Boniface Mwangi: The day I stood up alone

Translator: alicia cobacho Reviewer: Laura Farrés Tarrés

People back home call me a heckler,

La gent del meu país em diu agitador,

a troublemaker, an irritant,

revolucionari, irritant,

a rebel, an activist,

rebel, activista,

the voice of the people.

la veu del poble.

But that wasn't always me.

Però no sempre he sigut així.

Growing up, I had a nickname.

De petit tenia un malnom.

They used to call me Softy,

Solien dir-me Softy,

meaning the soft, harmless boy.

és a dir, noi inofensiu.

Like every other human being, I avoided trouble.

Igual que qualsevol altre ésser humà, evitava problemes.

In my childhood, they taught me silence.

De petit, em van ensenyar a callar.

Don't argue, do as you're told.

No discuteixis, fes el que et diguin.

In Sunday school, they taught me don't confront, don't argue,

A l'escola dominical em van ensenyar a no enfrontar-me, a no discutir,

even if you're right, turn the other cheek.

i, encara que tingués raó, a parar l'altra galta.

This was reinforced by the political climate of the time.

Tot això es va veure reforçat pel clima polític de l'època.

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

Kenya is a country where you are guilty

Kenya és un país on ets culpable

until proven rich.

fins que es demostri que ets ric.

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

Kenya's poor are five times more likely

Els kenyans pobres tenen 5 cops més possibilitats

to be shot dead by the police who are meant to protect them

de ser disparats a mort per la policia, que hauria de protegir-los,

than by criminals.

que pels delinqüents.

This was reinforced by the political climate of the day.

Tot això es va veure reforçat pel clima polític del moment.

We had a president, Moi, who was a dictator.

Teníem un president, Moi, que era un dictador.

He ruled the country with an iron fist,

Va governar el país amb severitat,

and anyone who dared question his authority

i qui s'atrevia a qüestionar la seva autoritat

was arrested, tortured, jailed or even killed.

era detingut, torturat, empresonat o fins i tot assassinat.

That meant that people were taught to be smart cowards, stay out of trouble.

Això vol dir que s'ensenyava la gent

a ser covards intel·ligents,

a no ficar-se en problemes.

Being a coward was not an insult.

Ser un covard no era un insult.

Being a coward was a compliment.

Ser un covard era un elogi.

We used to be told that a coward goes home to his mother.

Ens deien que un covard torna a casa amb la seva mare.

What that meant: that if you stayed out of trouble you're going to stay alive.

Que volia dir que si no et ficaves en problemes, seguiries viu.

I used to question this advice,

Jo dubtava d'aquest consell.

and eight years ago we had an election in Kenya,

Fa 8 anys, vam tenir unes eleccions a Kenya,

and the results were violently disputed.

i els resultats van ser intensament disputats.

What followed that election was terrible violence, rape,

El que va venir després van ser terribles actes de violència, violacions,

and the killing of over 1,000 people.

i l'assassinat de més de 1000 persones.

My work was to document the violence.

La meva feina era documentar la violència.

As a photographer, I took thousands of images,

Com a fotògraf, vaig fer milers de fotos,

and after two months,

i després de dos mesos,

the two politicians came together, had a cup of tea,

els dos polítics es van reunir, van prendre una tassa de te,

signed a peace agreement, and the country moved on.

van signar un acord de pau i el país va tirar endavant.

I was a very disturbed man because I saw the violence firsthand.

Vaig quedar molt afectat perquè vaig conèixer la violència de primera mà.

I saw the killings. I saw the displacement.

Vaig veure els assassinats. Vaig veure els desplaçaments.

I met women who had been raped, and it disturbed me,

Vaig conèixer dones que havien estat violades,

i em va afectar,

but the country never spoke about it.

però el país mai va parlar d'això.

We pretended. We all became smart cowards.

Fingíem. Vam convertir-nos en covards intel·ligents.

We decided to stay out of trouble and not talk about it.

Vam decidir no ficar-nos en problemes i no parlar-ne.

Ten months later, I quit my job. I said I could not stand it anymore.

10 mesos després, vaig deixar la meva feina. Vaig dir que no podia aguantar-ho més.

After quitting my job, I decided to organize my friends

Després de deixar la feina, vaig decidir organitzar els meus amics

to speak about the violence in the country,

per parlar sobre la violència al país,

to speak about the state of the nation,

per parlar sobre l'estat de la nació,

and June 1, 2009 was the day that we were meant to go to the stadium

i l'1 de juny de 2009 era el dia que aniríem a l'estadi

and try and get the president's attention.

i intentaríem cridar l'atenció del president.

It's a national holiday,

És una festa nacional,

it's broadcast across the country,

es retransmet arreu del país,

and I showed up at the stadium.

i vaig anar a l'estadi.

My friends did not show up.

Els meus amics no van venir.

I found myself alone,

Era allà tot sol,

and I didn't know what to do.

i no sabia pas què fer,

I was scared,

tenia por,

but I knew very well that that particular day,

però tenia ben clar que aquell dia

I had to make a decision.

havia de prendre una decisió.

Was I able to live as a coward, like everyone else,

Podia viure com un covard, com tothom,

or was I going to make a stand?

o plantaria cara?

And when the president stood up to speak,

I quan el president es va aixecar a parlar,

I found myself on my feet shouting at the president,

em vaig veure d'empeus, cridant al president

telling him to remember the post-election violence victims,

dient-li que recordés les víctimes de la violència després de les eleccions,

to stop the corruption.

que aturés la corrupció.

And suddenly, out of nowhere,

I de sobte, com sortits del no-res

the police pounced on me like hungry lions.

la policia va caure sobre meu com ferotges lleons.

They held my mouth

Em van tapar la boca

and dragged me out of the stadium,

i em van arrossegar fora de l'estadi

where they thoroughly beat me up and locked me up in jail.

on em van apallissar salvatgement i em van tancar a la presó.

I spent that night in a cold cement floor in the jail,

Aquella nit la vaig pasar al fred terra de ciment de la presó.

and that got me thinking.

I allò em va fer pensar,

What was making me feel this way?

què era el que em feia sentir així?

My friends and family thought I was crazy because of what I did,

Els meus amics i familiars pensaven que era boig per haver fet allò,

and the images that I took were disturbing my life.

i les imatges que havia pres no em deixaven viure.

The images that I took were just a number to many Kenyans.

Les imatges que havia pres, només eren una xifra per a molts kenyans.

Most Kenyans did not see the violence.

La majoría de kenyans no va veure la violència.

It was a story to them.

Per ells era tan sols una història.

And so I decided to actually start a street exhibition

I vaig decidir començar una exposició al carrer

to show the images of the violence across the country

per ensenyar les imatges de violència per tot el país

and get people talking about it.

i fer que la gent parlés del tema.

We traveled the country and showed the images,

Vam viatjar pel país i vam mostrar les imatges,

and this was a journey that has started me to the activist path,

i aquest viatge em va iniciar al camí de l'activisme,

where I decided to become silent no more,

on vaig decidir no quedar-me mai més callat,

to talk about those things.

parlar sobre aquestes coses.

We traveled, and our general site from our street exhibit

Vam viatjar, i el nostre objectiu més enllà de la exposició

became for political graffiti about the situation in the country,

era el graffiti polític sobre la situació del país

talking about corruption, bad leadership.

parlant de corrupció, la manca de lideratge.

We have even done symbolic burials.

També vam fer enterraments simbòlics.

We have delivered live pigs to Kenya's parliament

Van enviar porcs vius al parlament de Kenya

as a symbol of our politicians' greed.

com a símbol de la cobdícia dels nostres polítics.

It has been done in Uganda and other countries,

S'ha fet també a Uganda i altres països,

and what is most powerful is that the images have been picked by the media

i el més important va ser

que les imatges van ser recollides pels mitjans de comunicació

and amplified across the country, across the continent.

i transmeses a la resta del pais i del continent.

Where I used to stand up alone seven years ago,

Si fa 7 anys em vaig quedar sol,

now I belong to a community of many people who stand up with me.

ara pertanyo a una comunitat que és al meu costat.

I am no longer alone when I stand up to speak about these things.

Ja no estic sol quan parlo d'aquestes coses.

I belong to a group of young people who are passionate about the country,

Pertanyo a un grup de joves passionats pel seu país

who want to bring about change,

que volen aconseguir un canvi,

and they're no longer afraid, and they're no longer smart cowards.

i que ja no tenen por, que ja no son uns covards intel·ligents.

So that was my story.

Així que aquesta és la meva història.

That day in the stadium,

Aquell dia, a l'estadi,

I stood up as a smart coward.

em vaig aixecar com un covard intel·ligent.

By that one action, I said goodbye to the 24 years living as a coward.

Amb aquell gest vaig dir adéu a 24 anys de covardia.

There are two most powerful days in your life:

Hi ha dos grans dies a la vida:

the day you're born, and the day you discover why.

el dia que neixes i el dia que descobreixes per què.

That day standing up in that stadium shouting at the President,

Aquell dia, aixecant-me a l'estadi, cridant al president,

I discovered why I was truly born,

vaig descobrir per què havia nascut de veritat,

that I would no longer be silent in the face of injustice.

que ja no callaria davant la injustícia.

Do you know why you were born?

Saps per què vas nèixer tu?

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

Tom Rielly: It's an amazing story.

Tom Rielly: Es una història increible.

I just want to ask you a couple quick questions.

Només vull fer-te un parell de preguntes ràpides.

So PAWA254:

Així que PAWA254

you've created a studio, a place where young people can go

heu creat un estudi, un lloc on els joves poden acudir

and harness the power of digital media

i aprofitar el poder dels mitjans digitals

to do some of this action.

per fer alguna cosa, per actuar

What's happening now with PAWA?

Què està passant ara amb PAWA?

Boniface Mwangi: So we have this community of filmmakers,

Boniface Mwangi: Tenim aquesta comunitat de cineastes,

graffiti artists, musicians, and when there's an issue in the country,

graffiters, músics...i quan passa alguna cosa al pais

we come together, we brainstorm, and take up on that issue.

ens reunim, pensem junts i ens centrem en aquest tema.

So our most powerful tool is art,

La nostra eina més poderosa és l'art,

because we live in a very busy world where people are so busy in their life,

Perquè vivim en un món molt ocupat, la gent està molt ocupada amb la seva vida

and they don't have time to read.

i no tenen temps de llegir.

So we package our activism and we package our message in art.

Així que concentrem el nostre activisme, el nostre missatge, en l'art.

So from the music, the graffiti, the art, that's what we do.

Des de la música, el graffiti, l'art, això és el que fem.

Can I say one more thing?

Puc dir una cosa més?

TR: Yeah, of course. (Applause)

T.R: És clar. (Aplaudiment)

BM: In spite of being arrested, beaten up, threatened,

B.M: Tot i haver estat arrestat, colpejat, amenaçat,

the moment I discovered my voice,

quan vaig descobrir la meva veu,

that I could actually stand up for what I really believed in,

que de veritat podia lluitar per allò en que creia,

I'm no longer afraid.

ja no tinc por.

I used to be called softy, but I'm no longer softy,

Solien dir-me Softy però ja no ho sóc,

because I discovered who I really am, as in, that's what I want to do,

perquè he descobert qui sóc, això és el que realment vull fer.

and there's such beauty in doing that.

I es tan bonic fer això.

There's nothing as powerful as that, knowing that I'm meant to do this,

Res no et dóna tant poder com això, saber que això és el que he de fer.

because you don't get scared, you just continue living your life.

Perquè no tens por, simplement continues vivint la teva vida.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiment)