Science & Technology

Naima Penniman: “Being Human” | TED Countdown

In this stunning spoken-word performance, poet and “freedom-forging futurist” Naima Penniman celebrates the wonders of the natural world and humanity’s connection to it. “I wonder if the sun debates dawn some mornings,” she says. Countdown is TED’s global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting…

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In this stunning spoken-word performance, poet and “freedom-forging futurist” Naima Penniman celebrates the wonders of the natural world and humanity’s connection to it. “I wonder if the sun debates dawn some mornings,” she says.

Countdown is TED’s global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at

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52 Comments

  1. Brett

    January 25, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    I wonder….. How I made thru all four minutes of that.

    • Jonatas Nogueira

      January 25, 2022 at 5:55 pm

      I couldnt last 30 seconds 🤣

  2. Rays Travel

    January 25, 2022 at 4:44 pm

    Try not moving so much. Sit in nature and don’t speak and don’t move. Just watch. You move around too much. Nature might think something is wrong.

  3. Mercedes Murray

    January 25, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    So poetic. Love it 💗

  4. Eli Nope

    January 25, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    I am too literal to appreciate this. I hope it is moving for people. My favorite cup of soup is not the most popular, so when things don’t appeal to me, it often means that they appeal to many other people instead.

    • Milli W

      January 25, 2022 at 5:53 pm

      Smoke a joint and it will help 💕

  5. Solomon Aime

    January 25, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    Sorry, We’re not hu-mans, We’re Ape Army.

  6. Make Racists Afraid Again

    January 25, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    There’s no need to save the Earth.
    She will recover nicely after we go extinct.

  7. thousand points of light

    January 25, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    you’re not human or your body would emit light. you’re made of mud.

  8. Simeon Wardle

    January 25, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    Wonderful

  9. Henry Cardona

    January 25, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    This is for the poets who talk,
    About whether there is life in a rock,
    And whether their strife is part of the whole.
    If we can carry a holistic approach to include the Earth as one of our own,
    Then the sun becomes our son,
    And the rivers tell us where they want to run,
    Why lightning jumps the gun,
    And thunder shakes our soul.

  10. Jarde Lainen

    January 25, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    Somebody squirming around speaking in rhyme, not a great ted video

  11. EGO narciss

    January 25, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    Nb int hun

  12. Elon Musketeer

    January 25, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    She is an Earther from The Expanse.

  13. Malika Eddakhch

    January 25, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    Beauuuutiful

  14. Hamza

    January 25, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    This is beautiful.

  15. Amateur Golfer

    January 25, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    That’s Salman Khans corporation .. copy rights infringe:)

  16. S

    January 25, 2022 at 7:23 pm

    More important than the words, the energy this woman transfer to me. Thanks you.

  17. ONYX Pages

    January 25, 2022 at 7:54 pm

    Come on, Naima! Come on!!! ✨✨

  18. Ganesha

    January 25, 2022 at 8:26 pm

    This is a dying channel.

  19. SomoyOsomoy 365

    January 25, 2022 at 9:10 pm

    Thankful! 🥰👍

  20. Sigma Japheth

    January 25, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    And some people don’t want to understand our imperfections and they prefer to put things to make us fall. It’s disappointing.

  21. InMaTeofDeath

    January 25, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    I think my favorite part of this is the only ingroup mentioned is humans and that involves everyone. No one gets left out. She doesn’t mention race/gender/identity because she understands none of that matters. I wish Ted and others understood this.

  22. Jon Lee

    January 25, 2022 at 10:30 pm

    Thinkin bout life n staff

  23. Salvador Daliphs

    January 25, 2022 at 10:41 pm

    she is great. however this is in the context of “climate change” narrative of tedx. everyone should know that most of the harm in climate is caused by the upper class which is a very very small percentage. Their crazy lifestyles want to further destroy our poor ones…

  24. Anônimo

    January 25, 2022 at 11:41 pm

    What a lovely poem :]

  25. Steve Mavi

    January 26, 2022 at 12:40 am

    I wonder

  26. Amanda Grays

    January 26, 2022 at 2:17 am

    That was beautiful!!

  27. Lynette Hannan

    January 26, 2022 at 2:35 am

    All the anxieties and happinesses get a mention here, as do the ups and downs. This is normal. This is life. This is what it means to BE, in any era of any culture. Nicely inclusive!

  28. anggreji To English

    January 26, 2022 at 2:55 am

    Moral according to me : enjoy being Who you are.

  29. 1 0

    January 26, 2022 at 3:14 am

    A men = Creator
    Human = Gods

  30. Roman Lee

    January 26, 2022 at 4:52 am

    I teared up…

  31. Aсель

    January 26, 2022 at 5:14 am

    Beautiful!

  32. Not Special™

    January 26, 2022 at 5:14 am

    I wish I could appreciate this. But the things she listed off lack consciousness, don’t feel pain, cannot form thoughts. They simply exist, they do not live. Humans must wake up and face the pain and suffering of living every single day. The sun does not have to choose to rise, it just does. The fact humans have the choice whether or not to exist is complicated enough, in my opinion, let alone the hundreds of other things we deal with in a single lifetime.

  33. Pawel Sawicki

    January 26, 2022 at 6:00 am

    Crazy imagination and not so interesting it is

  34. Quentin Grandjean

    January 26, 2022 at 7:23 am

    I have an answer that may help her : no, they don’t.

  35. 4A09Cheung Cho Yan Ferris張祖仁

    January 26, 2022 at 8:35 am

    Good

  36. 4A09Cheung Cho Yan Ferris張祖仁

    January 26, 2022 at 8:38 am

    Imagine something not impossible thing that can train our brain

  37. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    January 26, 2022 at 9:20 am

    حول ذكريات
    Holocaust
    في الغد.


    هذا هو معنى التشارك في هذا العالم في القرن الحادي والعشرين،

    وهذه هي المسؤولية التي يتحملها كل منا تجاه الآخر كأبناء البشرية.

    إنها مسؤولية تصعب مباشرتها،

    وكان تاريخ البشرية في كثير من الأحيان بمثابة سجل من الشعوب والقبائل التي قمعت بعضها البعض لخدمة تحقيق مصلحتها الخاصة،

    ولكن في عصرنا الحديث تؤدي مثل هذه التوجهات إلى إلحاق الهزيمة بالنفس،

    ونظرا إلى الاعتماد الدولي المتبادل.

    فأي نظام عالمي يعلي شعبا أو مجموعة من البشر فوق غيرهم سيبوء بالفشل لا محالة،

    وبغض النظر عن أفكارنا حول أحداث الماضي يجب أن لا نصبح أبدا سجناء لأحداث مضت،

    وإنما يجب معالجة مشاكلنا بواسطة الشراكة كما يجب أن نحقق التقدم بصفة مشتركة.

    أنا أشكركم.
    وسلام الله 🌏🌍🌎 عليكم جميعا!

    بصحة جيدة دائما!
    شكرا.
    ###

    .

  38. Lightbringer

    January 26, 2022 at 9:45 am

    ted kind of change a little

  39. Tess Davis

    January 26, 2022 at 11:59 am

    This is one of the most brilliant pieces of art I have ever experienced.

  40. Don Redinius

    January 26, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    In my opinion, this does not qualify as a TED talk.

  41. Fimber Frank

    January 26, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    I love this piece

  42. hanane alami

    January 26, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    Is good

  43. Tim Chau

    January 27, 2022 at 12:22 am

    🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃🛃

  44. Alwyn Nito

    January 27, 2022 at 10:52 am

    what if deep sea black coral could be a puzzle _piece_ to immortality?

    Edit: I forgot a word

  45. Vlog BGM No Copyright Music

    January 27, 2022 at 2:20 pm

    💙💙💙💙💚💚💚💚

  46. Peggy Street

    January 27, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    Beautiful!

  47. SWEETGA BROWNIN

    January 28, 2022 at 3:57 am

    Such a beautiful and exhilarating expression of art…thank you🙏🏽💙

  48. muhammad riaz

    January 29, 2022 at 1:30 am

    Effort give way to existence. Marvelous😊

  49. Vytautas

    January 31, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    How to say you are drug abuser without saying you are a drug abuser

  50. Julia Randuskova

    January 31, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    This made me speachless.I am new here on TED and I Can say such a good decision..What a pleasure to watch and listen This words od wisdom.

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