Boniface Mwangi: The day I stood up alone

Translator: Aviaja Josenius Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

People back home call me a heckler,

Folk derhjemme kalder mig for en fredsforstyrrer,

a troublemaker, an irritant,

en ballademager, en provokatør,

a rebel, an activist,

en rebel, en aktivist,

the voice of the people.

en folkets røst.

But that wasn't always me.

Men det var jeg ikke altid.

Growing up, I had a nickname.

Som lille havde jeg et kælenavn.

They used to call me Softy,

De kaldte mig for Softy (Bløde)

meaning the soft, harmless boy.

dvs. den bløde, harmløse knægt.

Like every other human being, I avoided trouble.

Som ethvert andet menneske undgik jeg problemer.

In my childhood, they taught me silence.

Som barn lærte de mig tavshed.

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

Ingen brok, gør som der bliver sagt.

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

I søndagsskolen lærte man at man skal ikke konfrontere eller brokke sig,

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

selv hvis du har ret, vend den anden kind til.

This was reinforced by the political climate of the time.

Det blev underbygget af det politiske klima dengang.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Kenya is a country where you are guilty

Kenya er et land, hvor du er skyldig

until proven rich.

indtil bevist rig.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Kenya's poor are five times more likely

Kenya´s fattige er fem gange mere udsat

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

for at blive skudt af politiet, der skal beskytte dem,

than by criminals.

end af kriminelle.

This was reinforced by the political climate of the day.

Dette blev underbygget af datidens politiske klima.

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

Vi havde en præsident, Moi, som var en diktator.

He ruled the country with an iron fist,

Han styrede landet med en jernnæve,

and anyone who dared question his authority

de som turde at sætte spørgsmålstegn ved autoriteten

was arrested, tortured, jailed or even killed.

blev arresteret, tortureret, fængslet eller endda dræbt.

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

Derfor lærte folk at blive kloge kujoner, at undgå problemer.

Being a coward was not an insult.

At være kujon var ikke en fornærmelse.

Being a coward was a compliment.

Det var en kompliment.

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

Vi fik fortalt at en kujon tog hjem til sin mor.

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

Det betød at hvis du undgik problemer, ville du være i live.

I used to question this advice,

Jeg satte spørgsmålstegn ved dette råd,

and eight years ago we had an election in Kenya,

og for otte år siden var der valg i Kenya,

and the results were violently disputed.

hvor resultatet blev voldeligt omstridt.

What followed that election was terrible violence, rape,

Valget blev efterfulgt af grusom vold, voldtægter,

and the killing of over 1,000 people.

og tabet af over 1000 menneskeliv.

My work was to document the violence.

Min gerning var at dokumentere volden.

As a photographer, I took thousands of images,

Som fotograf tog jeg tusindvis af billeder,

and after two months,

og efter to måneder

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

mødtes de to politikere til en kop te,

signed a peace agreement, and the country moved on.

underskrev en fredsaftale, og landet kom videre.

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

Jeg var dybt mærket af al den vold.

I saw the killings. I saw the displacement.

Jeg så drabene. Jeg så udrensningerne.

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

Jeg mødte voldtægtsofre, og det rørte mig dybt,

but the country never spoke about it.

men det blev aldrig nævnt i mit land.

We pretended. We all became smart cowards.

Vi lod som om. Vi blev alle kloge kujoner.

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

Vi undgik problemer ved ikke at tale om dem.

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

Ti måneder senere sagde jeg op. Jeg kunne ikke længere klare det.

After quitting my job, I decided to organize my friends

Bagefter bestemte jeg mig for at organisere mine venner

to speak about the violence in the country,

til at tale om volden i mit land,

to speak about the state of the nation,

at tale om tilstanden i nationen,

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

og 1 juni 2009 var det meningen at møde op i et stadion

and try and get the president's attention.

for at få præsidentens opmærksomhed.

It's a national holiday,

Det er en national helligdag

it's broadcast across the country,

som bliver fulgt af medierne,

and I showed up at the stadium.

og jeg mødte op.

My friends did not show up.

Mine venner gjorde ikke.

I found myself alone,

Jeg var alene,

and I didn't know what to do.

og jeg vidste ikke hvad jeg skulle gøre.

I was scared,

Jeg var bange,

but I knew very well that that particular day,

men jeg vidste at dén dag

I had to make a decision.

blev en beslutning taget.

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

Ville jeg leve som kujon som alle andre,

or was I going to make a stand?

eller ville jeg stå op?

And when the president stood up to speak,

Da præsidenten gik op for at tale

I found myself on my feet shouting at the president,

fandt jeg mig stående, mens jeg råbte til ham

telling him to remember the post-election violence victims,

at han skulle huske voldsofrene fra efter valget,

to stop the corruption.

og stoppe korruptionen.

And suddenly, out of nowhere,

Og pludselig ud af blå luft

the police pounced on me like hungry lions.

kastede politiet sig på mig som sultne løver.

They held my mouth

De holdt mig for munden

and dragged me out of the stadium,

og slæbte mig ud af stadionet

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

hvorefter de tæskede mig og fængslede mig.

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

Den nat lå jeg på det kolde cementgulv i fængslet

and that got me thinking.

og tænkte mig om.

What was making me feel this way?

Hvorfor følte jeg som jeg gjorde?

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

Mine venner og familie troede jeg var skør for at handle sådan

and the images that I took were disturbing my life.

og at mine fotos forstyrrede mit liv.

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

Mine fotos var kun et tal for mange kenyanere.

Most Kenyans did not see the violence.

De fleste så ikke volden.

It was a story to them.

Det var en historie for dem.

And so I decided to actually start a street exhibition

Jeg bestemte mig for at lave en årlig gade-udstilling

to show the images of the violence across the country

for at vise billeder af volden over hele landet

and get people talking about it.

og at få folk at tale om dem.

We traveled the country and showed the images,

Vi rejste landet rundt og viste billederne

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

og rejsen var begyndelsen for mit aktivist-liv

where I decided to become silent no more,

hvor jeg nægtede at være tavs længere

to talk about those things.

og ville tage voldsemnet op til debat.

We traveled, and our general site from our street exhibit

Vi rejste, og pladsen for vor gade-udstilling

became for political graffiti about the situation in the country,

blev dækket af politisk grafitti om situationen i landet,

talking about corruption, bad leadership.

om korruption, dårligt lederskab.

We have even done symbolic burials.

Vi har endda holdt symbolske begravelser.

We have delivered live pigs to Kenya's parliament

Vi har afleveret levende grise til Kenya´s parlament

as a symbol of our politicians' greed.

som et symbol for politikernes grådighed.

It has been done in Uganda and other countries,

Det er også sket i Uganda og andre lande

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

og det mest kraftfulde er at billederne er optaget af medierne

and amplified across the country, across the continent.

og sendt ud over hele landet, og ud over hele kontinentet.

Where I used to stand up alone seven years ago,

Da jeg stod op alene for syv år siden

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

blev et fællesskab skabt, idag er der mange, der står med mig.

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

Jeg er ikke længere alene når jeg taler om disse ting.

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

Jeg tilhører en gruppe unge ildsjæle for landet,

who want to bring about change,

som vil skabe forandring

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

og de er ikke længere bange, eller kloge kujoner.

So that was my story.

Så det var min historie.

That day in the stadium,

Dén dag i stadionet,

I stood up as a smart coward.

stod jeg op som en klog kujon.

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

Med dén ene handling sagde jeg farvel til 24 år som kujon.

There are two most powerful days in your life:

Der er to dage i dit liv, som er vigtigst:

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

dagen, du bliver født, og dagen, hvor du finder ud af hvorfor.

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

Dén dag i stadionet, mens jeg råbte til præsidenten

I discovered why I was truly born,

fandt jeg ud af, hvorfor jeg blev født,

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

at jeg nægtede at være tavs og acceptere uretfærdigheden.

Do you know why you were born?

Ved du, hvorfor du blev født?

Thank you.

Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Tom Rielly: It's an amazing story.

Tom Rielly: En utrolig historie.

I just want to ask you a couple quick questions.

Lad mig blot spørge dig helt kort.

So PAWA254:

Om PAWA254:

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

Du har skabt et studio, hvor unge kan komme

and harness the power of digital media

og bruge digitale medier

to do some of this action.

til aktivisme.

What's happening now with PAWA?

Hvad sker der nu med PAWA?

Boniface Mwangi: So we have this community of filmmakers,

Boniface Mwangi: Vi har et fællesskab af filmskabere,

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

graffitti-kunstnere, musikere, og når der er problemer i landet,

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

mødes vi, brainstormer og tager emnet op til debat.

So our most powerful tool is art,

Vores mest kraftfulde værktøj er kunsten,

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

for vi lever i en travl verden, og folk har så travlt i deres liv,

and they don't have time to read.

at de ikke har tid til at læse.

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

Så vi bruger kunsten til at formidle vores budskab.

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

Musikken, graffittien, kunsten er vores værktøj.

Can I say one more thing?

Kan jeg sige én ting mere?

TR: Yeah, of course. (Applause)

TR: Ja, selvfølgelig. (Bifald)

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

BM: Selv om jeg blev arresteret, tæsket og truet,

the moment I discovered my voice,

så jeg det sekund jeg fandt min røst

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

at jeg kunne stå op for hvad jeg troede på,

I'm no longer afraid.

min frygt forsvinde.

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

De kaldte mig Softy, men jeg er ikke længere Softy,

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

for jeg fandt hvem jeg virkelig er, hvad jeg virkelig vil,

and there's such beauty in doing that.

og der er så megen skønhed i det.

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

Der er intet mere kraftfuldt at se, at jeg blev skabt til dette,

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

for du bliver ikke bange, du lever blot dit liv.

Thank you.

Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)