"Wild Women"
-
0:01 - 0:04They wanted her piecemealed,
papier-mâchéd, -
0:04 - 0:08practically broken,
limp-like and loveless, -
0:08 - 0:11a litany of exaggeration.
-
0:11 - 0:12They wanted her low.
-
0:12 - 0:14And high.
-
0:14 - 0:17Flat and wide.
-
0:17 - 0:19Filled with all of their empty.
-
0:19 - 0:23They wanted her to be more like them.
-
0:23 - 0:25Not knowing her conception was immaculate.
-
0:25 - 0:28That she was birthed
in sandalwood-scented river water, -
0:29 - 0:31sweet sapphire honey-touched tongue,
-
0:31 - 0:33she was too much
of a mouthful for the greedy. -
0:33 - 0:36Just a small amount of her
was more than they could stand. -
0:36 - 0:38Oh, they wanted her bland.
-
0:38 - 0:39And barren.
-
0:39 - 0:42Unspirited, un-African, uncultured,
-
0:42 - 0:44under siege in the streets.
-
0:44 - 0:49They wanted her face down, ass up,
hands cuffed and ankles strapped. -
0:49 - 0:52They wanted her knowing
she could never want them back. -
0:52 - 0:53Oh, they wanted her holy,
-
0:53 - 0:55baptized in her divine,
-
0:55 - 0:57they wanted her secrets,
-
0:57 - 0:59pearls to swine.
-
0:59 - 1:02They wanted to unravel
the mystery of her design. -
1:02 - 1:06Fascinated by glory,
hypnotized by her kind. -
1:06 - 1:07Oh, they wanted her complete.
-
1:07 - 1:09They wanted her whole,
-
1:09 - 1:12though they came fractioned,
half-hearted, half-soul, -
1:12 - 1:16with no regards and no knowledge
as to who she really was. -
1:16 - 1:17Oh, but if they knew.
-
1:18 - 1:19If they knew her,
-
1:20 - 1:23praise songs would rain
from the clouds of their eyes, -
1:23 - 1:25clearing the vision, bathing the heart.
-
1:26 - 1:29They would bow every time they saw her.
-
1:29 - 1:31Be their best selves when she was around.
-
1:31 - 1:33If they knew her,
-
1:33 - 1:36knew she was the glue to their revolution,
-
1:36 - 1:38the life flow of blood
through their veins. -
1:38 - 1:40If they knew her,
-
1:40 - 1:42she would know,
-
1:43 - 1:45she would feel
-
1:45 - 1:48that her body is more than battlefield.
-
1:48 - 1:51More than bone break and bleeding bigotry.
-
1:51 - 1:54More than bridge
over your troubled conscience. -
1:54 - 1:58More than used up, walked on,
driven through, shot up. -
1:58 - 2:01More than your "Selma, Lord, Selma"
Edmund Pettus. -
2:01 - 2:04More than your killer Katrina Danziger.
-
2:04 - 2:07More than your bust them out of Baltimore
"Highway to Nowhere." -
2:08 - 2:10If they knew her,
-
2:10 - 2:11she would know.
-
2:12 - 2:15(Singing)
-
2:39 - 2:41Wild women,
-
2:41 - 2:44wild women, they walk with buffalo.
-
2:44 - 2:45Have lightning on their tongues,
-
2:46 - 2:47fly whisks as weapons.
-
2:47 - 2:50Wild women, they walk with machetes.
-
2:50 - 2:53With wisdom, with grace, with ease.
-
2:53 - 2:56Wild women have hurricanes
in their bellies, -
2:56 - 2:58releasing a flood of a lesson.
-
2:58 - 3:00Oh, wild women, they fly free.
-
3:00 - 3:04Just watch their ways,
how they rip and shred. -
3:04 - 3:05Oh, who can understand her,
-
3:05 - 3:08this winding Niger river of a woman
-
3:08 - 3:11one who is unafraid to tear away
-
3:11 - 3:15only to roam and then become the wind.
-
3:15 - 3:18She who speaks in gusts and cyclones
-
3:18 - 3:22blasting us back to high ground,
high consciousness, -
3:22 - 3:25she turns and so does the world.
-
3:25 - 3:26Feel her spinning,
-
3:26 - 3:28spanning several lifetimes.
-
3:28 - 3:32Hear her speaking, sparking alarm.
-
3:32 - 3:35See her dancing, summoning the dead,
-
3:35 - 3:37resurrecting new life.
-
3:37 - 3:40Heaven hears her knocking on the door,
-
3:40 - 3:43safely transporting the ones
who call for her assistance. -
3:43 - 3:47Wild women, they open
portals to new worlds, -
3:47 - 3:50new speech, new dreams.
-
3:51 - 3:53Oh, dearly beloveds,
-
3:53 - 3:57so dearly departed
from the ways of the guardian, -
3:57 - 3:58beware.
-
3:58 - 4:03For wild women are not to be tamed.
-
4:03 - 4:05Only admired.
-
4:06 - 4:12Just let her in and witness her
set your days ablaze. -
4:13 - 4:15(Cheers) (Applause)
-
4:15 - 4:17Thank you.
-
4:17 - 4:22(Applause)
- Title:
- "Wild Women"
- Speaker:
- Sunni Patterson
- Description:
-
With lightning on her tongue, Sunni Patterson performs her powerful poem, "Wild Women," accompanied by the entrancing moves of dancer Chanice Holmes.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 04:36
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for "Wild Women" | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for "Wild Women" |