Lemn Sissay: A child of the state

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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[guynoire]

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

[matthewjay]

I'm 1:40 into this video and I am loving his historical and fictional examples of fostered, orphaned, and adopted kids.

[thekatie]

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

[barbarian]

One of the best Desert Island Discs. guests I have ever listened. Sublime.Thank you x

[susanmcdonald]

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

[sorousse]

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.

[wushish]

love how he includes Moses in "great fictional characters" haha

[SEThatered]

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...

[josephinewinter]

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.

[azsli]

Foster care is not always evil. My mother adopted or fostered several children.

[jtowens]

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.

[SEThatered]

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.

[consciousbelfast]

Thank you for sharing so beautifully your wonderful story you are wise and amazing <3

[Conformist]

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.

[Thezuule]

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.

[juju]

wow, just amazing speech! thanks for sharing!

[wadenkrampf]

I love this man and I don't know why.

[dozerjohn]

This man has godlike skills in speech.

[azsli]

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.

[teresaellis]

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.