Boniface Mwangi: The day I stood up alone

Prevoditelj: Irina Knezevic Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

People back home call me a heckler,

Kod kuće me ljudi zovu prosvjednikom,

a troublemaker, an irritant,

smutljivcem, dosadnjakovićem,

a rebel, an activist,

pobunjenikom, aktivistom,

the voice of the people.

glas naroda.

But that wasn't always me.

Ali nisam uvijek bio takav.

Growing up, I had a nickname.

Kao mali imao sam nadimak.

They used to call me Softy,

Zvali su me Softy,

meaning the soft, harmless boy.

što znači nježan, bezopasan dečko.

Like every other human being, I avoided trouble.

Kao i svako drugo ljudsko biće, izbjegavao sam nevolje.

In my childhood, they taught me silence.

U djetinjstvu su me učili o šutnji.

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

Ne svađaj se, radi kako ti je rečeno.

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

U Nedjeljnoj školi su me naučili da izbjegavam sukobe, da se ne svađam,

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

i ako si u pravu, okreni drugi obraz.

This was reinforced by the political climate of the time.

To je politička klima tog doba još više pojačala.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Kenya is a country where you are guilty

Kenija je država u kojoj si kriv

until proven rich.

dok se ne dokaže da si bogat.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Kenya's poor are five times more likely

Siromasi u Keniji imaju pet puta veće šanse biti ubijeni

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

od strane policije, koja bi ih trebala štititi,

than by criminals.

nego od kriminalaca.

This was reinforced by the political climate of the day.

To je politička klima tog doba još više pojačala.

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

Imali smo predsjednika, Moi, diktatora.

He ruled the country with an iron fist,

Vladao je državom svojom željeznom rukom,

and anyone who dared question his authority

i onaj tko je pokušavao dovesti u pitanje njegovu

was arrested, tortured, jailed or even killed.

vlast bio je uhićen, mućen, pritvoren ili čak ubijen.

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

Ljudi su naučeni biti pametne kukavice, izbjegavati nevolje.

Being a coward was not an insult.

Biti kukavica nije bila uvreda.

Being a coward was a compliment.

Biti kukavica je bio kompliment.

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

Bilo nam je rečeno da kukavica ide kući svojoj majci.

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

To je značilo: da ako izbjegavaš nevolje, ostat ćeš živ.

I used to question this advice,

Ja sam dovodio u pitanje taj savjet,

and eight years ago we had an election in Kenya,

i prije osam godina, imali smo izbore u Keniji,

and the results were violently disputed.

i rezultati su bili nasilno osporeni.

What followed that election was terrible violence, rape,

Ono što je slijedilo izbore su bila strašna nasilja, silovanja

and the killing of over 1,000 people.

i više od 1000 ubijenih ljudi.

My work was to document the violence.

Moj posao je bio zabilježiti to nasilje.

As a photographer, I took thousands of images,

Kao fotograf, snimio sam na tisuće slika,

and after two months,

i nakon dva mjeseca

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

dva političara su se susreli, popili šalicu čaja,

signed a peace agreement, and the country moved on.

potpisali mirovni ugovor i država je krenula dalje.

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

Ja sam bio vrlo uznemiren čovjek jer sam vidio nasilje uživo.

I saw the killings. I saw the displacement.

Vidio sam ubojstva, vidio sam raseljavanje.

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

Upoznao sam žene koje su bile silovane i to me uzrujalo,

but the country never spoke about it.

ali država nikad nije pričala o tome.

We pretended. We all became smart cowards.

Pretvarali smo se. Svi smo postali pametne kukavice.

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

Odlučili smo izbjegavati nevolje i ne pričati o tome.

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

Deset mjeseci kasnije dao sam otkaz na poslu. Nisam mogao više.

After quitting my job, I decided to organize my friends

Nakon otkaza, odlučio sam organizirati s prijateljima

to speak about the violence in the country,

da govorimo o nasilju u državi,

to speak about the state of the nation,

da govorimo o stanju nacije,

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

i 1. lipnja 2009.-e je bio dan kad smo trebali ići na stadion

and try and get the president's attention.

i pokušati pridobiti pažnju predsjednika.

It's a national holiday,

Državni je praznik,

it's broadcast across the country,

emitira se u cijeloj zemlji,

and I showed up at the stadium.

i ja sam se pojavio na stadionu.

My friends did not show up.

Moji prijatelji se nisu pojavili.

I found myself alone,

Našao sam se sam,

and I didn't know what to do.

i nisam znao što da radim.

I was scared,

Bio sam prestrašen, ali sam

but I knew very well that that particular day,

vrlo dobro znao da sam tog naročitog dana

I had to make a decision.

morao donijeti odluku.

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

Jesam li odlučio živjeti kao kukavica kao svi drugi,

or was I going to make a stand?

ili sam odlučio zauzeti stav?

And when the president stood up to speak,

Kad je predsjednik stao da započne svoj govor,

I found myself on my feet shouting at the president,

našao sam se na nogama vičući na predsjednika,

telling him to remember the post-election violence victims,

govoreći mu da se sjeti postizbornih žrtava nasilja,

to stop the corruption.

da se zaustavi korupcija.

And suddenly, out of nowhere,

I odjednom, niodkuda,

the police pounced on me like hungry lions.

policajci su skočili na mene kao gladni lavovi.

They held my mouth

Držali su mi usta i

and dragged me out of the stadium,

odvukli me izvan stadiona,

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

gdje su me temeljito istukli i zatvorili u zatvor.

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

Proveo sam tu noć na hladnom betonskom podu u zatvoru,

and that got me thinking.

i to me navelo na razmišljanje.

What was making me feel this way?

Što je bio razlog da se ovako osjećam?

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

Moji prijatelji i obitelj su mislili da sam lud zbog mog pothvata,

and the images that I took were disturbing my life.

a slike koje sam snimio su me uznemiravale.

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

Slike koje sam snimio su bile samo broj mnogim kenijcima.

Most Kenyans did not see the violence.

Mnogi nisu vidjeli to nasilje.

It was a story to them.

Za njih je to bila jedna priča.

And so I decided to actually start a street exhibition

I tako sam odlučio zapravo započeti uličnu izložbu

to show the images of the violence across the country

da pokažem slike nasilja u cijeloj zemlji

and get people talking about it.

i navesti ljude da pričaju o tome.

We traveled the country and showed the images,

Putovali smo zemljom i pokazivali slike,

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

i to je bilo putovanje koje mi je pokazalo put aktivista,

where I decided to become silent no more,

gdje sam odlučio da neću više šutjeti,

to talk about those things.

da ću pričati o tim stvarima.

We traveled, and our general site from our street exhibit

Putovali smo i naše stranice na uličnim izložbama

became for political graffiti about the situation in the country,

postale su politički grafiti o situaciji u zemlji,

talking about corruption, bad leadership.

koji su govorili o korupciji, lošem rukovodstvu.

We have even done symbolic burials.

Čak smo napravili simbolične ukope.

We have delivered live pigs to Kenya's parliament

Dostavili smo žive svinje u kenijski parlament

as a symbol of our politicians' greed.

kao znak pohlepe naših političara.

It has been done in Uganda and other countries,

To je učinjeno u Ugandi i u drugim zemljama,

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

a ono što je najbitnije, jest što su mediji snimili te slike

and amplified across the country, across the continent.

i proširili ih po cijeloj zemlji, po cijelom kontinentu.

Where I used to stand up alone seven years ago,

Tamo gdje sam nekada stajao sam prije sedam godina,

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

sad pripadam jednoj zajednici mnoštva ljudi koji stoje sa mnom.

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

Više nisam sam kad pričam o tim stvarima.

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

Pripadam jednoj grupi mladih ljudi koji strastveno vole svoju zemlju,

who want to bring about change,

koji žele donijeti promijene,

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

i oni nisu više prestrašeni, i oni nisu više pametne kukavice.

So that was my story.

Dakle, to je bila moja priča.

That day in the stadium,

Taj dan na stadionu,

I stood up as a smart coward.

suprostavio sam se kao pametna kukavica.

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

Tim potezom pozdravio sam se sa 24 godine života kao kukavica.

There are two most powerful days in your life:

Postoje dva najbitnija dana u životu:

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

dan kad si rođen, i dan kad saznaš zašto.

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

Taj dan stojeći na onom stadionu i vičući na predsjednika,

I discovered why I was truly born,

otkrio sam zašto sam stvarno rođen,

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

da više neću šutjeti pred nepravdom.

Do you know why you were born?

Znate li vi zašto ste rođeni?

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Tom Rielly: It's an amazing story.

Tom Rielly: Priča je nevjerovatna.

I just want to ask you a couple quick questions.

Želim te pitati samo par brzih pitanja.

So PAWA254:

Dakle, PAWA254:

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

stvorio si studio, mjesto gdje mladi ljudi mogu ići

and harness the power of digital media

i iskoristiti moć digitalnih medija

to do some of this action.

da djeluju.

What's happening now with PAWA?

Što se sada događa sa PAWA?

Boniface Mwangi: So we have this community of filmmakers,

Boniface Mwangi: Imamo zajednicu filmaša,

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

grafitera, glazbenika i kad postoji neki problem u zemlji,

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

skupimo se na oluju mozgova i zauzmemo se za taj problem.

So our most powerful tool is art,

Dakle, naše najjače oružje je umjetnost,

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

jer živimo u vrlo dinamičnom svijetu u kojem su ljudi prezauzeti i

and they don't have time to read.

nemaju vremena za čitanje.

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

Zato šaljemo naš aktivizam i naše poruke kroz umjetnost.

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

Dakle, kroz glazbu, grafite, umjetnost, to je ono što mi činimo.

Can I say one more thing?

Mogu li reći samo još jednu stvar?

TR: Yeah, of course. (Applause)

TR: Da, naravno. (Pljesak)

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

BM: Unatoč tomu što sam bio uhićen, pretučen, ugrožen,

the moment I discovered my voice,

trenutak kad sam otkrio svoj glas,

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

da se mogu zauzeti za ono u što vjerujem,

I'm no longer afraid.

nije me više strah.

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

Nekad su me zvali Softy, ali nisam više mekušac,

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

jer sam otkrio tko sam ja zapravo, to je ono što želim raditi,

and there's such beauty in doing that.

i u tome je ljepota.

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

Ne postoji ništa snažnije kao znati da sam stvoren da ovo radim,

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

jer se ne bojiš, nego jednostavno nastaviš živjeti svoj život.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)