Lemn Sissay: A child of the state
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Literature has long been fascinated with fostered, adopted and orphaned children, from Moses to Cinderella to Oliver Twist to Harry Potter. So why do many parentless children feel compelled to hide their pasts? Poet and playwright Lemn Sissay tells his own moving story. (Filmed at TEDxHousesofParliament.)
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Jesus was sort of adopted by his dad!
What a touching and inspirational story. Very engaging and profound. After having gone through all that to be a functioning, articulate, funny, intelligent person is remarkable indeed. Some of break under the slightest of life's load and others like Lemn can weather it all and flourish.
I also admired his willingness not to assign blame to anyone. Assigning blame may have been an easy and convenient way but will only victimize a person further without changing the situation at all.
DT
They should play this to the Tories trying to fast-track adoption, as he says. It is heart-breaking that he can still hardly speak at some points when this is old and he's decades-experienced as a public speaker and adult. And that he is somehow still responsible for sugaring the pill for our consumption.
Look up the Magdeline Laundries in Ireland....Its awful :(
love how he includes Moses in "great fictional characters" haha
Oops. :)
I love Lemn´s irony. Not only in the late 60's single mothers were frowned upon and sent for a "little break". These things still happen - a bit of a typical American small town and church-related phenomenon, I´d say. I have always asked myself how come that the more religious people are the less tolerant they get. Their life seems to be all about self-created rules and their horizon ends at their church door.
No, religious people aren't less tolerant, they are as human as anyone else. I have met many people over the years and whether they were religious or not had no bearing on whether they were tolerant or not. It all has to do with whether or not the person decides to be loving and recognize that everyone has imperfections. I have met plenty of self-righteous atheists. In some ways they were more vicious, I'm not sure why.
At least the ones I came across were.
Unfortunately, literature isn't gentle to those fostered, adopted and orphaned children. Cinderella was a slave in her own home, Oliver Twist is half starved and later is trained to be a thief and Harry Potter was emotionally abused until he found out he was a wizard and then Voldemort and his followers take over from the Dursleys, but add the threat of death to the abuse. Lemn Sissay childhood sadly fits the pattern set by literature, but he also triumphs over the terrible things in his life, following that pattern as well.
How dare those foster parents taking in a child and then deciding, after eleven years, they didn't want him any more. They put the blame on him and using the Bible to justify it. Blaming a child and using the Bible, a book of love, to justify their horrible decision. They are not Christ-like. If they ever read the Bible (and I doubt it), they never paid any attention to what it said.
Unfortunately that happens more often than people know. I have a similar story in another country ( germany ) my fosterparents just placed me infront of a childrenshome after 7 years. A lot are actually not very good at parenting.
@@aliimam9334 Well foster parents... they had plenty of time to decide gor a child. Their reason was that I was about to be a teenager and teenagers are too exhausting for them....yeah. My real parents are dead.
@@aliimam9334 Wtf is wrong with you? You really think it is ok to just give a child back for those petty reasons? I lived there almost 7 years called them "Mama" and "Papa"! Because that is what they were to me. You can't "unlove" your parents, I still love them unconditionally like any child loves their parents and they just completly broke me with their actions. Now I'm damaged goods because of them. These scars will never heal! I think you have no idea what you even talk about. Then they shouldn't take a child in at all!
@@aliimam9334 So you deleted your comments because you thought you're sensitive and were answering wise and with compassion....not.
@@danika9411 no...I think I put my words where they never belong..........
I'm 1:40 into this video and I am loving his historical and fictional examples of fostered, orphaned, and adopted kids.
I don't know why... I've always been open about it. Proud even, I was hand picked, all the other parents simply got the luck of the draw.
I like your way of putting it. :) You were chosen, not the luck of the draw. )
Steve Jobs was given up at birth. In a documentary about his life, this event is what a lot of his colleagues said drove him in his life.
He forgot Peter Parker
Fantastic, i've met this man He's a great poet and i love his honesty. His story is important and i can relate to it. Lemmy Sissay your a Legend x
Thank you for sharing so beautifully your wonderful story you are wise and amazing
I feel the same way, being adopted from birth. I almost can't help but think, watching 'natural' parents tear down and yell at their kids every opportunity they find, that my parents actually had to try HARD to have a child, when all other people have to do is fuck, and there it is, and they immediately take it for granted, because they have to do (almost) no work for the priveledge.
I wish he had an hour to speak!
My mom was encouraged to give me up by her pastor. She kept me, married a man who legally adopted me, and they had my brother. We looked typical to an outside observer--people even would comment I looked like my dad not realizing we aren't biologically related. Growing up in church, I got to hear judgmental things said about unwed mothers and siblings with different fathers because there was no way to tell that I didn't come from their idea of a "correct" family structure. Always seemed ironic.
That family who returned him to that system should be shot. How dare they?
One of the best Desert Island Discs. guests I have ever listened. Sublime.Thank you x
I factually had parents, but my biological father run away from the family when I was 1,5 y.o., and after that I was always somwhere else: at grandparent's house, uncle's house, gymnasiun with a full hours dorm etc. I barely saw my mother...
In a sense I am an orphan, I was denying this forever, but I'm tired of lying to myself.
I understand Lemn, I feel his pain, that loneliness, lack of any protection and being always "naked" in front of others...
I'm so moved. I hope I can meet you in person.
I love this man and I don't know why.
Because his name is why😆
wow, just amazing speech! thanks for sharing!
I was kicked out of a foster family as well. though not this drastic.
Foster care is not always evil. My mother adopted or fostered several children.
That's some nice perspective to look at it. I really like it.
"Always look at the bright side of life!" Keep it up!
Nobody can ruin your day if you haven't decided it is ruined.
Barbarian, I totally agree. That's the reason I am searching him on Google. Never heard of him but loved his Desert island disc persona. Lovely guy could have listened all day
Cinderella was a step child. She was orphaned though,
He is so right about that. Children are the smallest and most volnable and also the most valuable but unfortunately also the most neglected and the most abused.
“You can define how strong a democracy is by how its government treats it’s child , the child of the state” Lemn Sisay
joseph was jesus step father or adopted father.
he did raise him from before birth to josephs death as his own son.
ya right!! Joseph is the daddy.
You are a great caring person! I will try.. smile
didn't make it past one minute? No love of literature, perhaps?
The TED sign in the background is crooked! :0
only if you believe the fairy tale!
I thought that Cinderella was orphaned
Margaret Thatcher was my mother! lol
OMG. nobody should have to go through that.
This is really remarkable
Moses, MOSES!
i chuckled.
Wow. Absolutely true.
Bravo sir. Bravo
This guy was great! Howd he end up getting his name he's using tho?
Read the book
Limn Sissay is his real name on his birth certificate. The social worker lied to the foster parents and told them to call the child Norman which was actually his own name!
Yeah i have been shooping.What mall are they selling these lives in?Brain?What kind of brains?Human?You need to give me more information other than there half price.I think you should get a lung and a new set of eyes.
The video is about 'the presenter' - Lemn Sissay sharing his experiances as a Looked After Child in the UK. He choose to share this with a mixture of poetry. I would maybe suggest watching the video in full, as you seem to have enough time to comment on the video.
Just leave your address on my page and i'll pay you a little visit tomorrow johnny.I know you probably live under a bridge but just tell me which one and i'll be there.
You dont have any money johnny.Ill just knock you out and ill throw you a couple of bucks anyway.Accepted?I dont want your pretend play money
sad story, when the state has power to interfere with lives, don't be suprised when they do, and negative results are the fruit of their labour.
Seven spammed messages in a row!!!!Just like you johnny the spammer.I've got two questions.How old are you?45 50?Do you have kids and if so how old are they?
$1,000 bet that I will submit you in less than 45 seconds or knock you out in less than a minute! Accepted?
You would slap me but you dont know what i look like.Just go around slapping animals,you might get lucky.
yes she is. She raised 13 children from baby to adult and several others along the way. only 5 where her birth children. She currently is down to the last 2 kids a special needs boy age 13 who'
s more like a 8 year old and his 14 year old half brother.
Wow, the reason why the country has such bad views of Care Leavers and Looked After Children?
I do think his intro went on too long, but the end was very powerful.... Made my eyes wet up a little.
ለምን
2:23 to get to the actual talk.
Before that is a list of Orphans in fiction.
Im going to teach you how to respect big strong men like me,that's all.
And you say youre not angry?You seem very disturbed johnny.
A couple of the characters he mentioned were stepchildren
after all that shit a little's fucking great = )
I am reached by the story of Lemen Sisay! His story tells thousands of other Ethiopian adoptee emotional experience I say. His name also has a deep meaning. I oppose a child trade which is done in Ethiopia to western families by woyane cadres and non-muman westen adation agencies only to profit Millions of dollars and revenge the Other ethnic group or race for the wrong reason. The TPLF ethnic racism and western adaption hate should be condemned.
Are you still really angry,ashamed and fearfull?
But in his biography he says that's not true.
I can smell the white guilt from my computer
Your country? No, just a bad presenter..
Anyone here watch the Onion talks?
Dont be shy now johnny i wont hurt you.
4 PhDs brought me here!
I did not make it beyond 1 minute..
did he forgot to mention Steve Jobs??
This man has godlike skills in speech.
this guy has some BOSS analogies.
420 everyday in the US and A.
Lemn? Why?
my wife did run away :-)
Get past the epic list of stuff at the start and it gets really good. Such an intense and genuine speech.
I wonder if he himself is a result of a child brought up under relative hardship
No he isn't, both his father and mother were aristocrats from Ethiopia. His mother was in the UK as an international student, her family was wealthy. His father's family were also wealthy.
As an international student she was from a wealthy family. His father was a pilot with Ethiopian Airlines, very handsome gentleman in his pilots photograph
420 twice a day in the US
Hes almost sissy :p
Well, isn't she a saint.
what an amazing life
That sucks.
Your poor wife.
well done Lemnay
SKY WALKER!!!
insightful....
Wow...
0:15
Dont ask me out on another date again,im not like you
10 people dislike that Moses was called fictional :p
Yeah ok you can stop listing characters now -_-
I'll take care of them for you if you want.
lol
Lemn looks like he outgrew his jacket. Looks like his foster Mom has been neglecting him again.
Best bit.