As a white educator, I think every teacher needs to hear this message. We try to be inclusive, yet we’re products of “the system” as well. I had no idea correcting someone dropping the “to be” verb was a hit on culture. I want all my students to feel welcome in my classroom, but I’m learning every day how far I still need to go. I teach AP classes and it’s really frustrating that I know their AP essays will be graded through white eyes. I have so much more to learn.

What a powerful presentation! I especially connected with the lion and man story because I have always understood history to be told through the perspective of the people at the table! As the lion asks, who drew the picture? Who makes the decisions and why? I grew up in post colonial Kenya (born 1962 pre independence) and the rules still applied especially in Catholic schools! If we spoke our mother tongue (mine being Gikuyu) we were severely punished as she says by wearing a sign around our necks, or kneeling on small pebbles for hours on end! OMG, I just realized why my knees are so sensitive!!! Oooo, must bring this up in therapy, wow!! Ngugi Wa Thiongo is one of my favorite authors and he is also Kenyan and Gikuyu! He was my hero growing up as I aspired to be a revolutionary just like him! He was banned in Kenya and I did not read his books until I came to the US to go to college in 1983! Thank you so much for this talk, I needed it this morning! Be well Jamila!

I find it funny how Ted Talks on these topics have so few views when they're a gold mine of knowledge. Its not your typical feel good motivational Ted Talk but understanding the people you live with (other races) helps break and erases ignorance. Then again a talk on language and dialect might not be for everyone, but being Jamaican I could immediately relate to her early example of how you have to change the way you talk in certain circles as it affects the way your perceived. There's so much to say on these vids but man did she bring her point across well.

Best talk I've listened to. In Nigeria, the more complex your spoken or written English is, the smarter you are perceived to be.🤔.

She's right, but silly standardized testing has ruined our ability as educators to incorporate this into our lessons. My students would fail the STAAR test if they were allowed to freely write and represent themselves through their writing. I might find it beautiful, but standardized testing would fail the essay.

This deserves more attention

That last part!!!!! “If we do not have social just practice in the silence then we cannot have social justice in our world”. Very well said...what a way to use all the skills she spoke about in an all encompassing presentation. Very inspiring!! Soul out!!!!

Correction... Ngugi wa Thiong’o is from Kenya 🇰🇪 in East Africa.

She is so tapped in. Go Jamila! Don't ever stop speaking my sistah.

This is a great warrior. For marginalized people. As great as any on horse with sword. >> 1. Who am I? Awareness >> 2. Agency/Access in the world >> 3. Actualization. >> 4. Achievement >> 5. Alteration & Action

This lady IS articulate!!! "Composite linguistic identity" is NOT a concept i would have thought of myself, lol. That said, she makes a LOT of really good points: language is routinely used as a "filter" or judgmental tool to help people discriminate against "the other" - those not like us, so they need to put in their place when necessary, and more or less ignored otherwise. My parents always told me that the way i talked, the way i use language could considerably help me in life. As a result, i strove to be articulate, to learn new words whenever they came my way, and to learn at least a bit of as many "jargons" or specialized linguistic subsets as possible - physicists, mathematicians, doctors, carpenters, sailors... every major trade has a distinctive "argot" or collection of precisely-defined terms that are peculiar to their trade, and necessary to communicate effectively with them. That said, i now realize i was fortunate to not have had to learn to switch between basic language forms: one language at home and with many of my friends, and another kind of language in "normal, everyday" situations - at school, in the workplace, in public in general. I was surrounded 24/7 with people speaking MMCE - Mainstream Middle-class Canadian English, plus a smattering of wildly different accents (Indian, Chinese, Ukranian, Cape Bretonese, Newfoundland-speak, Scottish, Irish, and what i broadly realized was "lower class" language usage - which i never associated with "race" or ethnicity of any kind, although as in the USA, marginalized groups of people do tend to put less emphasis on learning whatever the "Standard English" of the dominant culture or ethnicity - and hence many end up making many grammatical errors or having a limited vocabulary for most of their lives... and this marks them as being "lower class", and/or as belonging to a marginalized group - which in turn impedes their progress up the Social Ladder, because their language usage stigmatizes them the moment they begin to speak!! Its a stereotypical Viscious Cycle. I think there are two main ways out of this situation: 1) "Mainstream" society must be taught from an early age to NOT stigmatize/under-value/dehumanize/discriminate against others who just happen to be different from the social norms they grew up with: we must teach both children and adults in our society to become more compassionate, more tolerant, more accepting, welcoming, and open-minded towards those who are different from the mainstream norm, and 2) The leaders (present and future) of marginalized communities should be made aware that language is much more important than many of the people in their communities realize: YES, maintaining cultural heritages is important, but it is also important to learn how to communicate effectively with the "mainstream" of the society they live in!! Children in many countries easily learn two, three or even four languages - such as in Switzerland where almost everyone is multi-lingual: its not that difficult. Each side must reach out to the other: that's the only real way it can work.

A standard of mastery and excellence is NOT violence! Rather, depriving youth of the knowledge and tools to advance would be injustice. Youth can both embrace their home linguistics AND ADD what will move them forward in the broader world. For example, my English teacher forced me to diagram sentences in Latin, which made me a powerful and accomplished communicator in many fields; my publicly educated peers lacked that advantage and remained among the common. What I am requesting is that educators NOT 'paradigm shift' down in the name of Social Justice -- that would be anything but 'just'. Rather Raise the Bar while accepting the wholeness of who they are :)

They don't like our culture but they sure making money with our culture.

English is my second language but I teach Spanish. Too often my students question many of the words and phrases. What I continue to explain is that I teach based on what is found in literacy, not on the streets. Like many cultures, it's pretty much the same things we face in English. Great awareness and presentation.

I've thought about all of this over the years. I'm glad someone brought it to light. I've been told since grade school "Oh you speak so well" or ridiculed by my family "You talk like a white boy." And even though I don't always articulate in standard English, I have noticed that people/groups, etc that aren't representative of PoC have put constant variation and copular absence (and others) to use for monetary gain.

Dropping the final 'g' is part of my original speech dialect too - I code switch between informal small-town/country (some would say hick) and more formal standard speech. Eatin, runnin', talkin', lovin', etc. are the pronunciations that come naturally to me, and others who grew up in my (very White small town) culture. I understand and appreciate African American vernacular as a legitimate dialect with its own grammar - NOT incorrect speech, and I do not "correct" it, but honor it in my English classroom. I found very enlightening the section on this in "The Language Instinct" by Steven Pinker. Not disputing anything she's saying at all - I know she knows more than I do about this. Except that final "g' thing. That's definitely not just an African American speech thing. It's a country thing. I'm glad to be out of that small, very White town for many years and enjoy the rich, diverse culture I live and teach in now.

Great lecture. I feel very liberated as a South African. Living in Kasi(township).

Even here in south Africa English is to determine how bright u are. Colonialism and racism

I love language, it's how we've evolved to what we are today. The 1 most common trait of successful people is having a vast vocabulary. Not being able to articulate ideas to other people has a much larger impact on our lives than we could ever imagine.

She is very passionate. Great presentation.

I know this is right. I know of other historical examples where language was used to differentiate the rich from the "common", even. Vernacular is wonderful and important. Language shapes the world. But I can't divorce myself from the concept of academic English, both written and spoken, being an important thing to learn for anyone who does communicate in English. The same is true for other languages, as well. What is taught in French or Japanese classes is the general rules, not the vernacular. It's easier to communicate when the rules of any language are followed. That's just my thoughts on it though. Language is always changing within cultures. The rules won't, sometimes can't, always be followed. But the rules taught in the classroom do make it easier to communicate if everyone knows the same basics.

In Italy there are hundreds of dialects due to historical reasons: geographic isolation, non-availability of education, foreign domination etc. Most Italians vehemently defend their dialect as an integral part of their local culture and rightfully so. There are dialectical theatres, music, and literature. However, dialects also have a negative aspect too. In the past, only “educated people” spoke Italian, typically only the village doctor, lawyer and priest knew and spoke Italian, everyone else spoke dialect. These days, Italians have properly interpreted their dialect as part of their culture, like their cuisine (also extremely variable). It is not used as a means of communication in the workplace, schools or hospitals etc. American “dialects” should not substitute correct English. As an international businessperson I have to continuously adjust my “English” to communicate with the person in front of me. I can’t use the same English with a person from the Czech Republic as with my drinking buddy from high school. If you want to speak Ebonics with your friends, you’re perfectly free to do that, but if you want to speak it in the corporate boardroom or write your graduation thesis in it, you’re going to have big, big, problems. “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Austrian philosopher

But yeah, we never left any cultural finger prints on American Culture.....people who believe that are hilarious. We are a people who always leave our mark every where we go.

Wow. Wonderful talk. Thank you. Having just finished a semester teaching ESL to newcomers at a school in the mountains of North Carolina, I related much of the talk's themes to my newly arrived hispanic students - forced to take English Lit. 1 even though they barely knew the alphabet. They were demoralized every day, despite an excellent co-teacher who bent over backwards to get things translated for them. A complete waste of their time.

This is exactly what we need to hear and act on. You are doing an amazing job bring attention to the much needed paradigm shift. Fabulous 👏👏👏

She defended herself from a intellectual and academic space good for her. That's right.

Great ideas and robust dissection of language. Can I point out that Ngugi wa Thiong'o is actually a East African, Kenyan to be precise and of the Agikuyu Tribe

I loved what you said but I think we also have to remember that to some extent ""standard" rules can both define us and unite us. I Teach English (as a second language) and live in an environment where many of the "native" English speakers do not speak standard American English ( or spell it - colour). I also went to a school where most of the people , staff and student used a dialect which was different from what I learned at home; it was also different that the norm in America. I learned to negotiate these differences. We were taught, however the importance of being able to speak write and understand the dominant form of English (Standard American as my school was in America). This allowed me to write essays that got me into American Universities, it also means that wherever I go people say they can really understand me when I speak. I think we need to value each persons idiolangage. At the same time people also need to learn a common form of speaking which will allow then to communicate with people from other communities around the world. I also believe that accent and use of non standard language, as well as not being fluent in a language, in no way indicates lack of intelligence .

Sis got me after she said "what's good" had to pause the video, like and share right then and there...

WITH OUT ETYMOLOGY WE ARE STILL HELD IN BONDAGE.

Speaking in our own language, not french, not spanish, not russian etc. but our own language puts us in tune with our own unique culture and ancestry. When we speak in the tongue of other people it puts us in tune with THEIR culture their ancestry. It gives power to those foreign entities to use and rule over us. Whether living or dead.

We Must Study And Master: E T Y M O L O G Y! ! !

I feel this deeply.. as a law student I can not tell you how often I get a sideways look for using ebonic as if I am committing a crime by refusing to hide my blackness. There is an unspoken narrative that you owe someone for allowing you into spaces where you are not the majority especially when those spaces are intellectual spaces and as a repayment for your debts you must indoctrinate into the "norm". I am an intellectual I earned my seat just like the people I sit next to earned theirs I do not owe anyone anything the only person I have to prove anything to is myself

your speech is powerful and many of Americans are unable to articulate and if teachers are able to help their students through the students speech...what a valuable quality and able to assist them to becoming more articulate as students:)) Wish you had been my teacher!!!

Ooh weee, that part @17:18. The 4th A for achievement: autonomy in rigorous powerful standards for students to show up in the aims of diversity and equity. The institution definitely should be leaders in this! So true!!!!!! Transforming space and discipline! Qualitative research is so underrated ...that’s some imagination with content. That was explained well

Great work. Ngugi Wathiongo is from East Africa, West Africa.

I'm gonna come back to this one multiple times. Whew. 🙏🏽Thank you Jamila Lyiscott 🖤

Excellent work you are doing to educate and awaken the social conciousness of your people. Our culture and language do matter and should be embraced/celebrated. Kudos and much success in your endeavors, sister!

We use standard English in formal settings-school, business, etc.-and dialect at home or other less formal settings. I’ve been doing it all my life.

Why does this have ANY thumbs down? If this Queen was a professor in MY school, I'd have a PhD by now. Talk about intellectually DOPE AF and motivating! Do it my sista!

Right on- it's been time for this to be discussed. Etymology is at the very base of all culture.

The English did the same thing in Ireland we could not speak our own language or allowed to play our own sports 🇮🇪

Truly inclusive i like that. An institution reimagined . perfect

Jamila: Speaks in an inspiring manner. Me, in the background: Damn, those earrings CUTE!

Brilliant! I started sharing half-way through - couldn't wait till the end! But a lot more sharing to go yet!🙏🙏🙏

I absolutely love me some Dr. Lyiscott, I’ve followed her work for years and this really spoke volumes to some of her earlier work! Linguistic Liberation at its finest!

@Jamila Lyiscott to you queen... Love from Jackson Mississippi, you articulated that eloquently because Lord knows I done witnessed and been through these struggles in college classes...

This is a good example of a person marinaded in racism.

The fact that this was posted more than 365 days ago and only has 24k views...shows KZfaq algorithm is biased

I first met this amazing woman at Michigan State's ULITT while we sat in a cipher facilitated by Toni Blackman. I am so glad to have met her! Keep pushing Doctor!

I appreciate all of the commentary following individuals putting in the work to educate, elevate and encourage growth. I am even more impressed when a fire is lit by the spark and someone is motivated to join the efforts of the few. Stop wasting so much time critiquing and criticizing someone else and use your time to do your part in building your/our communities as well. Js

6:34 Ngugi wa Thiong'o is not West African, he's east african: Kenyan to be precise.. just a point of correction

I was honestly caught off guard too when she asked “what’s good” based on my initial reaction being “nothing much” in anticipation of “what’s up” and realized it didn’t make sense, and didn’t know what the correct thing to say to it was since i wasn’t sure if you take the phrase literally or not, even though I’ve heard other people say it plenty of times before.

Love being in highschool language comprehension and doing an essay on this video very cool.....

Speaking English, the language that can be used to earn RESPECT and be offered the ability to succeed, must be taught and not compromised or excused because of stereotypes and environment where we come from!!!

Correction from her talk - Ngugi Wa Thiong'o is East African Writer. A brilliant Kenyan author 🙌🏽

Thalnk you for challenging us to use our minds in a more expansive way. In the case of English, no matter how it is spoken it can be understood. We attempt to learn other languages in order to communicate with other cultures, why not simply be accepting of other ways of expressing English. The way things are simply and actually not so simply maintains the atmosphere/message being control to fit into someone else's standard. Someone else drew the picture and we never question why we accept it as true or the only truth the only valid way be in our beingness. Peace.

Beautiful talk...thank you!

4:57 Fun fact. Pusha-T from the Clipse came up with that McDonald's jingle.

YAS!!!! Keep speaking! Keep sharing this!!! Wake up educators and universities!!

I come from a very small island nation in the Pacific formerly a trust territory of the US, but we gained Independence. Our school system is based on the US curriculum. Today people who do not speak english are frowned upon & looked on as if they are not educated. English is my 2nd language & im thankful i can still speak my native language.

I really think that She can get her point across w/o sounding hostile.

Interesting speech! Your on 🔥 Thank You! for argumentive statements I can use for my own speech. Thank You!

I wish I knew about the one foot balance technique. Coz ive pushed 3 nieces for hour and hours and hours on their bikes before they grasped on how to balance and ride. Anyways I have 2 more nieces on my school of bikes and I'll will try this technique. Thanks for the speech I learned alot. Am from foreign and I understand what you were saying.

❤. She reminded me that when I speak my native tongue that I am powerful. I’m sharing apart of my culture, my upbringing my ancestors voices are still alive

I wish I had a teacher like that growing up in Panama!

A correction though - Ngugi Wa Thion'go is from Kenya in East Africa

Companies speak like us to take our money, but won’t hire anyone that actually speaks like that lmao 😂 shame

This should have more views and likes... in my opinion. 💖💛💖💖 Well said sis.

So you're being subjugated by being held to the same identical educational standards as everyone in this county? SMH

Hey.... I love this. Wish you could come to Jamaica and facilitate a conversation on this topic..... 👍

Ok, just an idea, i'm alien to a this stuff being italian buut, England has slangs within the same ethnic group, they still have a standard written english that does not incorporate these slangs.

I was curious what she will say. She did not disappoint. So predictable. Your English is judged by thousands of years English speakers, thinkers, scholars. Accept it. Accept also the privilege you have you have educated in English. Because believe me it is a privilege. Creole, Pinyin are fine, but it is not proper English, as does not build on the standard English traditions. Ebonics is not substitute for English, it is something apart. It makes you richer, but still. When one code switches, it is not something wrong, it is to connect to a greater audience. There is no utility for diversity of English in the classroom, because it creates disconnect. The richness of minority English is not to be overlooked or forgot, but it cannot be a substitute for standard English. I'm not a native speaker if you speak Jamaican or any other patois, chances are, you loose me. It applies to Cockney, or Gordie English too. Should they be taught in school too?

Correction Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan writer (East African) not a West African writer.

Brilliant! One of the best TEDx Talks I've ever heard!

Excellent TEDTalk! Excellent! Thank you for sharing. Also, Ngugi wa Thiong’o is an East African author! 👌🏾😌

You remember a while back when they decided there were too many obese people, to fix that they just changed the definition of obese. This is the same argument.

If we don’t have a standard for everyone then we risk not understanding each other. The standard is there and would remain there even if there were no people of colour in the West, and there would still be disparities of outcomes. If we can all agree on the rules then at least the test is fair.

I am humbled by her brutally in articulation of concepts

The intentions for attempting to include linguistic diversity into the academic environment are noble indeed, however the difficulty appears when someone tries to put this principle into practice. It's easy to acknowledge someone's ability to code-switch between languages, but it just won't be of any use to them if they're not among other code-switchers. I myself can code-switch between some five languages in slow conversations. But what would I gain from code-switching like that in a NYC campus besides making myself harder to understand? I might be able to teach a dozen words in those languages to my friends in a few weeks, but how can I expect the examiner to spend an extra twenty minutes reading my essay just to check on Google Translate whether the twenty weird words he found are from an actual foreign language or just incoherent babble?

There is nothing new about people looking down on new ways of using language. The standard English of today would not fly in 16th Century England. The lower classes of 16th Century English were looked down upon for their use of the language. However, some of the words that were used by lower classes become standard English words over time. I have read many book and watch several documentaries on the evolution of the English language. It is something I am fascinated with it. So I do not buy her argument that racism is the main focus of schools correcting children that do not speak standard English. We have to have a standard that everyone follows. That does not mean we do not adapt our language when we speak to certain groups. It happens everyday. We speak different to our boss, the police, children, our friends, strangers, etc. That is ok and it is human to do this. But we have to have a standard that everyone will follow. Once we master that standard, then we can deconstruct it and use it in different forms. It is like an instrument. When you learn the guitar you learn standard chords in standard tuning. Once you "master" (you never master an instrument) then you can begin to using different tunings, chords etc. to make beautiful sounds.

Exceptional - that’s a Trini ambassador and citizen of the world.

I've never listened to a person and thought, "so literate" unless it's a child...

Yes M'am .... When the Creator said ( LET THERE BE !! ) The Power of his Voice Formed Planets and Stars within the Universe !! There is POWER in Language, Words, Names and Voice.

Well at least this video doesn't silence the voice of the commenters.... becoming a fad these daze to prevent people from discussing what you are presenting to them!! So..... BRAVO!!

Brilliantly expressed. Thank you.. change is mandatory.....Awareness is key...Balance is opportunity...Thank you.. Sis...We are moving forward. Each one teach one....

I LOVE thissss. Her words and actions are sooo poetic! 🔥

Speaking another language is a different thing than dialects within that language. Americans from different areas of the country have different accents or different catch phrases they speak, but proper English is the base for all of those. All students should be taught proper English so they can choose to speak it if they desire. The problem with accents or dialects is communication is sometimes adversely affected. Go to Cajun country in Louisiana and, although English is their language, you may not understand a word they say. This is where schools fail us in the name of diversity.

This is a profoundly important lesson in our contribution to American English language and pride in the history of Ebonics! Thanks for sharing this message.

I am a kikuyu from Kenya and elementary school pupils are still getting punished by getting forced to wear something on their necks for speaking their mother tongue

Ngugi Wa Thiongo is Kenyan i.e. from East Africa.

Dr. Lyiscott, this is awesome! Thank you!

Ebonics is widely understood in popular culture in America and globally. It is one of the major of components of American cultural export. I think we need to look at other places and languages for reference. In Jamaica, they have Patois which is generally spoken across the Island but is not considered a language of commerce, business, academia or official government business. In England there is a dialect of English that is more prestigious than lots of others. Yes, they speak many dialects of English in England. In the Arab world, there are many local dialects of Arabic some mutually unintelligible from each other, but Modern Standard Arabic is the prestigious version that educated people use. So, I am sorry to have to say this, one dialect of a language wins out and becomes the dominant one from many. FYI, I am from Africa and I speak 3 local East African languages each of which have varieties, and each have a prestigious variety. That is simply how language works. I think I am fluent in English, and if I can speak well enough to be undertook globally, why can't African Americans adopt the mainstream dialect? It is a lot easier to be 'bi-dialect' than to be bilingual. You don't have to give up your culture your history or language. You just have to be 'bi-dialect'. In Africa we are multi-lingual and 'multi-dialect'.

I’m 33 years old and I’ve been getting up in front of many different groups to speak since I was 16. And this reminds me that even if I write a speech to stand before people and read, I write that speech much differently than I would write a letter or an email. In speech, I can pause and emphasize certain things. I don’t always speak in complete sentences and I don’t always use proper grammar because there is indeed power in this. I can read my speech and it doesn’t sound like I’m reading.

This was an outstanding and thought-provoking talk. Thank you, Jamila.

This is so smart and empowering. Yet, really depressing and exhausting:(. It's still ,as though in order to rise up from oppression , STILL requires ever since the days of slavery, to be forced to become an expertly educated human being, just to almost prove to be "worthy" and to have the skills to be able to defeat racism. But it's a unending struggle that will never win until every American citizen knows this history and it is a shameful embarrassment to know Florida has an education system dictated by politics.

So, to refer to someone as " articulate " has underlying negative meaning ? What have we done to ourselves ?

Same thing happened to me Welsh etc

So important today. The institution of public educators should listen to this. It could revitalize the subject (If they are interested in doing so).

Yeeesss, I've been teaching my sons this, white people believe that their standard is the only standard that counts.....happy to come across a like minded sista