction.
How many languages are there in the world. I would guess thousands. My guess is there are a thousand different languages spoken by US citizens. So how long would it take to educate our teachers. My guess is it would take a couple hundred years or so for a teacher to learn a thousand languages. It would be easier to teach English in an English speaking nation.
@Vitor Henrique Ferreira Barbosa
Excellent!
I agree! As someone from a country with a formally standardized language, almost no Germans speak proper High German/Standard German at home. Nearly all of us speak some sort of dialect/vernacular/accent in private circles - some closer or further from the standardized variety. At school and in business, Standard German is expected, not necessarily in pronunciation, but most definitely in grammar and spelling. It's the one thing that enables us to communicate with each other, someone from Northern Germany would not be able to communicate with someone from Southern Germany otherwise. Of course, dialects/vernaculars are intertwined with regional culture and of extreme cultural value, but this isn't about race or regional culture, it's about nationality and ensuring national communication. It's about making sure that everyone can be understood by everyone. And since nobody is ever able to speak all vernacular varieties, it's also about making sure that nobody is left out.
It's important that nobody experiences discrimination for their cultural heritage, including accents/vernaculars/dialects of all sorts, but it is also important to provide common ground.
❤. She reminded me that when I speak my native tongue that I am powerful. I’m sharing apart of my culture, my upbringing my ancestors voices are still alive
4:57 Fun fact. Pusha-T from the Clipse came up with that McDonald's jingle.
Really!?!? Pusha-T definitely underrated
We need to look at our institutions and break the status quo if it is not expressing ALL of our needs as human beings. The matrix wants to keep you oppressed and distracted from our true selves and what it means to be a human being. Thank you for sharing this knowledge Ms. Lyiscott. PREACH!!!!!!!
Enjoy your blessings and enjoy the journey developing your blessings. Your are very passionate.
This is a profoundly important lesson in our contribution to American English language and pride in the history of Ebonics! Thanks for sharing this message.
Ngugi Wa Thiongo is Kenyan i.e. from East Africa.
I see many of the points but I don’t agree with all of them. I say, do what you’ve done and learn to use their tools against them. Master their own language better than they themselves have, like foreigners who have heavy accents but still manage to speak flawless English. Proves there’s no real excuse. It would be a huge cultural shift to break the barrier. Also logical thought models matter more than language, so you’re right on that. How you come to your conclusions with objective empirical truth. Not just subjective lived experience that no one can challenge or connect with and therefore must just accept. That good for sharing with friends less useful for institutions. Also It’s already too late to reclaim our lost African languages. Every language has a classical form and evolves naturally. When learning any language it only makes sense to learn it in its proper and classic functional form and then be open to broadening it colloquially from there. And yes, advertisers do use language to manipulate under the guise of connecting. Very fair point. Overall, fairly good talk. Let’s just not lower the bar. If so there would have been no Maya Angelou, no James Earl Jones and no Langston Hughes. I congratulate your creative teaching approach .
Correction Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan writer (East African) not a West African writer.
Yes M'am .... When the Creator said ( LET THERE BE !! ) The Power of his Voice Formed Planets and Stars within the Universe !!
There is POWER in Language, Words, Names and Voice.
Dr. Lyiscott, this is awesome! Thank you!
it depends on where you are. When in China, speak Chinese, when in England, speak English. We need a common language to communicate and English is one of the dominant languages at this moment. History precedes it. In decades gone by, it was some other language. In East Africa, it is Swahili. In West Africa, it is any number of languages. Colonialism obviously was a bad thing but if you are from Botswana and come to me a non Tswana speaking Setswana which would be your right , i would look at you blankly and think you could very well be insulting me, which could just be so. I say whatever language you choose to speak to those who will understand it, speak it properly. Learn to write it well. Be proud of whatever language you choose to speak however, speaking in tongues that your hearers don't understand would be chaotic in itself.
Speaking another language is a different thing than dialects within that language. Americans from different areas of the country have different accents or different catch phrases they speak, but proper English is the base for all of those. All students should be taught proper English so they can choose to speak it if they desire. The problem with accents or dialects is communication is sometimes adversely affected. Go to Cajun country in Louisiana and, although English is their language, you may not understand a word they say. This is where schools fail us in the name of diversity.
I've never listened to a person and thought, "so literate" unless it's a child...
So important today. The institution of public educators should listen to this. It could revitalize the subject (If they are interested in doing so).