Am I not human? A call for criminal justice reform | Marlon Peterson

Translator: Denis Torres Reviewer: Claudia Herreros

She wrote:

Ella va escriure:

"When I become famous, I will tell everyone

«Quan sigui famosa, diré a tothom

that I know a hero named Marlon Peterson."

que conec un heroi que es diu Marlon Peterson».

Heroes rarely look like me.

Els herois no tenen aquesta pinta.

In fact,

De fet,

I'm what garbage looks like.

semblo més aviat escombraries.

No, not the most appealing way to open a talk

No, potser no és la millor manera de començar una xerrada

or start a conversation,

o d'iniciar una conversa,

and perhaps you have some questions going through your head about that.

i potser teniu al cap preguntes al respecte.

Why would this man say such a thing about himself?

«Per què aquest home diu això d'ell mateix?».

What does he mean?

«Què vol dir amb això?».

How can someone view him as a hero when he sees himself as garbage?

«Com pot ser que algú el vegi com a heroi si ell es veu com brossa?».

I believe we learn more from questions than we do from answers.

Jo crec que aprenem més de les preguntes que de les respostes.

Because when we're questioning something,

Perquè, quan fem preguntes,

we're invested in taking in some sort of new information,

mirem de copsar informació nova

or grappling with some sort of ignorance that makes us feel uncomfortable.

o intentem lluitar contra una ignorància que ens fa sentir incòmodes.

And that's why I'm here:

I per això sóc aquí:

to push us to question,

per empènyer-nos a preguntar

even when it makes us uncomfortable.

fins i tot quan ens fa sentir incòmodes.

My parents are from Trinidad and Tobago,

Els meus pares són de Trinitat i Tobago,

the southernmost island in the Caribbean.

l'illa que es troba més al sud del Carib.

Trinidad is also home to the only acoustic instrument

A Trinitat també va nèixer l'únic instrument acústic

invented in the 20th century:

que es va inventar durant el segle XX:

the steel pan.

el timbal d'acer.

Deriving from the African drums

Deriva dels timbals africans

and evolving from the genius of one of the ghettos in Trinidad,

i va evol·lucionar gràcies al geni d'un dels guetos de Trinitat,

a city called Laventille,

una ciutat anomenada Laventille,

and the disregard of the American military ...

i a la indiferència dels militars dels Estats Units...

Well, I should tell you,

Bé, els Estats Units,

America, during WWII, had military bases set up in Trinidad,

durant la Segona Guerra Mundial, tenien bases militars a Trinitat,

and when the war ended,

i, quan va acabar la guerra,

they left the island littered with empty oil drums --

van deixar per tota l'illa bidons de petroli buits.

their trash.

Les seves deixalles.

So people from Laventille repurposed the old drums left behind

Bé, doncs la gent de Laventille va transformar aquells bidons vells

into the full chromatic scale:

en l'escala cromàtica sencera.

the steel pan.

El timbal d'acer.

Playing music now from Beethoven to Bob Marley to 50 Cent,

Ara s'hi pot tocar música de Beethoven, Bob Marley o 50 Cent.

those people literally made music out of garbage.

Aquella gent, literalment, feia música de les escombraries.

Twelve days before my 20th birthday,

Dotze dies abans del meu vintè aniversari,

I was arrested for my role in a violent robbery attempt

em van detenir per la meva participació en un intent de robatori amb violència

in lower Manhattan.

al sud de Manhattan.

While people were sitting in a coffee shop,

Hi havia gent que seia en una cafeteria

four people were shot.

i van disparar a quatre persones.

Two were killed.

Dues van morir.

Five of us were arrested.

Cinc de nosaltres vam ser detinguts.

We were all the products of Trinidad and Tobago.

Érem tots productes de Trinitat i Tobago.

We were the "bad immigrants,"

Erem els «immigrants dolents»

or the "anchor babies" that Trump and millions of Americans easily malign.

o els «nadons àncora», difamats per en Trump i millions d'americans.

I was discarded, like waste material --

Em van rebutjar com si fos un residu,

and justifiably so to many.

molts pensen que justificadament.

I eventually served 10 years, two months and seven days of a prison sentence.

Vaig complir una condemna de deu anys, dos mesos i set dies.

I was sentenced to a decade of punishment in a correctional institution.

Em van condemnar a una dècada en una institució correccional.

I was sentenced to irrelevance --

Em van condemnar a la irrellevància...

the opposite of humanity.

el contrari de la humanitat.

Interestingly,

Curiosament,

it was during those years in prison that a series of letters redeemed me,

va ser durant aquells anys a la presó quan unes cartes van redimir-me,

helped me move beyond the darkness and the guilt

em van ajudar a vèncer la foscor i la culpa

associated with the worst moment of my young life.

vinculades al pitjor moment de la meva jove vida.

It gave me a sense that I was useful.

Em van fer sentir que jo era útil.

She was 13 years old.

Ella tenia tretze anys.

She had wrote that she saw me as a hero.

Va escriure que em veia com un heroi.

I remember reading that,

Recordo llegir-ho,

and I remember crying when I read those words.

i recordo que aquelles paraules em van fer plorar.

She was one of over 50 students

Ella era una de 50 estudiants

and 150 letters that I wrote during a mentoring correspondence program

i de 150 cartes que vaig escriure durant un programa de mentoria per correspondècia

that I co-designed with a friend

que vaig codissenyar amb un amic

who was a teacher at a middle school in Brooklyn,

que era professor en una escola de Brooklyn, la meva ciutat.

my hometown.

We called it the Young Scholars Program.

El vam anomenar Programa de Joves Estudiants.

Every time those young people shared their stories with me,

Cada vegada que aquells joves compartien les seves històries amb mi,

their struggles,

les seves lluites,

every time they drew a picture of their favorite cartoon character

cada vegada que feien un dibuix del seu personatge de dibuixos preferit

and sent it to me,

i me l'enviaven,

every time they said they depended on my letters or my words of advice,

cada vegada que deien que depenien de les meves cartes o els meus consells,

it boosted my sense of worthiness.

augmentava el meu sentit de dignitat.

It gave me a sense of what I could contribute to this planet.

Em feia veure què podia aportar a aquest planeta.

It transformed my life.

Va canviar-me la vida.

Because of those letters and what they shared with me,

Amb aquelles cartes i amb allò que compartien amb mi,

their stories of teen life,

les seves històries de joventut,

they gave me the permission,

em van donar permís,

they gave me the courage to admit to myself

em van donar valor per admetre'm a mi mateix

that there were reasons -- not excuses --

que hi havia raons, no excuses,

but that there were reasons for that fateful day in October of 1999;

sinó raons perquè passés allò aquell fatídic dia d'octubre de 1999;

that the trauma associated with living in a community

que el trauma tenia a veure amb haver viscut en una comunitat

where guns are easier to get than sneakers;

on era més fàcil aconseguir armes que sabates;

that the trauma associated with being raped at gunpoint at the age of 14;

que el trauma tenia a veure amb una violació a punta de pistola als 14 anys;

that those are reasons for me

que a mi em semblen raons

why making that decision,

per les quals aquella decisió,

that fatal decision,

aquella decisió fatal,

was not an unlikely proposition.

no costa tant d'entendre.

Because those letters mattered so much to me,

Aquelles cartes van ser tan importants per a mi,

because writing and receiving

escriure-les, rebre-les

and having that communication with those folks

i tenir aquella comunicació amb aquells joves

so hugely impacted my life,

em va impactar tant

I decided to share the opportunity with some friends of mine

que vaig decidir compartir-ho amb alguns amics que eren allà dintre amb mi.

who were also inside with me.

My friends Bill and Cory and Arocks,

Els meus amics Bill, Cory i Arocks,

all in prison for violent crimes also,

també empresonats per crims violents,

shared their words of wisdom with the young people as well,

van compartir la seva saviesa amb els joves, igual que jo,

and received the sense of relevancy in return.

i, a canvi, van poder sentir-se rellevants.

We are now published writers and youth program innovators

Ara som autors publicats i innovadors en programes pel jovent,

and trauma experts

i experts en traumes,

and gun violence prevention advocates,

i lluitem contra la violència amb armes,

and TED talkers and --

i som oradors de TED i...

(Laughter)

(Riures)

and good daddies.

i bons pares.

That's what I call a positive return of investment.

Això és el que jo considero un retorn d'inversió positiu.

Above all else,

Per sobre de tot,

what building that program taught me was that when we sow,

el que vaig aprendre creant aquell programa va ser que quan sembrem,

when we invest in the humanity of people no matter where they're at,

quan invertim en la humanitat de la gent, sense importar on siguin,

we can reap amazing rewards.

podem collir recompenses meravelloses.

In this latest era of criminal justice reform,

En aquesta època de reforma de la justícia penal,

I often question and wonder why --

sovint em pregunto per què...

why is it that so many believe

Per què tanta gent creu

that only those who have been convicted of nonviolent drug offenses

que només els condemnats per delictes no violents de drogues

merit empathy and recognized humanity?

mereixen empatia i humanitat reconeguda.

Criminal justice reform is human justice.

La reforma de la justicia penal és justicia humana.

Am I not human?

Jo no sóc un ésser humà?

When we invest in resources that amplify the relevancy of people

Quan invertim en recursos que augmenten la rellevància de la gent

in communities like Laventille

a comunitats com Laventille,

or parts of Brooklyn or a ghetto near you,

o a Brooklyn, o a un gueto proper,

we can literally create the communities that we want.

podem crear, literalment, les comunitats que volem.

We can do better.

Podem fer-ho millor.

We can do better than investing solely in law enforcement as a resource,

Hi ha solucions millors que invertir en l'enduriment de la llei

because they don't give us a sense of relevancy

perquè no ens fan sentir rellevants,

that is at the core of why so many of us do so many harmful things

i aquesta és la clau de per què molts de nosaltres fem coses dolentes

in the pursuit of mattering.

buscant ser importants.

See, gun violence is just a visible display of a lot of underlying traumas.

La violència amb armes és la part visible sota la qual s'amaguen els traumes.

When we invest in the redemptive value of relevancy,

Quan invertim en el valor redemptor de la rellevància,

we can render a return of both personal responsibility and healing.

podem obtenir a canvi tant responsabilitat personal com cura.

That's the people work I care about,

És aquest el treball amb la gent que m'importa,

because people work.

perquè la gent treballa.

Family, I'm asking you to do the hard work,

Família, us demano que feu el treball dur,

the difficult work,

el treball difícil,

the churning work of bestowing undeserved kindness

el treball complicat de concedir amabilitat no merescuda

upon those who we can relegate as garbage,

a aquells que podríem relegar com a escombraries,

who we can disregard and discard easily.

a qui fàcilment podem ignorar i refusar.

I'm asking myself.

M'ho demano a mi mateix.

Over the past two months,

Durant els últims dos mesos

I've lost two friends to gun violence,

he perdut a dos amics per la violència armada.

both innocent bystanders.

Només passaven per allà.

One was caught in a drive-by while walking home.

Un va ser víctima d'un tiroteig des d'un cotxe quan anava cap a casa.

The other was sitting in a café while eating breakfast,

L'altre estava assegut en una cafeteria, esmorzant,

while on vacation in Miami.

de vacances a Miami.

I'm asking myself to see the redemptive value of relevancy

Em demano veure el valor redemptor de la rellevància

in the people that murdered them,

en les persones que els van matar,

because of the hard work of seeing the value in me.

pel treball tan dur que suposa veure'l en mi mateix.

I'm pushing us to challenge our own capacity

Ens animo a desafiar la capacitat que tenim

to fully experience our humanity,

d'experimentar per complet la nostra humanitat,

by understanding the full biography

entenent la biografia completa

of people who we can easily choose not to see,

de persones a les que fàcilment podriem escollir no veure.

because heroes are waiting to be recognized,

Perquè hi ha herois que esperen ser reconeguts

and music is waiting to be made.

i hi ha música que espera ser composta.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)