Name: 【TED】Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa: Black life at the intersection of birth and death (Black life at the intersection of birth and death | Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa)
Uploaded: 2018-02-23T17:04:11.000Z
Duration: 7 min 50 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

when I first heard about Reproductive Justice.

where I learned that Reproductive Justice was defined by Sister Song as:

One: A woman's right to decide if and when she will have a baby

and the conditions under which she will give birth.

Two: A woman's right to decide if she will not have a baby

and her options for preventing or ending a pregnancy.

And three: A woman's right to parent the children she already has

Growing up, I heard all about the joys of motherhood.

I used to dream of watching my womb weave wonder into this world.

it couldn't hurt to start planning for something so big, so early.

And I don't know if I have what it takes to stomach motherhood in this country.

See, over the years, America has taught me more about parenting

It has taught me how some women give birth to babies

It has taught me that this body will birth kin

who are more likely to be held in prison cells

There is something about being Black in America

I don't know what to do to raise my kids right

Do I tell my son not to steal because it is wrong,

or because they will use it to justify his death?

that even if he pays for his Skittles and sweet tea

there will still be those who will watch him

who will call the police and not wait for them to come.

Too many Sean Bells go off in my head when I consider calling 911.

I will not take it for Oscar Grant-ed that they will not come and kill my son.

So, we may have gotten rid of the nooses,

but I still consider it lynching when they murder Black boys

and leave their bodies for four hours in the sun.

that there is something about being Black in America

and see my son as a repeat of last week's story.

the death of my daughter wouldn't even be newsworthy.

So you can't tell me that Sandra Bland is the only Black woman

whose violence deserves more than our silence.

What about our other dark-skinned daughters in distress

whose lives don't fit neatly between the lives of your genders?

See, apparently, nothing is a great protector

if you come out of a body that looks like this.

See, there is something about being Black in America

like something I'm not sure I look forward to.

I've written too many poems about dead Black children to be naïve

about the fact that there could one day be a poem written about my kids.

But I do not want to be a mother who gave birth to poems.

nor a footnote for a child who doesn't fit into this world.

I do not want children who will live forever

But for me, poetry is not about art and performance.

two to three recent TED Talks about Black Lives Matter.

so it could "just" be about Reproductive Justice.

is fundamentally about my inability to separate the two.

I was 21 years old when Trayvon Martin was murdered.

【TED】Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa: Black life at the intersection of birth and death (Black life at the intersection of birth and death | Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa)

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【TED】Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa: Black life at the intersection of birth and death (Black life at the intersection of birth and death | Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa)

apparently

recognize

deserve

matter