Elsker du ikke en god lur?
Don't you love a good nap?
(grin)
(Laughter)
At stjæle et lille øjeblik at krybe sammen på sofaen og tage en pause Det er en af mine favoritter, men noget jeg tog for givet, før jeg som teenager oplevede at blive hjemløs At kunne tage en lur, er reserveret for stabilitet og tryghed noget man ikke finder når alt hvad man ejer og har, kan være i en taske og du stjæler dig til at sidde lidt tid, et givent sted, før du bliver bedt om at gå.
Just stealing away that small block of time to curl up on your couch for that sweet moment of escape. It's one of my favorite things, but something I took for granted before I began experiencing homelessness as a teenager. The ability to take a nap is only reserved for stability and sureness, something you can't find when you're carrying everything you own in your book bag and carefully counting the amount of time you're allowed to sit in any given place before being asked to leave.
Jeg voksede op i Atlanta, Georgia, flyttede fra hus til hus med en kærlig og tæt familie der kæmpede for stabilitet i økonomien. Men da min mor midlertidigt mistede sig selv til manien og denne mani valgte mig som primær syndebuk gennem følelsesmæssigt og fysisk misbrug flygtede jeg af frygt for min sikkerhed. Min konklusion var, at hjemløshed sikrere end at være hjemme. Jeg var 16.
I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, bouncing from house to house with a loving, close-knit family as we struggled to find stability in our finances. But when my mom temporarily lost herself to mania and when that mania chose me as its primary scapegoat through both emotional and physical abuse, I fled for my safety. I had come to the conclusion that homelessness was safer for me than being at home. I was 16.
Jeg blev en af Atlantas 3300 hjemløse unge som ingen tog sig af som var ude og usynlige hver aften. Der var ikke, og der er stadig ikke noget sted en hjemløs mindreårig kan komme indenfor og få en seng. Det gik op for mig at de fleste tænker på hjemløshed som en ubelejlig konsekvens af dovenskab og narko, men det stemte dårligt med min taske, fyldt med tøj og skolebøger, Eller mine A+ karakterer. Jeg sad på min foretrukne bænk i midtbyen og ventede i timer indtil jeg kunne snige mig til et par timers søvn på sofaer, i biler i bygninger eller lagerrum. Ligesom tusinde andre unge hjemløse forsvandt jeg i byens skygger mens verden kørte videre. som om ingenting var gået helt galt. Usynligheden alene knækkede mig næsten
During my homelessness, I joined Atlanta's 3,300 homeless youth in feeling uncared for, left out and invisible each night. There wasn't and still is not any place for a homeless minor to walk off the street to access a bed. I realized that most people thought of homelessness as some kind of lazy, drug-induced squalor and inconvenience, but that didn't represent my book bag full of clothes and schoolbooks, or my A+ grade point average. I would sit on my favorite bench downtown and watch as the hours passed by until I could sneak in a few hours of sleep on couches, in cars, in buildings or in storage units. I, like thousands of other homeless youth, disappeared into the shadows of the city while the whole world kept spinning as if nothing at all had gone terribly wrong. The invisibility alone almost completely broke my spirit.
men jeg havde kunsten noget der ikke forudsatte materiel rigdom i bytte for et tilflugtssted. Et par timer med sang og poesi eller at spare penge op til at forsvinde ind i en verden af skuespil, holdt mig i gang og gav mig livet tilbage når jeg var allerlængst nede Jeg gik til gudstjeneste onsdag aften og i desperation efter at søge tilflugt i kunsten tog jeg afsted et par timer før gik ned af trappen og ind i en verden hvor det eneste der betød noget var om jeg kunne ramme tonen i den sang jeg øvede den uge. Jeg sang i timevis. Det gav mig styrke til at at glemme alt og bare synge. Fem år senere, startede jeg ChopArt,
But when I had nothing else, I had the arts, something that didn't demand material wealth from me in exchange for refuge. A few hours of singing, writing poetry or saving up enough money to disappear into another world at a play kept me going and jolting me back to life when I felt at my lowest. I would go to church services on Wednesday evenings and, desperate for the relief the arts gave me, I would go a few hours early, slip downstairs and into a part of the world where the only thing that mattered was whether or not I could hit the right note in the song I was perfecting that week. I would sing for hours. It gave me so much strength to give myself permission to just block it all out and sing. Five years later, I started my organization, ChopArt,
en tværfaglig kunstorganisation for hjemløse mindreårige. ChopArt benytter kunst som et værktøj til at komme sig over traumer med vores viden om at bygge et fællesskab og genoprette værdighed og anvende det i den kreative proces. ChopArt har hovedkvarter i Atlanta, Georgia, og initiativer i Hyderabad, India og Accra, Ghana, og siden vi startede i 2010 har vi hjulpet over 40.000 teenagere over hele verden. Disse teenagere søger tilflugt i de foranderlige elementer i kunsten, og ChopArt giver dem et sikkert sted at gøre dette. En usynlig gruppe, som bruger kunsten til at træde ind i lyset men vejen ud af usynlighed er ikke nem. Et søskendepar, Jeremy og Kelly,
which is a multidisciplinary arts organization for homeless minors. ChopArt uses the arts as a tool for trauma recovery by taking what we know about building community and restoring dignity and applying that to the creative process. ChopArt is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with additional programs in Hyderabad, India, and Accra, Ghana, and since our start in 2010, we've served over 40,000 teens worldwide. Our teens take refuge in the transformative elements of the arts, and they depend on the safe space ChopArt provides for them to do that. An often invisible population uses the arts to step into their light, but that journey out of invisibility is not an easy one. We have a sibling pair, Jeremy and Kelly,
har været med i vores program i over tre år De kommer i ChopArt klassen hver onsdag aften Men for ca et år siden, var Jeremy og Kelly vidne til at deres mor døde. De så til da lægerne måtte opgive at genoplive hende. De græd da deres far gav midlertidig forældremyndighed til deres ChopArt mentor, Erin, uden at give dem så meget som et ekstra sæt tøj med, på vej ud af døren. Det knuste mit hjerte at se, men Jeremy og Kellys beslutsomhed og tro på ChopArt er det der holder mig igang med dette arbejde. Kelly der ringer til Erin i de svære øjeblikke og ved at Erin gør hvad hun kan så de føler sig elsket og holdt af, beviser for mig, at med kunsten som base kan vi hjælpe og støtte vores hjemløse unge. Og vi fortsætter med at støtte
who have been with our program for over three years. They come to the ChopArt classes every Wednesday evening. But about a year ago, Jeremy and Kelly witnessed their mom seize and die right in front of them. They watched as the paramedics failed to revive her. They cried as their father signed over temporary custody to their ChopArt mentor, Erin, without even allowing them to take an extra pair of clothes on their way out. This series of events broke my heart, but Jeremy and Kelly's faith and resolve in ChopArt is what keeps me grounded in this work. Kelly calling Erin in her lowest moment, knowing that Erin would do whatever she could to make them feel loved and cared for, is proof to me that by using the arts as the entry point, we can heal and build our homeless youth population. And we continue to build.
Vi støtter Devin som blev hjemløs med sin familie da hans mor måtte vælge mellem medicin og husleje. Hos Chopart fandt han kærligheden til at male Vi støtter Liz, som har levet på gaden det meste af sit teenageliv men bruger musikken når hun skal finde sig selv når traumerne bliver for tunge for hendes unge skuldre Vi støtter Maria, som bruger poesi til at hele efter tabet af sin bedstefar, der døde i den bil hun boede i med resten af sin familie. Til de unge derude der oplever hjemløsheden,
We build with Devin, who became homeless with his family when his mom had to choose between medical bills or the rent. He discovered his love of painting through ChopArt. We build with Liz, who has been on the streets most of her teenage years but turns to music to return to herself when her traumas feel too heavy for her young shoulders. We build for Maria, who uses poetry to heal after her grandfather died in the van she's living in with the rest of her family. And so to the youth out there experiencing homelessness,
lad mig fortælle jer at, i har mulighed for at støtte Jer selv. I har en stemme gennem kunsten som ikke dømmer det i har gennemgået Kæmp videre og find ind i lyset, for selv når mørket er værst ser vi dig. Tak
let me tell you, you have the power to build within you. You have a voice through the arts that doesn't judge what you've been through. So never stop fighting to stand in your light because even in your darkest times, we see you. Thank you.
(bifald)
(Applause)