[Applause]
don’t speak like that talk like you’re
educated it was from a very young age
that I became aware of the concept of
superior and inferior language the
framework of my experience being through
African American vernacular English
sometimes called aave or Ebonics a
creolized language rooted in a variety
of West African languages and new world
experiences globally underrepresented
communities are no stranger to cultural
and linguistic suppression from Cherokee
to aave to Hopi to Wolof to Mi’kmaq this
is a historical threat that actually
binds many of us together what I’m
interested in though is the ability for
underrepresented communities to
celebrate and continue their ancestral
modes of speech despite the obstacles
I’m also interested in the way that our
larger communities like everyone in this
room can support that reclamation
process hey everyone my name is Kerri
jay black and I am a social entrepreneur
and the co-founder of Bloom a tool that
offers free courses for learning
indigenous languages around the globe my
experience as a youth and the
inspiration I feel for my global roots
is what drives me to build this company
my first experience with language stigma
was over 15 years ago but constantly
I’ve reminded that language stigma is
far from over one reminder being a
conversation with my co-founder Bree
Alexander a Cherokee citizen who was
asked why she was learning a useless
language it was in that moment that she
were called to me that took me back to a
time in my life when the words and
language surrounding my underrepresented
community could make or break whether I
linguistically celebrated and expressed
myself what I really want to talk about
today though and what I really want to
dig into is what was said to
bring oftentimes underrepresented and
especially indigenous languages are
characterized as dying or extinct dying
denoting something that is inevitable or
irreversible something that the Miami or
meeow meeow tribe of Oklahoma proved not
to be true about the state of
underrepresented languages after
successfully revitalizing their own 30
years after the passing of their last
native speaker what the term dying also
does is take away power and agency from
communities impacted by a language loss
as well as from all of us who can play a
role in at least partially undoing some
of the historical impacts of cultural
suppression what often gets lost in this
conversation though and what I love to
talk about are the immense benefits of
underrepresented languages from mental
to physical to environmental health to
educational attainment underrepresented
languages change our lives and I believe
are the key to our future and I hope
after this talk that you also see why as
well a Canadian study in British
Columbia stated that First Nations youth
able to converse in their language are
six times less likely to commit suicide
additionally any what children taught in
their language and noop data inter
school with increased confidence that
only increases as they get older and
Daryl Baldwin the man responsible for
spearheading revitalization efforts in
the Miami tribe of Oklahoma realized the
depth of his work when his young son was
only able to adequately express
distressed feelings in his native Miami
or meeow meeow
language imagine that child’s life
trajectory if he didn’t have that
language to express himself something
similar was seen in Cape Town South
Africa among youth taught in the
language is a cosa the exhibited
decreased anxiety
also had a stronger more positive
outlook for their future saying in their
language that they wanted to be doctors
or scientists when asked the same
question in English they often started
to Shia and exhibit depressive feelings
when we understand suicide as a way of
expressing social despair and we
understand language as a protective
barrier that can promote historical
present and future well-being it’s easy
to understand how language and culture
can play a role in alleviating negative
mental health outcomes but what we know
is that language not only saves life but
transforms it in Arizona
Hopi women who engage in language and
culture are three times more likely to
engage in Hopi like behavior which in
turn increases their physical health
outcomes there’s also been great work
seen in the public health sector and
Nairobi Kenya the enrichment of
indigenous language fused with community
love Performing Arts has been utilized
to spread pertinent health messages
across communities who otherwise
wouldn’t get that information because
they don’t speak the dominant language
it’s this act quite literally that is
helping reduced health disparities in no
robaix in Chiapas Mexico an indigenous
led hospital called Casas offers health
services and languages like mixed echo
and South cell they’ve seen an increase
in trust between indigenous women and
health care providers as well as
tangible progress toward decreasing
maternal mortality rates among
indigenous women one patient expressed
that she liked going to the Casas
hospital because they respected her and
they spoke her language strikingly
different than her previous health care
experiences so we’ve learned a little
bit how language manifests in the brains
chemistry through mental health as well
as throughout our body
but what happens when we step out into
the larger world the Parliament of
Australia explained that
dizziness language hold vast
vocabularies for naming Ecology’s and
species that are still unknown to much
of Western science this information has
been passed down since the beginning of
time and has the potential to change the
course of our planets future in the
tanzanian mountains rich in expressive
wild plant names and previously unknown
knowledge of their uses were found in an
indigenous community that speaks the
language of a Doudna it was this
community who spearheaded an improved
International botanical research in
Australia’s Northern Territory and
tropical savannas indigenous people are
well known for utilising the
environmental knowledge encoded in their
language to understand patterns of
climate change and ways to address its
impacts collaborations between
indigenous people and scientists has
been elevated by the use of indigenous
language and so it’s clear that
underrepresented languages not only help
us understand the past in the present
but maybe at the key to a sustainable
future
speaking of future 7th to 12th graders
taught in aave
or African American vernacular English
retain six times more knowledge over the
course of four months compared to
students taught into standard English
the method used in this study is called
contrastive analysis and it’s a pretty
famous teaching method that encourages
instead of suppressants bilingualism in
the classroom contrasted analysis but
has been used to improve the cognitive
ability of young people across the globe
somewhat something similar was seen in
Cherokee Nation work great youth and
grades one through five taught in both
Cherokee in English score higher on
eighth grade reading and math
assessments compared to youth taught
just in English this is in our very own
state of Oklahoma in the Navajo Nation
youth taught in both Navajo and English
score higher on their SATs and in
Ireland Irish speakers spend two years
longer in school and achieve higher
educational qualifications and those who
do not speak Irish well and so it’s
clear that our underrepresented
languages are not what hold us back in
the classroom which is what’s commonly
thought research is painting a broader
picture that shows that our languages
may be what pull us forward into the
world but despite all of the wonderful
things I’ve told you all today about
underrepresented languages how they make
us happier and better people language
stigma still exists right and the
question becomes what do we do
coming from an aave speaking community
and my work with bluem has led me to
this first we must become highly aware
of which languages we don’t hear in
public space or in certain spaces
understanding the silence behind
language suppression may lead you to
bigger questions like it did for me in
the next of course we need to shift our
language and our words around
underrepresented language communities
moving from frames of reference that are
disempowering to communities too
celebratory of their distinct modes of
speech the ones we hear in our towns in
the cities over on reservations and
across the globe this is work that we
can do today the moment we step out of
this room but I know you’re thinking do
we really have room for more than one
language at a time come on well that’s
actually a really good question because
it’s a debate happening in Cameroon
right now a West African country with
over 250 indigenous languages my friend
gogo Nene Abbas is a Cameroonian
linguist who studies the language super
men and he taught me about the concept
of regional recognition who here has
been to Tahlequah Oklahoma raise your
hands have you been there cool cool so
if you haven’t been this is what some of
the sign
look like you see words and phrases in
Cherokee on buildings and signs and it’s
really cool and what happens is that you
become highly aware of that language
community in that space here in Norman
Oklahoma
we’re on absentee Shawnee land and I
think no matter where we are in the
globe there’s an opportunity to
recognize the language community where
we reside so yes there is room for more
than one language there has to be room
for more than one language and because
I’d love to celebrate I have to mention
the incredible work happening in the
language reclamation space right now
Ireland has committed themselves to a
20-year plan for the Irish language that
includes increasing daily speakers from
80,000 to 250,000 in Mali a committed
professor is teaching chemistry and
physics in an indigenous language called
Bambara proving once and for all the
resiliency and flexibility of indigenous
languages Elena too late a 20 23 year
old Caddo citizen and University of
Oklahoma student teaches in-person in
online keto language classes helping
spearhead language revitalization
efforts with her community in Hawaii
Hawaii has become the global pinnacle of
language recovery in 1997 they created a
language revitalization program that has
been wildly successful in that
communities across the globe have
replicated with hopes that they’ll be as
successful as well with their languages
and last but not least the Cherokee
Nation master apprentice program an
immersion program in Tahlequah Oklahoma
and blooms first language partner has
graduated six nearly fluent speakers
already and this year they plan to
graduate six more and then there’s blue
the tool that might
and I have borne out of the stories of
our ancestors bloom is a celebration of
all that we are into reminder that the
value and our words extends far past
anything that has ever happened to us
but believe me I too find myself struck
by harsh histories by realities and what
sometimes feels like the unknown future
but it is in that moment that I look in
the mirror and I see my ancestors and
every feature on my face and I hear them
in my words and then I look over at my
co-founder Bree Alexander and I see and
hear in her too and it is in that moment
that I understand that nothing and no
one is dead yet so long as we are still
here tending to the seeds that have been
laid out by those who came before us and
doing everything we can to support and
empower those who come after us and it
is existing in that middle space with
all of y’all between what was and what
will be but I see the power in our
collective future that power lies in our
words thank you
[Applause]
don’t speak like that talk like you’re
educated it was from a very young age
that I became aware of the concept of
superior and inferior language the
framework of my experience being through
African American vernacular English
sometimes called aave or Ebonics a
creolized language rooted in a variety
of West African languages and new world
experiences globally underrepresented
communities are no stranger to cultural
and linguistic suppression from Cherokee
to aave to Hopi to Wolof to Mi’kmaq this
is a historical threat that actually
binds many of us together what I’m
interested in though is the ability for
underrepresented communities to
celebrate and continue their ancestral
modes of speech despite the obstacles
I’m also interested in the way that our
larger communities like everyone in this
room can support that reclamation
process hey everyone my name is Kerri
jay black and I am a social entrepreneur
and the co-founder of Bloom a tool that
offers free courses for learning
indigenous languages around the globe my
experience as a youth and the
inspiration I feel for my global roots
is what drives me to build this company
my first experience with language stigma
was over 15 years ago but constantly
I’ve reminded that language stigma is
far from over one reminder being a
conversation with my co-founder Bree
Alexander a Cherokee citizen who was
asked why she was learning a useless
language it was in that moment that she
were called to me that took me back to a
time in my life when the words and
language surrounding my underrepresented
community could make or break whether I
linguistically celebrated and expressed
myself what I really want to talk about
today though and what I really want to
dig into is what was said to
bring oftentimes underrepresented and
especially indigenous languages are
characterized as dying or extinct dying
denoting something that is inevitable or
irreversible something that the Miami or
meeow meeow tribe of Oklahoma proved not
to be true about the state of
underrepresented languages after
successfully revitalizing their own 30
years after the passing of their last
native speaker what the term dying also
does is take away power and agency from
communities impacted by a language loss
as well as from all of us who can play a
role in at least partially undoing some
of the historical impacts of cultural
suppression what often gets lost in this
conversation though and what I love to
talk about are the immense benefits of
underrepresented languages from mental
to physical to environmental health to
educational attainment underrepresented
languages change our lives and I believe
are the key to our future and I hope
after this talk that you also see why as
well a Canadian study in British
Columbia stated that First Nations youth
able to converse in their language are
six times less likely to commit suicide
additionally any what children taught in
their language and noop data inter
school with increased confidence that
only increases as they get older and
Daryl Baldwin the man responsible for
spearheading revitalization efforts in
the Miami tribe of Oklahoma realized the
depth of his work when his young son was
only able to adequately express
distressed feelings in his native Miami
or meeow meeow
language imagine that child’s life
trajectory if he didn’t have that
language to express himself something
similar was seen in Cape Town South
Africa among youth taught in the
language is a cosa the exhibited
decreased anxiety
also had a stronger more positive
outlook for their future saying in their
language that they wanted to be doctors
or scientists when asked the same
question in English they often started
to Shia and exhibit depressive feelings
when we understand suicide as a way of
expressing social despair and we
understand language as a protective
barrier that can promote historical
present and future well-being it’s easy
to understand how language and culture
can play a role in alleviating negative
mental health outcomes but what we know
is that language not only saves life but
transforms it in Arizona
Hopi women who engage in language and
culture are three times more likely to
engage in Hopi like behavior which in
turn increases their physical health
outcomes there’s also been great work
seen in the public health sector and
Nairobi Kenya the enrichment of
indigenous language fused with community
love Performing Arts has been utilized
to spread pertinent health messages
across communities who otherwise
wouldn’t get that information because
they don’t speak the dominant language
it’s this act quite literally that is
helping reduced health disparities in no
robaix in Chiapas Mexico an indigenous
led hospital called Casas offers health
services and languages like mixed echo
and South cell they’ve seen an increase
in trust between indigenous women and
health care providers as well as
tangible progress toward decreasing
maternal mortality rates among
indigenous women one patient expressed
that she liked going to the Casas
hospital because they respected her and
they spoke her language strikingly
different than her previous health care
experiences so we’ve learned a little
bit how language manifests in the brains
chemistry through mental health as well
as throughout our body
but what happens when we step out into
the larger world the Parliament of
Australia explained that
dizziness language hold vast
vocabularies for naming Ecology’s and
species that are still unknown to much
of Western science this information has
been passed down since the beginning of
time and has the potential to change the
course of our planets future in the
tanzanian mountains rich in expressive
wild plant names and previously unknown
knowledge of their uses were found in an
indigenous community that speaks the
language of a Doudna it was this
community who spearheaded an improved
International botanical research in
Australia’s Northern Territory and
tropical savannas indigenous people are
well known for utilising the
environmental knowledge encoded in their
language to understand patterns of
climate change and ways to address its
impacts collaborations between
indigenous people and scientists has
been elevated by the use of indigenous
language and so it’s clear that
underrepresented languages not only help
us understand the past in the present
but maybe at the key to a sustainable
future
speaking of future 7th to 12th graders
taught in aave
or African American vernacular English
retain six times more knowledge over the
course of four months compared to
students taught into standard English
the method used in this study is called
contrastive analysis and it’s a pretty
famous teaching method that encourages
instead of suppressants bilingualism in
the classroom contrasted analysis but
has been used to improve the cognitive
ability of young people across the globe
somewhat something similar was seen in
Cherokee Nation work great youth and
grades one through five taught in both
Cherokee in English score higher on
eighth grade reading and math
assessments compared to youth taught
just in English this is in our very own
state of Oklahoma in the Navajo Nation
youth taught in both Navajo and English
score higher on their SATs and in
Ireland Irish speakers spend two years
longer in school and achieve higher
educational qualifications and those who
do not speak Irish well and so it’s
clear that our underrepresented
languages are not what hold us back in
the classroom which is what’s commonly
thought research is painting a broader
picture that shows that our languages
may be what pull us forward into the
world but despite all of the wonderful
things I’ve told you all today about
underrepresented languages how they make
us happier and better people language
stigma still exists right and the
question becomes what do we do
coming from an aave speaking community
and my work with bluem has led me to
this first we must become highly aware
of which languages we don’t hear in
public space or in certain spaces
understanding the silence behind
language suppression may lead you to
bigger questions like it did for me in
the next of course we need to shift our
language and our words around
underrepresented language communities
moving from frames of reference that are
disempowering to communities too
celebratory of their distinct modes of
speech the ones we hear in our towns in
the cities over on reservations and
across the globe this is work that we
can do today the moment we step out of
this room but I know you’re thinking do
we really have room for more than one
language at a time come on well that’s
actually a really good question because
it’s a debate happening in Cameroon
right now a West African country with
over 250 indigenous languages my friend
gogo Nene Abbas is a Cameroonian
linguist who studies the language super
men and he taught me about the concept
of regional recognition who here has
been to Tahlequah Oklahoma raise your
hands have you been there cool cool so
if you haven’t been this is what some of
the sign
look like you see words and phrases in
Cherokee on buildings and signs and it’s
really cool and what happens is that you
become highly aware of that language
community in that space here in Norman
Oklahoma
we’re on absentee Shawnee land and I
think no matter where we are in the
globe there’s an opportunity to
recognize the language community where
we reside so yes there is room for more
than one language there has to be room
for more than one language and because
I’d love to celebrate I have to mention
the incredible work happening in the
language reclamation space right now
Ireland has committed themselves to a
20-year plan for the Irish language that
includes increasing daily speakers from
80,000 to 250,000 in Mali a committed
professor is teaching chemistry and
physics in an indigenous language called
Bambara proving once and for all the
resiliency and flexibility of indigenous
languages Elena too late a 20 23 year
old Caddo citizen and University of
Oklahoma student teaches in-person in
online keto language classes helping
spearhead language revitalization
efforts with her community in Hawaii
Hawaii has become the global pinnacle of
language recovery in 1997 they created a
language revitalization program that has
been wildly successful in that
communities across the globe have
replicated with hopes that they’ll be as
successful as well with their languages
and last but not least the Cherokee
Nation master apprentice program an
immersion program in Tahlequah Oklahoma
and blooms first language partner has
graduated six nearly fluent speakers
already and this year they plan to
graduate six more and then there’s blue
the tool that might
and I have borne out of the stories of
our ancestors bloom is a celebration of
all that we are into reminder that the
value and our words extends far past
anything that has ever happened to us
but believe me I too find myself struck
by harsh histories by realities and what
sometimes feels like the unknown future
but it is in that moment that I look in
the mirror and I see my ancestors and
every feature on my face and I hear them
in my words and then I look over at my
co-founder Bree Alexander and I see and
hear in her too and it is in that moment
that I understand that nothing and no
one is dead yet so long as we are still
here tending to the seeds that have been
laid out by those who came before us and
doing everything we can to support and
empower those who come after us and it
is existing in that middle space with
all of y’all between what was and what
will be but I see the power in our
collective future that power lies in our
words thank you
[Applause]
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