ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chinaka Hodge - Writer, educator
Poet, playwright, filmmaker and educator Chinaka Hodge uses her own life and experiences as the backbone of wildly creative, powerful works.

Why you should listen

Chinaka Hodge is a writer and educator from Oakland. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and studied Writing for Film and Television at  USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. Her work has been featured in Believer Magazine, Teen People Magazine, Newsweek, San Francisco Magazine, on PBS and NPR, and in two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry. She was an Associate Producer on Simmons Lathan presents Brave New Voices for HBO.

She is a Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, was a playwright-in-residence at SF Playwrights Foundation and serves as a Visiting Editor at The California Sunday Magazine. She is an inaugural Senior Fellow at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

More profile about the speaker
Chinaka Hodge | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2016

Chinaka Hodge: What will you tell your daughters about 2016?

Chinaka Hodge: Zer kontatuko diozu zure alabei 2016ari buruz?

Filmed:
1,264,818 views

Hautsitako beira zatiak bezain zorrotzak diren hitzen bidez, Chinaka Hodgek 2016a ebaki egin du eta indarkeria, atsekabe, beldur, lotsa, ausardia eta itxaropenezko 12 hilabete zabaldu ditu erraz ahaztuko ez dugun urteari buruzko poema original honetan.
- Writer, educator
Poet, playwright, filmmaker and educator Chinaka Hodge uses her own life and experiences as the backbone of wildly creative, powerful works. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Tell your daughters of this year,
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Hitz egin zure alabei urte honi buruz.
00:15
how we woke needing coffee
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Kafe beharrean nola esnatu ginen
00:17
but discovered instead cadavers
strewn about our morning papers,
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eta, nola gorpuak aurkitu genituen
egunkarietan barreiatuta,
00:21
waterlogged facsimiles
of our sisters, spouses, small children.
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gure ahizpen, emazteen, haur txikien
faksimile bustiak.
00:26
Say to your baby of this year
when she asks, as she certainly should,
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Hitz egiozu zure haurrarri
urte honi buruz galdetzen duenean,
00:30
tell her it was too late coming.
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esaiozu beranduegi iritsi zela.
00:31
Admit even in the year we leased freedom,
we didn't own it outright.
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Onartu askatasuna alokatu genuen urtean
ez zela erabat gurea.
00:36
There were still laws
for every way we used our privates
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Baziren oraindik
gure atal intimoak arautzeko legeak
00:39
while they pawed at the soft folds of us,
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gure tolesdura leunak bortxatu
eta inolako baimenik gabe
heltzen zituzten bitartean,
00:41
grabbed with no concern for consent,
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00:44
no laws made for the men
that enforced them.
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legerik ez
betearazten zituzten gizonentzat.
00:47
We were trained to dodge,
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Saihesteko entrenatzen gintuzten,
00:49
to wait, to cower and cover,
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itxaroteko, beldur izateko eta estaltzeko,
00:52
to wait more, still, wait.
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gehiago itxaroteko, geldi, zain.
00:55
We were told to be silent.
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Ixilik egoteko esan ziguten.
00:57
But speak to your girls of this wartime,
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Baina kontaiezu zure neskei
gerraldi hori,
00:59
a year preceded by a score of the same,
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aurretik antzeko emaitzak
izan zituen urtea,
01:02
so as in two decades before,
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hala, bi hamarkada lehenago,
01:04
we wiped our eyes,
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gure begiak lehortu genituen,
01:06
laced caskets with flags,
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hilkutxei banderak lotu genizkien,
01:08
evacuated the crime scene of the club,
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klubeko krimenaren eszenatokia
utzi genuen,
01:10
caterwauled in the street,
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kaleetan marrakatu,
01:11
laid our bodies on the concrete
against the outlines of our fallen,
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hormigoiaren gainean etzan ginen
eroritakoen silueten kontra,
01:14
cried, "Of course we mattered,"
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"Jakina garrantzitsuak ginela!"
01:16
chanted for our disappeared.
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eta hiladakoei
kantatu genien.
01:18
The women wept this year.
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Emakumeek negar egin zuten
urte hartan,
01:20
They did.
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bai.
01:21
In the same year, we were ready.
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Urte berean, prest geunden.
01:24
The year we lost our inhibition
and moved with courageous abandon
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Inhibizioa galdu eta askatasun ausartaz
alde egin genuen urtea
kanoiei so egiten
hasi ginen urtea ere izan zen,
01:27
was also the year we stared down barrels,
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01:29
sang of cranes in skies,
ducked and parried,
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zeruetako lertsunei abesten,
uzkurtuta eta tinko,
01:32
caught gold in hijab,
collected death threats,
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hijab-pean harrapatutako urrea,
batutako heriotza mehatxuak,
01:34
knew ourselves as patriots,
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patriotatzat genituen geure buruak,
"35 urte ditugu,
01:36
said, "We're 35 now, time we settled down
and found a running mate,"
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zentratzeko eta
bikotekidea aurkitzeko unea"
mapak sortu haurren poza lortzeko,
beldurrak lotsarazten gintuen soilik,
01:39
made road maps for infant joy,
shamed nothing but fear,
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lodi deitu geure buruei,
eta, esan nahi genuen,
01:42
called ourselves fat and meant, of course,
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01:44
impeccable.
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primerakoak.
01:45
This year, we were women,
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Urte hortan, emakumeak ginen,
01:47
not brides or trinkets,
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ez emaztegai edo apaingarri,
01:49
not an off-brand gender,
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ez marka txarreko generoa,
01:51
not a concession, but women.
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ez kontzesio, emakume baizik.
01:53
Instruct your babies.
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Hezi zure haurrak.
01:54
Remind them that the year has passed
to be docile or small.
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Gogorazi urtea igaro dela
otzana edo txikia izateko.
01:58
Some of us said for the first time
that we were women,
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Gutako batzuek lehen aldiz esan genuen
emakumeak ginela,
02:00
took this oath of solidarity seriously.
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zin solidarioa serio hartu genuen.
02:03
Some of us bore children
and some of us did not,
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Batzuk haurrak izan ditugu,
beste batzuk ez,
02:05
and none of us questioned
whether that made us real
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eta ez dugu dudan jarri
horrek erreal egiten gaituen,
02:07
or appropriate or true.
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edo egoki edo egiazko.
02:09
When she asks you of this year,
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Urte honi buruz galdetzen dizunean,
02:11
your daughter, whether your offspring
or heir to your triumph,
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zure alabak,
zure garaipenaren ondorengoak,
02:14
from her comforted side of history
teetering towards woman,
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emakume bihurtzeko historia kulunkaritik,
02:17
she will wonder and ask voraciously,
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pentsatu eta amorratuta galdetuko du,
02:20
though she cannot fathom your sacrifice,
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zure sakrifizioa ezin ulertu arren,
02:22
she will hold your estimation of it holy,
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horrekiko duzun begiruneari
helduko dio sakratuki,
02:24
curiously probing, "Where were you?
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jakinminez ikertuz, "Non zeunden zu?
02:27
Did you fight?
Were you fearful or fearsome?
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Borrokatu al zenuen?
Beldurtia edo beldurgarria zinen?
Zerk margotzen zituen
zure damuaren paretak?
02:30
What colored the walls of your regret?
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02:32
What did you do for women
in the year it was time?
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Zer egin zenuen emakumeen alde
unea zenean?
02:34
This path you made for me,
which bones had to break?
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Prestatu zenidan bideak
zer hezur hautsi behar izan zituen?
02:37
Did you do enough, and are you OK, momma?
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Nahikoa egin al zenuen,
eta ongi al zaude, ama?
02:40
And are you a hero?"
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Heroia al zara?"
02:41
She will ask the difficult questions.
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Galdera zailak egingo ditu.
02:43
She will not care
about the arc of your brow,
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Ez zaio inportako
bekaina okertzen baduzu,
02:46
the weight of your clutch.
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irmo heltzen badiozu.
02:47
She will not ask of your mentions.
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Ez du zure aipamenez galdetuko.
02:49
Your daughter, for whom you have
already carried so much, wants to know
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Zure alabarentzat lan handia egin duzu,
eta jakin nahi du
zer ekarri duzun, zer opari,
zer argi babestu zenuen desagertzetik?
02:52
what you brought, what gift,
what light did you keep from extinction?
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02:55
When they came for victims in the night,
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Gauean biktima bila etorri zirenean,
lotan geratu edo iratzarri zinen?
02:57
did you sleep through it
or were you roused?
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Zein zen esna egotearen prezioa?
03:00
What was the cost of staying woke?
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Ordua zela esan genuen urtean,
zer egin zenuen zure pribilegioarekin?
03:01
What, in the year we said time's up,
what did you do with your privilege?
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03:05
Did you sup on others' squalor?
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Besteen miseriatik edan zenuen?
03:06
Did you look away
or directly into the flame?
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Begirada kendu zenuen
edo sugarrari so egin zenion?
03:08
Did you know your skill
or treat it like a liability?
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Zure trebetasunaren jabe zinen
edo oztopotzat zenuen?
03:11
Were you fooled by the epithets
of "nasty" or "less than"?
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"Nazkagarri" edo "baino gutxiago" epitetoek
engainatu zituzten?
03:14
Did you teach with an open heart
or a clenched fist?
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Bihotz zabalaz edo esku zorrotzaz
irakatsi zenuen?
03:17
Where were you?
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Non zeunden?
Esaiozu egia. Egin egiaz zure bizitza.
03:18
Tell her the truth. Make it your life.
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Baieztatu, "alaba, bertan egon nintzen
03:20
Confirm it. Say, "Daughter, I stood there
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03:22
with the moment
drawn on my face like a dagger,
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unea nire aurpegian marraztuta
daga bat bailitzan,
03:24
and flung it back at itself,
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eta bere buruari jaurtita,
zuretzat lekua egiteko".
03:26
slicing space for you."
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Esaiozu egia, nola biziraun zenuen
soberakin ustelak egon arren.
03:27
Tell her the truth, how you lived
in spite of crooked odds.
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03:30
Tell her you were brave,
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Ausarta izan zinela,
03:31
and always, always
in the company of courage,
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eta beti, beti zenuela
ausardia aldamenean,
03:33
mostly the days
when you just had yourself.
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batez ere
zeure burua besterik ez zenuenean.
03:36
Tell her she was born as you were,
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Esaiozu zu bezala jaio zela,
zuen amak lehenago bezala,
eta ahizpak aldamenean,
03:38
as your mothers before,
and the sisters beside them,
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03:40
in the age of legends, like always.
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kondairen garaian, beti bezala.
03:43
Tell her she was born just in time,
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Esaiozu une egokian jaio zela,
03:45
just in time
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une egokian
03:47
to lead.
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liderra izateko.
03:48
(Applause)
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(Txaloak)
Translated by Maider Lizoain Cotanda
Reviewed by Jone Aliri

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chinaka Hodge - Writer, educator
Poet, playwright, filmmaker and educator Chinaka Hodge uses her own life and experiences as the backbone of wildly creative, powerful works.

Why you should listen

Chinaka Hodge is a writer and educator from Oakland. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and studied Writing for Film and Television at  USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. Her work has been featured in Believer Magazine, Teen People Magazine, Newsweek, San Francisco Magazine, on PBS and NPR, and in two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry. She was an Associate Producer on Simmons Lathan presents Brave New Voices for HBO.

She is a Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, was a playwright-in-residence at SF Playwrights Foundation and serves as a Visiting Editor at The California Sunday Magazine. She is an inaugural Senior Fellow at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

More profile about the speaker
Chinaka Hodge | Speaker | TED.com