English subtitles for clip: File:Joshua Bennett Performs at the White House Poetry Jam- (7 of 8).webm

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Mr. Bennett:
Tamara has never
listened to hip-hop,

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Never danced to the
rhythm of rain drops,

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or fallen asleep to a
chorus of chirping crickets.

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She has been Deaf for as
long as I've been alive.

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And ever since the day I first
turned five, my father has said,

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"Joshua, nothing is
wrong with Tamara.

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God just makes some
people different."

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And at that moment, those
nine letters felt like hammers,

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swung gracefully by unholy hands
to shatter my stained-glass

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innocence into shards that can
never be pieced back together or

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do anything more than severe the
ties between my sister and I.

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I waited, was patient numberless
years anticipating the second

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her ears would open like lotuses
and allow my sunlight sentences

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to seep into her insides, make
her remember all of those

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conversations we must have had
in heaven back when God hand

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picked us to be sibling
souls centuries ago.

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I still remember
her 20th birthday.

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Readily recall my awe-struck
11-year-old eyes as I watched

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Deaf men and women of all
ages dance in unison to the

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vibrations of speakers booming
so loud that I imagined angels

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chastising us for disturbing
their worship with such

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beautiful blasphemy.

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Until you have seen
a Deaf girl dance,

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you know nothing of passion.

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There was a barricade between us
that I never took the time to destroy.

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Never for even a moment thought
to pick up a book and look up

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the sign for sister,
for family, good-bye.

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I will see you again, someday.

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Remember the face of
your little brother.

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It is only now I see that I was
never willing to put in the

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extra effort to
love her properly.

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So as the only person in my
family who is not fluent in sign

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language, I've decided to
take this time to apologize.

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Tamara, I am sorry
for my silence.

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But true love
knows no frequency.

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And so I will use these hands to
speak volumes that can never be

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contained from the
boundaries of sound waves.

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I will shout at the top of my
fingertips until digits dance

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and relay these mental messages
directly to your soul.

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I know that there is no poem
that can make up for all the

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time we have lost, so, please,
if you can, just listen.

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Thank you.

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(applause)