Chris Abani on TED – A Wonderful Look At Our Humanity
One of my favourite websites that I love to peruse is TED.com. It’s a site that shares with the public presentations given by some of today’s most insightful thinkers and gifted creators as a means to help spread knowledge and the sharing of ideas. Now who wouldn’t love a site that tries to accomplish that.
A few days ago, TED.com posted a new talk given by poet/author Chris Abani called “Telling stories of our shared humanity“. Don’t let the title fool you – this is a powerful presentation that will have you laughing and crying all in the span of 15 minutes.
At the beginning of his presentation, Abani talks about a philosophical concept found in South Africa called “Ubuntu” (not to be confused with the Linux-based OS) that posits the notion that “the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me” which Abani so eloquently describes as meaning “there’s no way for us to be human without other people”. Wonderful stuff – think about it for a moment, let it percolate deep inside and you’ll see what I mean.
As part of his talk of what it means to be human, of what the concept of humanity is all about, he tells some wonderful stories about people who’ve clearly made an impression on his life and his outlook on the world around him. He has some great anecdotes about his mother, someone he describes as being “very English”. To prove his point, he tells the tale of how his mother reacted to hearing “Chad, the surfer dude” in California speak English by saying “Oh, these Americans. We gave them a language. Why don’t they use it?”. Another delightful remark from his mother that he shares in his talk is “Anything a man can do, I can fix”. Not hard to see why this woman had such a lasting inspirational impact on her son.
However, his talk is not just a celebration of the humourous events in life that we all have – there are moments where he shines a light on the sadness and horror that faces many people in Africa. For example, he points out that before the genocide in Rwanda, the same word was used for rape and marriage – a shocking, if not frightening revelation. He gives several other examples from around Africa to make us realize how the horror and pain inflicted on women is rarely measured or even noticed. Quite an unsettling thought and one that makes it all the more reassuring that the the UN finally took action to address this disturbing outlook.
Abani’s talk is both humourous and tragic; it highlights those moments that all of us cherish in our lives and it reminds us of the evil that we can do to one another simply because we can. In other words, it’s a wonderful testament to what it means to be human, warts and all. I’m embedding the video here to share with anyone who’d like to watch him tell his stories. Just be ready to laugh one moment and cry another as you’re reminded of what it means to be a part of humanity.
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TED.com is a really great site, I used to visit it. It’s nice to surf there. Thanks for sharing
My pleasure, woody green. Indeed the whole purpose of TED is to share knowledge and ideas as an instrument for changing the world for the better. Sometimes I can’t help but imagine that if we all took 2 steps back and listened to those we disagree with or fear, we might see those commonalities that we all share and focus on those instead of the differences between us.
I love your blog. It looks very creative. I am brand new so mine is a work in progress. I look forward to reading more posts. Come by and say Hi.
Thank you, Tammy. That’s very nice of you to say. While it’s a given that people blog with the hope that someone will wander by and read what they have to say, it’s still flattering when readers tell you how much they enjoy your writing.
As for my blog, I still consider it to be relatively new and as such, a work in progress like your blog. Mind you, I like to think that anything worthwhile is a work in progress since we’re always learning new things or at least getting a better understanding that can help us improve whatever it is we’re working on – be it our careers, our families, ourselves or even a blog.
So, I’m hoping that this blog will grow and evolve and that it will continue to be a source of enjoyment, if not food for thought, for those like yourself who take the time to stop by and see what I’m talking about now.
Thanks again for the kind compliment.