What to do when everything feels broken | Daniel Alexander Jones

Translator: Emma Toft Reviewer: Jesper Mougaard

"I've got people in me."

"Jeg har mennesker i mig."

So sang the late Abbey Lincoln.

Sådan sang den afdøde Abbey Lincoln.

I take that lyric as mantra.

Jeg bruger den tekst som mantra.

"I've got people in me."

"Jeg har mennesker i mig."

Jomama Jones is the person in me I turn to as a guide.

Jomama Jones er personen i mig som jeg bruger som en guide.

She's my alter ego.

Hun er mit alter-ego.

I've been embodying her in performance since 1995,

Jeg har personificeret hende i optrædelser siden 1995,

and she comes around when she has some insight to offer folks.

og hun dukker op når hun har noget indsigt at give folk.

At this time of radical change,

I disse tider med radikale ændringer,

I'm glad to be the vessel for her message to you.

er jeg glad for at være beholderen til hendes beskeder til jer.

Jomama Jones: What if I told you

Jomama Jones: Hvad hvis jeg sagde

it's going to be alright ...

at det nok skal blive okay ...

but what if I told you not yet?

men hvad hvis jeg sagde ikke endnu?

What if I told you there are trials ahead

Hvad hvis jeg sagde der er prøvelser forud

beyond your deepest fears?

udover din værste frygt?

What if I told you will you fall ...

Hvad hvis jeg sagde at du vil falde ...

down, down, down?

ned, ned, ned?

But what if I told you you will surprise yourself?

Men hvad hvis jeg sagde at du ville overraske dig selv?

What if I told you will be brave enough?

Hvad hvis jeg sagde du ville være modig nok?

What if I told you

Hvad hvis jeg sagde

we won't all make it through?

vi ikke alle vil nå igennem?

But what if I told you

Men hvad hvis jeg sagde

that is as it must be?

at det er sådan det må være?

What if I told you I've seen the future?

Hvad hvis jeg sagde at jeg har set ind i fremtiden?

Do you like my hands?

Kan du lide mine hænder?

They're expressive, yeah?

De er udtryksfulde, ikke?

Now look at your hands -- now go on.

Nu, kig på dine hænder -- nu, kom så.

There's so much history recorded through their touches

Der er så meget historie optaget gennem deres berøringer

and marks of the future sketched on their palms.

og tegn på fremtiden tegnet på deres håndflader.

Sometimes hands grip tight,

Nogle gange griber hænder hårdt,

sometimes hands let go.

nogle gange giver hænder slip.

What if I told you

Hvad hvis jeg sagde

it's all going to come undone?

at det hele bliver trevlet op?

Hm.

Hm.

Ladies and gentlemen

Damer og herrer

and otherwise described,

og ellers beskrevet,

I am Jomama Jones.

jeg er Jomama Jones.

Some call me a soul sonic superstar,

Nogle kalder mig en sjælsonisk superstjerne,

and I agree,

og jeg er enig,

though even in my past that was from the future.

dog selv i min fortid var det fra fremtiden.

Let me take you back to girlhood.

Lad mig tage jer tilbage til barndommen.

Picture this:

Forestil jer det her:

it was Planting Day,

Det var Plante Dag,

which was a holiday I invented

hvilket var en højtid jeg havde opfundet

for the Black youth community group I founded.

for den Sorte ungdomsgruppe jeg havde stiftet.

I dashed home to put on my gardening ensemble

Jeg løb hjem for at tage mit havearbejde udstyr på

when I caught my uncle Freeman red-handed.

da jeg fangede min onkel Freeman på fersk gerning.

He was standing over my piggy bank with his hammer raised high.

Han stod over min sparegris med hans hammer hævet højt.

He was fixing to steal my coins.

Han ville stjæle mine mønter.

And you see,

Og ser du,

my uncle Freeman was a handyman.

min onkel Freeman var en gør-det-selv mand.

He could fix anything --

Han kunne fikse alt --

a broken chair, a shattered pot --

en ødelagt stol, en knust krukke --

even bring grandmother's plants back to life.

endda få liv tilbage i bedstemor's planter.

He had that magic touch with broken things ...

Han havde det magiske tag med ødelagte ting ...

and broken people.

og ødelagte mennesker.

He would take me with him on his jobs

Han ville tage mig med på hans jobs

and say, "C'mon Jo,

og sige "Kom nu Jo,

let's go do something to make this world a better place."

Lad os gå ud og gøre noget for at gøre verdenen til et bedre sted."

His hands were wide and calloused,

Hans hænder var brede og hårdhudet,

and they always reminded me of displaced tree roots.

og de mindede mig altid om blottede trærødder.

As we worked he would talk with folks

Når vi arbejdede ville han tale med folk

about the change he was sure was just around the corner.

om den forandring han var sikker på var lige om hjørnet.

I saw him mend flagging hopes

Jeg så ham hele svækkede håb

and leave folks with their heads held high.

og forlade folk med deres hoveder holdt højt.

His hands stirred the sunshine.

Hans hænder rørte solskinnet.

And now he was about to break my piggy bank.

Og nu var han ved at smadre min sparegris.

I said "Step back, man, and show me your hands."

Jeg sagde "Tag et skridt tilbage, mand, og vis mig dine hænder."

You know the irony was

Du ved, ironien var

he used to give me all the old coins he'd find under floorboards while working.

at han plejede at give mig alle de gamle mønter han fandt under gulvet på arbejde.

And I put them in the piggy bank

Og jeg puttede dem i sparegrisen

along with the money I earned through my childhood side hustles.

sammen med de penge jeg tjente gennem mine barndoms sidejobs.

But by the spring of 1970,

Men i foråret af 1970,

Uncle Freeman had lost his touch ...

havde Onkel Freeman mistet hans evne ...

along with most of his jobs.

sammen med de fleste af hans jobs.

He saw a heavy future

Han så en hård fremtid

of civil wrongs and Black power outages in his palms.

af civile og race uretfærdigheder i hans håndflader.

The last straw had come the previous winter

Det sidste skub var kommet den forrige vinter

when they had gunned down Fred Hampton.

da de havde skudt Fred Hampton.

Overwhelmed with fear

Overvældet af frygt

and rage

og vrede

and grief,

og sorg,

Uncle Freeman tried to game his future.

prøvede Onkel Freeman at spille på hans fremtid.

He gripped too tight,

Han greb fat for hårdt,

and he started playing the numbers.

og han begyndte at spille på tallene.

"Well, one of these numbers is gonna hit, little girl.

"Jamen, en af disse tal vil ramme rigtigt, lille tøs.

You got a quarter for your uncle Free -- "

Har du en 50 øre til din onkel Free --"

Now some of y'all have that relative.

Nu, nogle af jer kender sådan et familiemedlem.

But I knew right then and there I had to do something.

Men jeg vidste med det samme at jeg blev nødt til at gøre noget.

I jumped up and I grabbed that hammer

Jeg hoppede op og tog hammeren

and I brought it crashing down on that pig.

og jeg hammerede den ned på den gris.

And Uncle Freeman started to weep as I gathered up all the coins.

Og onkel Freeman begyndte at græde da jeg samlede alle mønterne.

"We're not buying no lottery ticket, Uncle Freeman.

"Vi køber ikke en lotto kupon, Onkel Freeman.

C'mon."

Kom så."

We spent every last cent at the seed store.

Vi brugte hver eneste krone på frø i havecenteret.

You know, the kids in my gardening group?

Du ved, de børn i min havegruppe?

They didn't bat an eye when I had Uncle Freeman get down

De blinkede ikke et øje da jeg fik onkel Freeman ned

and put his hands in the earth again

og fik hans hænder i jorden igen

and start breaking up that soil for our seeds.

og begyndte at gøre jorden klar til vores frø.

And my little friend Taesha even came over and started slapping him on the back

Og min lille ven Taesha kom endda over og begyndte at klappe ham på ryggen

saying, "Cry it out, Uncle Freeman.

og sagde, "Græd ud, onkel Freeman.

Cry it out."

Græd ud."

"I can't fix this," he sobbed.

"Jeg kan ikke fikse det," hulkede han.

It's an ancient-future truism, that.

Det er en gammel-fremtids selvfølgelighed.

He wasn't the first to feel that way, and he wouldn't be the last.

Han var ikke den første som følte sådan, og han ville ikke være den sidste.

Right now, it feels as though everything is breaking beyond repair.

Lige nu, det føles som om at alt er fuldstændig ødelagt.

It is.

Det er det.

But that breaking apart can be a breaking open,

Men den nedbrydning kan lede til at bryde åben,

no matter how violent and uncertain

uanset hvor voldelig og usikker

and fearsome it seems.

og frygtsom det føles.

The thing is ...

Tingen er ...

we can't do it alone.

vi kan ikke gøre det alene.

Uncle Freeman cried so much that day as we planted our seeds,

Onkel Freeman græd så meget den dag da vi såede vores frø,

he was our very own irrigation system.

han var vores helt eget overrislingsystem.

"I don't know who I am anymore, little girl,"

"Jeg ved ikke hvem jeg er længere, lille tøs,"

he said to me at sundown.

sagde han til mig ved solnedgang.

"Good, Uncle Freeman.

"Godt, onkel Freeman.

Good.

Godt.

You're new again,

Du er ny igen,

and that's just how we need you."

og det er lige sådan vi har brug for dig."