ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Malika Whitley - Arts curator, activist
Malika Whitley is an arts curator and activist in Atlanta, Georgia.

Why you should listen

At age 6, Malika Whitley began to experience homelessness with her family, then on her own at 16. During her homelessness, she found the arts as a tool for resistance from fully succumbing to the hardships of youth homelessness. After her experience, Whitley founded ChopArt, which is a multidisciplinary arts organization for homeless middle and high schoolers. Her work has been internationally recognized, as well as highlighted in Atlanta's local media. Most notably, Whitley has been named in Creative Loafing's "20 People to Watch", and ChopArt has been featured in Atlanta Magazine and on WSBTV. To support ChopArt's teens, please consider sponsoring a full year of programming for a homeless teen here.

More profile about the speaker
Malika Whitley | Speaker | TED.com
TED Residency

Malika Whitley: How the arts help homeless youth heal and build

Malika Whitley: Namna gani sanaa huwezesha vijana wasio na makazi kujiponya na kujijenga

Filmed:
1,020,146 views

Malika Whitley ni mwanzilishi wa ChopArt, shirika kwa ajili ya vijana wadogo wasio na makazi ambalo limejikita katika ushauri, heshima na fursa kupitia sanaa. Katika simulizi hili binafsi na lenye hamasa, anashirikisha kisa chake cha kukosa makazi na kupata sauti yake mwenyewe kupitia sanaa -- na wito wake kutoa nafasi ya kibunifu kwa wengine ambao wamesukumizwa pembezoni mwa jamii.
- Arts curator, activist
Malika Whitley is an arts curator and activist in Atlanta, Georgia. Full bio

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

00:12
Don't you love a good napnap?
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Hupendi usingizi mzuri?
00:14
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
00:16
Just stealingkuiba away
that smallndogo blockkuzuia of time
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Kuiba kidogo kale kamuda kafupi
00:20
to curlcurl up on your couchkitanda
for that sweettamu momentwakati of escapekutoroka.
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kujikunja kwenye kochi
kwa muda mfupi mtamu wa kutoroka.
00:23
It's one of my favoritefavorite things,
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Ni moja ya vitu nivipendavyo,
00:25
but something I tookalichukua for grantedimepewa
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lakini sikuvitilia maanani
00:26
before I beganilianza experiencinginakabiliwa
homelessnesswasio na makazi as a teenagerkijana.
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kabla sijaanza kupitia hali ya
ukosefu wa makazi kama kijana.
00:31
The abilityuwezo to take a napnap is only reservedzimehifadhiwa
for stabilityutulivu and surenesssureness,
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Uwezo wa kusinzia kidogo ni kwa
waliothabiti na wenye uhakika,
00:36
something you can't find
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kitu usichoweza kupata
00:37
when you're carryingkubeba
everything you ownmwenyewe in your bookkitabu bagmfuko
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unapokuwa umebeba mali zako zote
kwenye begi lako
00:40
and carefullykwa makini countingkuhesabu the amountkiasi of time
you're allowedruhusiwa to sitkukaa in any givenalipewa placemahali
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na ukihesabu kwa makini kiasi cha muda
unaoruhusiwa kukaa sehemu yoyote ile
00:45
before beingkuwa askedaliuliza to leaveshika.
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kabla hujaombwa kuondoka.
00:48
I grewilikua up in AtlantaAtlanta, GeorgiaJojia,
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Nimekulia Atlanta, Georgia,
00:50
bouncingbouncing from housenyumba to housenyumba
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nikihamahama nyumba moja hadi nyingine
00:51
with a lovingupendo, close-knitkuunganishwa kwa karibu familyfamilia
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na familia kipenzi ya karibu sana
00:54
as we struggledwalijitahidi to find stabilityutulivu
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tulipokuwa tukipambana kupata kutengamaa
00:57
in our financesfedha.
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kifedha.
01:00
But when my mommama temporarilykwa muda
lostpotea herselfmwenyewe to maniaMania
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Lakini pale mama alipopata wazimu kidogo
01:04
and when that maniaMania chosealichagua me
as its primarymsingi scapegoatAzazeli
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na pale wazimu uliponichagua mimi
kuwa msingiziwa namba 1
01:07
throughkupitia bothwote wawili emotionalkihisia and physicalkimwili abuseunyanyasaji,
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kwa unyanyasaji wa kihisia na kimwili,
01:10
I fledwalikimbia for my safetyusalama.
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nilikimbia kwa usalama wangu.
01:13
I had come to the conclusionhitimisho
that homelessnesswasio na makazi was safersalama for me
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Nilfikia hitimisho kuwa
kutokuwa na makazi kulikuwa salama kwangu
01:17
than beingkuwa at home.
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kuliko kuwa nyumbani.
01:19
I was 16.
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Nilikuwa na miaka 16.
01:22
DuringWakati my homelessnesswasio na makazi,
I joinedalijiunga Atlanta'sWa Atlanta 3,300 homelesswasio na makazi youthvijana
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Nilipokuwa asiye na makazi, nilijiunga
na vijana wasio na makazi 3,300 wa Atlanta
01:26
in feelinghisia uncareduncared for,
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katika kuhisi kutojaliwa,
01:28
left out and invisibleasiyeonekana eachkila mmoja night.
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kuachwa na kutoonekana kila usiku
01:32
There wasn'thaikuwa and still is not any placemahali
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Hakukuwa na bado hakuna sehemu yoyote
01:34
for a homelesswasio na makazi minormdogo
to walktembea off the streetbarabara
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kwa mtoto mdogo asiye na makazi
kutoka nje ya mtaa
01:36
to accessupatikanaji a bedkitanda.
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na kupata kitanda.
01:39
I realizedgundua that mostwengi people
thought of homelessnesswasio na makazi
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Nilitambua kuwa wengi
hufikiri kuwa kukosa-makazi
01:41
as some kindaina of lazywavivu, drug-inducedkusiko na madawa ya kulevya
squalormazingira and inconvenienceusumbufu,
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ni aina ya uzembe, udhalili na usumbufu
utokanao na dawa za kulevya,
01:47
but that didn't representkuwakilisha my bookkitabu bagmfuko
fullkamili of clothesnguo and schoolbooksvitabu vya shule,
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lakini hilo halikuakisi begi langu
lililojaa nguo na vitabu vya shule,
01:50
or my A+ gradedaraja pointuhakika averagewastani.
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au wastani wangu wa point wa A+.
01:54
I would sitkukaa on my favoritefavorite benchbenchi downtownjiji
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Ningekaa kwenye benchi nilipendalo
mtaani
01:57
and watch as the hoursmasaa passedilipita by
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na kuangalia huku masaa yakienda
01:58
untilmpaka I could sneaktaarifa in
a fewwachache hoursmasaa of sleepusingizi
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hadi ningepenyeza masaa machache ya kulala
02:02
on couchescouches, in carsmagari,
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kwenye makochi, kwenye magari,
02:05
in buildingsmajengo or in storagekuhifadhi unitsvitengo.
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kwenye majengo au sehemu za stoo.
02:08
I, like thousandsmaelfu of other homelesswasio na makazi youthvijana,
disappearedkutoweka into the shadowsvivuli of the cityjiji
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Mimi, kama maelfu ya vijana wengine waso-
makazi, nilififia katika vivuli vya jiji
02:13
while the wholeyote worldulimwengu keptimehifadhiwa spinninginazunguka
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wakati dunia nzima ikiendelea kuzunguka
02:15
as if nothing at all
had gonewamekwenda terriblysana wrongsi sawa.
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kama vile hakuna kitu chochote
kilichokwenda vibaya
02:19
The invisibilitykutoonekana alonepeke yake
almostkaribu completelykabisa brokekuvunja my spiritroho.
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Kutokuonekana pekee
kulikuwa karibu kunivunja moyo kabisa.
02:25
But when I had nothing elsemwingine,
I had the artssanaa,
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Lakini nilipokuwa sina kitu kingine,
nilikuwa na sanaa,
02:29
something that didn't demandmahitaji
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kitu ambacho hakikuhitaji
02:30
materialvifaa wealthutajiri from me
in exchangekubadilishana for refugekimbilio.
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utajiri wa mali kutoka kwangu
kubadilishana na usalama
02:33
A fewwachache hoursmasaa of singingkuimba, writingkuandika poetrymashairi
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Masaa machache ya kuimba
na kuandika ushairi
02:37
or savingkuokoa up enoughkutosha moneyfedha
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au kuweka akiba ya pesa ya kutosha
02:39
to disappearkutoweka into anothermwingine worldulimwengu at a playkucheza
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kupotelea katika ulimwengu mwingine
katika igizo
02:42
keptimehifadhiwa me going and joltingjolting me back to life
when I feltwalihisi at my lowestchini kabisa.
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kuliniwezesha kwenda mbele na kunirejesha
kwenye maisha nilipojihisi duni sana.
02:47
I would go to churchkanisa serviceshuduma
on WednesdaySiku ya Jumatano eveningsjioni
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Nilikwenda kwenye huduma za kanisa
kila Jumatano jioni
02:50
and, desperatetamaa for the reliefmisaada
the artssanaa gavealitoa me,
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na, nikitamani sana ahueni
ambayo sanaa ilinipa,
02:53
I would go a fewwachache hoursmasaa earlymapema,
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Nilienda masaa machache mapema,
02:56
slipkuingizwa downstairschini
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na kushuka chini
02:58
and into a partsehemu of the worldulimwengu
where the only thing that matteredmattered
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na kuingia sehemu ya ulimwengu
ambayo kitu pekee cha msingi
03:01
was whetherkama or not I could hithit
the right noteKumbuka in the songwimbo
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kilikuwa ni kama nitapata noti sahihi
kwenye wimbo ama la
03:04
I was perfectingkuwakamilisha that weekwiki.
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Nilikuwa nikilikamilisha juma lile
03:06
I would singkuimba for hoursmasaa.
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Ningeimba kwa masaa.
03:09
It gavealitoa me so much strengthnguvu
to give myselfMimi mwenyewe permissionruhusa
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Ilinipa nguvu nyingi
kujiruhusu
03:12
to just blockkuzuia it all out and singkuimba.
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kufunguka mzima na kuimba.
03:17
FiveTano yearsmiaka laterbaadae,
I startedilianza my organizationshirika, ChopArtChopArt,
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Miaka mitano baadaye,
Nilianzisha shirika langu, ChopArt,
03:21
whichambayo is a multidisciplinaryunaojumuisha mambo mbalimbali
artssanaa organizationshirika for homelesswasio na makazi minorswatoto.
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ambalo ni shirika la sanaa mchanganyiko
la watoto wasio na makazi.
03:26
ChopArtChopArt useshutumia the artssanaa
as a toolchombo for traumakiwewe recoveryUfufuzi
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ChopArt hutumia sanaa
kama nyenzo ya kupunguza maumivu
03:30
by takingkuchukua what we know
about buildingkujenga communityjumuiya
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kwa kuchukua tunachojua
juu ya ujenzi wa jamii
03:33
and restoringkurejesha dignityheshima
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na urejeshaji heshima
03:35
and applyingkutumia that to the creativeubunifu processmchakato.
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na kutumia hiyo kwa utaratibu wa kibunifu
03:38
ChopArtChopArt is headquarteredmakao yake makuu
in AtlantaAtlanta, GeorgiaJojia,
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ChopArt ina makao yake makuu
Atlanta, Georgia,
03:41
with additionalziada programsprogramu
in HyderabadCha Hyderabad, IndiaIndia, and AccraAccra, GhanaGhana,
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pamoja na programu za nyongeza
Hyderabad, India, na Accra, Ghana,
03:45
and sincetangu our startkuanza in 2010,
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na tangu tuanze mwaka 2010,
03:47
we'vetumekuwa servedaliwahi over 40,000 teensvijana worldwideduniani kote.
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tumehudumia zaidi ya vijana 40,000
duniani.
03:51
Our teensvijana take refugekimbilio
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Vijana wetu hupata msaada
03:53
in the transformativemguvu
elementsvipengele of the artssanaa,
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katika vipengele vya sanaa
vyenye kubadilisha
03:56
and they dependtegemee on the safesalama spacenafasi
ChopArtChopArt provideshutoa for them to do that.
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na wanategemea nafasi salama ambayo
ChopArt huwapa ili wafanye hivyo.
04:01
An oftenmara nyingi invisibleasiyeonekana populationidadi ya watu
useshutumia the artssanaa to stephatua into theirwao lightmwanga,
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Jamii ambayo mara nyingi haionekani
hutumia sanaa kupiga hatua kwenye mwanga,
04:07
but that journeysafari out of invisibilitykutoonekana
is not an easyrahisi one.
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lakini safari hiyo kutoka kutokuonekana
siyo rahisi sana.
04:11
We have a siblingndugu pairjozi, JeremyJeremy and KellyKelly,
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Tuna ndugu wawili, Jeremy na Kelly,
04:15
who have been with our programprogramu
for over threetatu yearsmiaka.
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ambao wamekuwa na programu yetu
kwa zaidi ya miaka 3.
04:18
They come to the ChopArtChopArt classesmadarasa
everykila WednesdaySiku ya Jumatano eveningjioni.
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Huja kwenye vipindi vya ChopArt
kila Jumatano jioni.
04:23
But about a yearmwaka agoiliyopita,
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Lakini yapata mwaka mmoja nyuma,
04:25
JeremyJeremy and KellyKelly witnessedkushuhudia theirwao mommama
seizekukamata and diekufa right in frontmbele of them.
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Jeremy na Kelly walishuhudia mama yao
akikakamaa na kufa mbele yao.
04:30
They watchedaliangalia as the paramedicswahudumu wasaidizi wa madaktari
failedimeshindwa to revivekufufua her.
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Waliangalia huku wanahuduma ya kwanza
wakishindwa kumhuisha.
04:34
They criedkelele as theirwao fatherbaba
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Walilia pale baba yao
04:36
signediliyosainiwa over temporarymuda mfupi custodyulinzi
to theirwao ChopArtChopArt mentormshauri, ErinErin,
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alipotia sahihi hati ya usimamizi ya muda
kwa mnasihi wao wa ChopArt, Erin,
04:40
withoutbila even allowingkuruhusu them to take
an extraziada pairjozi of clothesnguo on theirwao way out.
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bila hata ya kuwaruhusu kuchukua
jozi moja zaidi ya nguo wanapoondoka.
04:45
This seriesmfululizo of eventsmatukio brokekuvunja my heartmoyo,
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Mfululizo huu wa matukio
ulivunja moyo wangu,
04:49
but JeremyJeremy and Kelly'sYa Kelly faithimani
and resolvetatua in ChopArtChopArt
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lakini imani na azma ya Jeremy na Kelly
katika ChopArt
04:52
is what keepshuendelea me groundedimara in this work.
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ndicho kinachonishikilia katika kazi hii
04:56
KellyKelly callingwito ErinErin in her lowestchini kabisa momentwakati,
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Kelly akimwita Erin awapo chini sana,
04:58
knowingkujua that ErinErin would do
whateverVyovyote she could
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akijua kuwa Erin atafanya chochote
awezacho
05:00
to make them feel lovedkupendwa and caredkujali for,
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kuwafanya wajisikie wakipendwa
na wakijaliwa,
05:03
is proofushahidi to me that by usingkutumia
the artssanaa as the entrykuingia pointuhakika,
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ni ushahidi kwangu kuwa kwa kutumia
sanaa kama pa kuingilia,
05:09
we can healkuponya and buildjenga
our homelesswasio na makazi youthvijana populationidadi ya watu.
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tunaweza kuponya na kujenga
umati wa vijana wasio na makazi
05:13
And we continueendelea to buildjenga.
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Na tunaendelea kujenga.
05:15
We buildjenga with DevinDevin,
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Tunajenga na Devin,
05:17
who becameikawa homelesswasio na makazi with his familyfamilia
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ambaye amekosa makazi pamoja
na familia yake
05:19
when his mommama had to choosechagua
betweenkati medicalmatibabu billsbili or the rentkukodisha.
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pale ambapo mama alitakiwa kuchagua kati
ya bili za madawa na kodi ya pango.
05:24
He discoveredaligundua his love
of paintinguchoraji throughkupitia ChopArtChopArt.
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Aligundua mapenzi yake ya kuchora
kupitia ChopArt.
05:27
We buildjenga with LizLiz,
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Tunajenga na Liz,
05:29
who has been on the streetsmitaa
mostwengi of her teenagevijana yearsmiaka
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ambaye amekuwa mtaani
miaka yake mingi ya ujana
05:32
but turnsinageuka to musicmuziki to returnkurudi to herselfmwenyewe
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lakini ameelekea muziki
kurudi kwa nafsi yake
05:35
when her traumasmajeraha feel too heavynzito
for her youngvijana shouldersmabega.
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ambapo mateso yake yamekuwa mazito sana
kwa mabega yake machanga.
05:40
We buildjenga for MariaMaria,
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Tunajenga na Maria,
05:42
who useshutumia poetrymashairi to healkuponya
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ambaye hutumia ushairi kujiponyesha
05:44
after her grandfatherbabu diedalikufa in the vanvan
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baada ya babu yake kufa ndani ya gari
05:47
she's livingwanaishi in
with the restpumzika of her familyfamilia.
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anaishi na familia yake iliyobaki.
05:50
And so to the youthvijana out there
experiencinginakabiliwa homelessnesswasio na makazi,
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Na kwahiyo kwa vijana nje huko
wanaopitia kukosa makazi,
05:56
let me tell you,
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wacha niwaambie,
05:58
you have the powernguvu to buildjenga withinndani you.
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mna uwezo wa kujenga ndani yenu.
06:02
You have a voicesauti throughkupitia the artssanaa
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Mna sauti kupitia sanaa
06:03
that doesn't judgehakimu
what you've been throughkupitia.
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ambayo haihukumu
umepitia mambo gani.
06:06
So never stop fightingmapigano
to standsimama in your lightmwanga
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Hivyo usiache kupambana
kusimama kwenye mwanga wako
06:09
because even in your darkestdarkest timesnyakati,
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sababu hata kwenye wakati wako
wa kiza kinene,
06:12
we see you.
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tunakuona.
06:14
Thank you.
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Asanteni.
06:15
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
Translated by Clarence Bitegeko
Reviewed by Samuel Njenga

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Malika Whitley - Arts curator, activist
Malika Whitley is an arts curator and activist in Atlanta, Georgia.

Why you should listen

At age 6, Malika Whitley began to experience homelessness with her family, then on her own at 16. During her homelessness, she found the arts as a tool for resistance from fully succumbing to the hardships of youth homelessness. After her experience, Whitley founded ChopArt, which is a multidisciplinary arts organization for homeless middle and high schoolers. Her work has been internationally recognized, as well as highlighted in Atlanta's local media. Most notably, Whitley has been named in Creative Loafing's "20 People to Watch", and ChopArt has been featured in Atlanta Magazine and on WSBTV. To support ChopArt's teens, please consider sponsoring a full year of programming for a homeless teen here.

More profile about the speaker
Malika Whitley | Speaker | TED.com