Tweets About The Word "Chithis" In Kamala Harris’ Acceptance Speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention August 19, 2020

PBS Newshour, August 19, 2020
-snip-
The word "Chithis" is found at 4:02 in this video when Kamala Harris is listing who she considers family. "Family is my chithis". 

Click https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/19/politics/kamala-harris-speech-transcript/index.html for a full transcript of this speech.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post includes links to an article with photographs of Kamala Harris' family, with a special focus on her Tamil (South Indian) mother and grandfather. This post also showcases a video of Senator Harris' acceptance speech to be the Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States (2020) and provides a link to the full transcript of that speech.

In addition, this pancocojams post presents a compilation of tweets about the Tamil word "chithis" that Kamala Harris included in her speech when she was listing who she considers her family.

The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and political purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for President of the United States, 2020 for the hope that they give to the people of this nation and the world that better times are coming soon with the United States under qualified, intelligent, and compassionate leadership.

And thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

****
Click https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-family-parents-husband-children/ for a CBS News article entitled "Get To Know Kamala Harris' Family"
by Chevez Clarke, August 14, 2020
That article includes some photographs of Kamala Harris' family and links to additional photographs on Kamala Harris' Instagram page.

****
SELECTED TWEETS ABOUT THE WORD CHITHIS THAT KAMALA HARRIS USED IN HER VICE PRESIDENT ACCEPTANCE SPEECH 2020

These tweets were posted on August 19, 2020. Except for the first tweet, I've not included the time stamp and date, the replies to citations, and any retweet information that are found in these tweets.

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

From https://twitter.com/PadmaLakshmi/status/1296280334515003394
1. Maya Harris Retweeted

Padma Lakshmi

@PadmaLakshmi

"I literally have tears in my eyes.

@KamalaHarris

 just said “chithis” which means auntie. My heart is so full right now"

10:58 PM · Aug 19, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

4.5K  Retweets and comments

62.1K  Likes

**
2. Ameet Pinto

@watermicrobe

"me too". Loudly crying face, Loudly crying face, Loudly crying face, Loudly crying face

**
3. Richa

@aquaRlove

"We became so proud...!"

**
4.  Curry Cravings #aaja2020

@CurryCravings

"She has chosen her words very very carefully.

This will also raise expectations of every Indian Chitti’s of their nieces everywhere :)"

**
5. AbbyZabby

@PeaceAndAbby

"also athais and periammas. I am traveling and could not watch. Is there a recorded version I can watch somewhere?"

**
6. KellyLCWater wave❄

@kellylyric001

"It'll be on YouTube, I'm sure"

**
7. Barb Krause

@BarbKrause10

"Thank you for the spelling and the meaning."

**
8.  vaithish vaiSun with facethi

@RohitVaithesh

"Chithi is a Tamil word which means mother's sister."

**

9. vaithish vaiSun with facethi

@RohitVaithesh

"In tamil ,Father's sister called as Athai"

**
10. Mythili Lahiri

@Mythlahiri

"Felt the same way when she said “Chithis”."

**
11.  deena k

@deenad1

"Same. So great to hear her celebrating her Indian heritage."

**
12.  Nancy Ringier

@NRingier

"I didn't know the meaning but I knew the vibe."

**
13. Rodney Faraon

@rfaraon

"That’s so cool. So happy for you and the Indian American community."

**
14. Gomathi

@gomathinj

"It means mother’s younger sister or father’s younger brother’s wife. Tamil is so good with the nuances of relationships! Gave me goosebumps too!"

**

15. Dr Farasat./

@drfarasat

"Those two? Not just mother’s sister? What about father’s sister?"

**

16. Jeff

@ShatteredJD

"Diwali at the WH will be incredible!"

**
17. Pepper

@pepperRasam

"Loved the shoutout to her Chtitis!!! Red heart ::goosebumps::"

**
18. Samuel Guzman

@DJGeminiSound

"I was wondering what that word meant....thanks."

**
19. Carlynn Lawrence

@Carlynn12

"My grandson asked me what that meant. I had no idea. So thank you."

**
20. Chike

@ChikeUc

"And that is the meaning of diversity, why it is important, and its potential to shape the future into what we all - despite our backgrounds- desire."

**
21. lene Duffy

@lenieduffy

"Thanks for the explanation. We're in for a good education with Vice President Harris in action"

**

22. Madhushree Ghosh

@WriteMadhushree

"Chittis rule, Padma!"

**

23. Gov Mohan

@gomoeagles

"LOVED LOVED LOVED her embracing her Indian roots. This Chennai raised man is so appreciative!"

**
24. Madhu Somasekhar

@Nomad_Somad

"Literal translation from Tamil (language in state of Tamil Nadu) is something like 'younger mother', specific only to mother's younger sisters (or father's younger brother's wife)."

**

Dr Farasat./

@drfarasat

·

3h

Why not father’s sister and mother’s brother’s wife?

The God Fly

@TapTheGodfly

·

3h

Father's sister is atthai. Mother's brother's wife is maami. Mother's older sister is periamma. Lots of words for aunts & uncles.

**
25. Dr Farasat./

@drfarasat

"In Urdu and Hindi, there are separate words for each one. I was curious why these two have the same name? And apparently it’s mom’s younger sister not older?"

**
26. The God Fly

@TapTheGodfly

"Right. Mother's younger sister & father's younger brother's wife: chitti. Mother's older sister & father's older brother's wife: periamma"

**
27. Dr Farasat./

@drfarasat

"Interesting."

**
28. Bryan Mode

@bryan_mode

"Thank you for this explanation. The closed captioning thought she said “kitties”."

**
29. Rep. Kelly Cassidy

@RepKellyCassidy

"It’s hard to imagine because I love being mom to my boys, but I value my impact as an auntie at least as much as being a parent. Sometimes even more so."

**
30. Lacey Pruett

@laceypruett

"There’s room for both in the world... great parents and great aunties." Yellow heart

**

31.  Artie

@Arr_Arrtie

"With you. Had someone told me I'd hear a Tamil word spoken at the DNC stage even a few days ago, I wouldn't have believed it." Two hearts

**
32. ilina ewen

@ilinaP

"I was thinking the exact same thing, pronunciation and everything.

#RepresentationMatters #KamalaHarrisVP #DNC2020"

**
33. (((BuffaloMeg)))👸🏼 👩🏻‍⚖️ Yellow heartHoneybeeWilted flower

@mwolfers

"ohhh, thats what she said!  was waiting for closed caption to spell it out but they couldn't!"

**
34. AnitaUribeMartin

@auribemartin

"Thank you for helping me understand. I learned something new today. #TiaSpanishforAunt"

**
35. mamabear15

@sunnyspot2021

"OMG, I cried. I’m so excited to have

@SenKamalaHarris

 as VP.   Please everyone, get out & VOTE!!"

**
36. Dan Ruparel

@dmruparel

"Lol! "Mothers' younger sister"!

Haven't heard that term for about 35 years and my time at school in Kodai!

Wot memories!!"

**
37. Matthew R. Kerns

@mattkerns

"It is a good and right thing to have all Americans represented"

**
38. Ricky RodrigueZ

@RickyRo90553610

"You’ve taught me something beautiful tonight. Thank you."

**
39. (((BuffaloMeg)))👸🏼 👩🏻‍⚖️ Yellow heartHoneybeeWilted flower

@mwolfers

"We need some Chithi Kamala swag. :-)"

**
40. RuDaVerde

@RuDaVerde

"I have the same feeling and I’m not from India but she is representing all minorities in this country and she will speak for all Americans. #AmericaOrTrump #TrumpIsTheEnemyOfThePeople #BidenHarris2020ToEndThisNightmare"

**
41. Mary Rose #GoodTrouble

@Beutifulgame

"What a difference between Kamala and Nikki Haley both Indian ancestry but Haley thinks she is white, changed her name and supports a horrid man that is a mobster, disrepects women and minorities. Kamala is proud of her diverse background & is a role model for children."

**
42. Chuck Schallhorn (he/him)

@MtnHousePsych

"I was watching with captions. The captioner skipped that part. Grrrrrrr"

**
43. Mama Ohana
@OhanaTribe

"I love that all of this is reality for this moment. Salve for my weary soul."

**
44. Pietro

Flag of United States Flag of Italy

@ConstantRebel55

""Last night, during the row call, how many languages did we hear spoken by Americans who are descended of people from every nation on the planet? This is the America I want for us, for my children. Our diversity is our greatest strength"

**
45. Unussedleo - only one, but a lion Lion face

@Unussedleo1

"The world needs to feel this love, to feel the possibility of balance and compassion come back to humanity. We hold our collective breaths in hope"

**
46. Brock

@kbrock77

"As a language teacher, I loved learning a new word...and now it's forever memorized!  Thanks for teaching me!"

**
47. Lando Ettrick

@LandoEttrick

"There way she represented so many groups was soul lifting."

****

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Comments About Similarities Between Tamil People And The Ho People In India And The Malinke (Mandingo) West African Cultures Documented In The YouTube Video "Foli- There Is No Movement Without Rhythm"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post documents a number of comments from the discussion thread of the 2010 YouTube video entitled "Foli - There Is No Movement Without Rhythm" that noted what commenters consider to be similarities the traditional culture of the Malinke people of West Africa and the cultures of Tamil people in India and the Ho people in India.

Information about the Malinke (Mandingo) people of West Africa is included in this pancocojams post. Information about Tamils and the Ho people in India is also included in this post.

Addendum #1 showcases a Tamil video that was mentioned in one of the comments that is quoted from the discussion thread for the "Foli" video.

Addendum #2 quotes a comment exchange from that discussion thread that informs readers that it's the Malinke (Mandingo) culture that is the focus of this video.

****
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks Thomas Roebers and Floris Leeuwenberg, the producers and publishers on YouTube of this embedded video. Thanks to all those who are featured in this video. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: FOLI (there is no movement without rhythm) original version by Thomas Roebers and Floris Leeuwenberg



thomas roebers, Published on Oct 25, 2010

Dedicated to the people of Baro*. Please share.

Life has a rhythm, it's constantly moving.
The word for rhythm ( used by the Malinke tribes ) is FOLI.
It is a word that encompasses so much more than drumming, dancing or sound.
It's found in every part of daily life.
In this film you not only hear and feel rhythm but you see it.
It's an extraordinary blend of image and sound that
feeds the senses and reminds us all
how essential it is.
Caption author (Portuguese (Brazil))
Yuri Sucupira
-snip-
Statistics: as of May 6, 2019 3:18 PM
total views - 19,807,382

total likes - 193,000

total dislikes - 4,800
-snip-
Baro is a city in Guinea, West Africa. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baro,_Guinea for information about Baro, Guinea.

Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea for information about Guinea, West Africa (Guinea-Conakry).

****
DISCLAIMER:
This pancocojams post was prompted by the fact that when I read the discussion thread for the YouTube video "Foli", I repeatedly read comments about the similarities between the cultures of the Tamils and the culture of the people who are the focus of that video, particularly with regard to drumming styles. This post documents some of those comments.

I don't take any position as to whether the cultures mentioned in this post are similar or not.

This compilation isn't meant to be the sum total of all the comments on this subject in that discussion thread. Although I read a large number of comments in that discussion thread, I didn't read the entire thread. There may be some comments which I read on this subject that I unintentionally didn't include in this compilation. There may also be comments on this subject in the portion of that discussion thread that I didn't read.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT MALINKE (MANDINGO) PEOPLE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandinka_people
"The Mandinka or Malinke (also known as Maninka, Manding, Mandingo, Mandenka, Dioula, Bambara and Mandinko)[8] are a West African ethnic group with an estimated global population of 32 million (the other three largest ethnic groups in Africa being the unrelated Fula, Hausa and Songhai peoples). The Mandinka are one ethnic group within the larger linguistic family of the Mandé peoples, who account for more than 87 million people. (Other Mande peoples include the Soninke, Dyula, Bozo, Bissa and Bambara.)

The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power in the 13th century under the rule of king Sundiata Keita who founded an empire which would go on to span the large part of West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest.[9]

The Mandinka people live primarily in West Africa in Mali, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mauritania and Ivory Coast. Although widespread, in most countries the Mandinka are not the largest ethnic group,[10] except in The Gambia, Mali and Guinea where they constitute the largest ethnic group.[10] Most Mandinka live in family-related compounds in traditional rural villages. Their traditional society has featured socially stratified castes.[8][11][12] Mandinka communities have been fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a chief and group of elders. Mandinka has been an oral society where mythologies, history and knowledge are verbally transmitted from one generation to next.[13] More than 99% of Mandinka in contemporary Africa are Muslim.[14]

****
INFORMATION ABOUT TAMILS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamils#Music
"The Tamil people (/ˈtæmɪl/; Tamil: தமிழர், tamiẓhar (singular) ? [t̪ɐmɪɻɐɾ], or Tamil: தமிழர்கள், tamiẓarkaḷ (plural) ? [t̪ɐmɪɻɐɾxɐɭ]), also known as Tamilar, Tamilans or simply Tamils, are an ethnic group who speak the language Tamil as their mother tongue and trace their ancestry to southern India and north-eastern Sri Lanka.[6] Tamils, with a population of around 76 million and with a documented history stretching back over 3,000 years, are one of the largest and oldest extant ethnolinguistic groups in the modern world.[7] Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India (mostly concentrated in south India), 15.3% in Sri Lanka,[note 1] 6% in Mauritius,[14] 7% in Malaysia and 5% in Singapore.

On 5 April 2019, it was established that the Tamil civilization is proven to date back to at least 900 BC, results of radio carbon dating of samples from Adichanallur archaeological site, village on the banks of the Tamirabarani river in Tuticorin district of southern Tamil Nadu, were revealed by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.[15]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE HO PEOPLE (IN INDIA)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_people
"The Ho people are an ethnic group of India. They are an Austroasiatic ethnic group concentrated in the state of Jharkhand and Odisha[2][3][4] where they constitute around 10.5% of the Scheduled Tribes. With a population of approximately 700,000 in the state in 2001, the Ho were the fourth most numerous Scheduled tribe in Jharkhand after the Santhals, Kurukhs, and Mundas.[5] Ho territory also extends to adjacent areas in the neighboring states of West bengal, where there are approximately 80,600 Ho, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.They also live in Bangladesh and Nepal[6]

The ethnonym "Ho" is derived from the Ho language word hō meaning "human". The name is also applied to their language which is an Austroasiatic language closely related to Mundari. According to Ethnologue, the total number of people speaking the Ho language was 1,040,000 as of 2001.[7] Similar to other Austroasiatic groups in the area, the Ho report varying degrees of multilingualism, also using Hindi and English.[8]

Over 90% of the Ho practice the indigenous religion Sarnaism. The majority of the Ho are involved in agriculture, either as land owners or laborers, while others are engaged in mining. Compared to the rest of India, the Ho have a low literacy rate and a low rate of school enrollment. The government of Jharkhand has recently approved measures to help increase enrollment and literacy among children.[9][10][11]"...

****
SELECTED COMMENTS
These comments are presented in chronological order based on their publishing date in the discussion thread for the video that is embedded in this post, with the oldest dated comments given first.

I wrote two comments in this discussion thread which provided Google translations of other comments.

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

2018
1. Pavanendra Singh Sisodia
"Like that culture we have in India at jhabua district, visit once... To see n feel."

**
2. venkat chal
"So much similarity with Indian forms of dance....WoW!"

**
REPLY
3. Laniiyah Scott
"venkat chal Yes indeed! So beautiful isn't it?!❤️🙌🏾"

**
REPLY
4. Kate B.
"That's because as humans we have a unique global conscience, deep inside us..."

**
5. Robert Tamil
"The DNA of parai music of tamil nadu ,India and african music are same."

**
6. praba haran
"I feel my Tamil culture !!! It may resemble , great civilization .."

**
7. GANESH RAJA
"Tamil song la intha rythm ketta mari iruku, but enna pattunu theriyelea"

**
REPLY
8. Ju
"Tamilana ? 🤗
Urumi vasikara satham familiar ah iruku"

**
9. Right Time
"https://youtu.be/hRwlozbln-A Tamil Folk Music
-snip-
This video is shown in Addendum #1 of this pancocojams post.
****
2019
10. ShivaSidhartha Gowdaಶಿವಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥಗೌಡ
"Do only I feel... That it has our "south Indian tribal culture flavor" ?"

**
REPLY
11. Andrea Barnes
"You got it from them."

**
REPLY
12. ShivaSidhartha Gowdaಶಿವಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥಗೌಡ
"@Andrea Barnes yep... I know. Thanks"

**
13. Neeta Tiu
"So familiar and beautiful and lovely and simply loving. Lots of respects from the Ho tribes of India. ❤"

**
REPLY
14. Food Gurudev
"We love our HO tribes 😊"

**
15. SHAJAHAN SHAJAHAN
"People's real rhythm of sound still lives in Africa!! Love from Tamil Nadu. INDIA."

***
16. Sant C
"These r universal tribal beats,similar beats & rhythm can be found in tribal / folk music all over the world"

**
REPLY
17. Neeta Tiu
"Very true."

**
18. Neeta Tiu
"As there is a saying in Ho tribe in India " Talking/saying/telling is song and walking is dance"."

**
19. Manikandan T
"மனிதவாழ்வின்எந்தசூழ்ழிழம்.
கலைஉறவுஇருக்கும்.
Manitavalvinentacullilam."
-snip-
Google translation from Tamil to English
For kalaiuravuir.
Manitavalvinentacullilam.

**
20. Victor Arunachalam
"Tamil people and africa people same their cultures"

**
21. May 17
"Just like 100% same in Tamilnadu (India) doing village life not in single peasant change."
-snip-
"May 17" is the commenter's screen name

**
22. Praadyumna kumar singh Chinda
"In India this instrument is called ,Dhol ,tasa and nishan.a folk instruments."

**
23. вы
"Шамана они и в Африке и в Индии шаманы. )))"

**
REPLY
24. Praadyumna kumar singh Chinda
"Write in English that I can understand .love from India."

**
REPLY
25. Azizi Powell
"@Praadyumna kumar singh Chinda Google translation from Russian to English:
"The shamans are both in Africa and in India shamans. )))"

**
26. Jaya Prakash
"தமிழின் கலாச்சாரம் உள்ளது.உரல், கிணறு, பாடல் , கோடாளி , கொல்லர்"

**
REPLY
27. ABC DEF
"Type in English so that we understand"

**
REPLY
28. Azizi Powell
"@ABC DEF Google translation from Tamil to English:
"There is a culture of Tamils.Lural, well, song, kodali, kolar"

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ADDENDUM #1:
Here's the video that was mentioned in Comment #9 above:

#FolkArt #Kattiyakkaran #periyamelam
Periya Melam | பெரிய மேளம் | Folk Art | Kattiyakkaran | Munusamy



Kattiyakkaran, Published on Nov 30, 2018

Periya Melam Munusamy

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ADDENDUM #2
Here's an exchange from that discussion thread that informs the readers that the video is about Mandingo culture:
1. hukmichand choudhary
"I no understand this language but this calture song nice"

**
REPLY
2. Namory Condé
"hukmichand choudhary it’s Mandingo from guinea Conakry"

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