What to do when everything feels broken | Daniel Alexander Jones

Translator: Yolanda Raintina Reviewer: Nathaniel Luis Reyhan Soesilo

"I've got people in me."

"I've got people in me."

So sang the late Abbey Lincoln.

Dinyanyikan oleh Abbey Lincoln.

I take that lyric as mantra.

Saya menganggap lirik itu sebagai mantra.

"I've got people in me."

"I've got people in me."

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

Jomama Jones adalah sosok di dalam diri saya yang menjadi panutan.

She's my alter ego.

Dia alter ego saya.

I've been embodying her in performance since 1995,

Saya telah menampilkannya sejak 1995,

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

dan dia muncul saat membagikan gagasannya ke penonton.

At this time of radical change,

Di saat perubahan radikal ini,

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

saya senang untuk menjadi wadah untuk menyampaikan pesannya kepada Anda.

Jomama Jones: What if I told you

Jomama Jones: Bagaimana jika saya katakan

it's going to be alright ...

semua akan baik-baik saja...

but what if I told you not yet?

tetapi bagaimana jika belum?

What if I told you there are trials ahead

Bagaimana jika saya katakan masih ada cobaan di depan

beyond your deepest fears?

yang melebihi ketakutan terdalam Anda?

What if I told you will you fall ...

Bagaimana kalau saya katakan Anda akan jatuh

down, down, down?

begitu dalam?

But what if I told you you will surprise yourself?

Tetapi, bagaimana jika saya katakan Anda akan mengejutkan diri sendiri?

What if I told you will be brave enough?

Bagaimana jika saya katakan Anda akan menjadi cukup berani?

What if I told you

Bagaimana jika saya katakan

we won't all make it through?

bahwa kita semua tak akan berhasil melaluinya?

But what if I told you

Tetapi, bagaimana jika saya katakan

that is as it must be?

memang itu yang seharusnya terjadi?

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

Bagaimana jika saya katakan bahwa saya telah melihat masa depan?

Do you like my hands?

Anda suka tangan saya?

They're expressive, yeah?

Ekspresif, bukan?

Now look at your hands -- now go on.

Sekarang lihat tangan Anda -- lakukan.

There's so much history recorded through their touches

Ada begitu banyak sejarah yang terekam melalui sentuhan

and marks of the future sketched on their palms.

dan tanda masa depan yang tergambar di telapak tangan.

Sometimes hands grip tight,

Terkadang tangan menggenggam erat,

sometimes hands let go.

terkadang tangan melepaskan.

What if I told you

Bagaimana jika saya beritahu Anda

it's all going to come undone?

bahwa semuanya tidak akan selesai sesuai rencana?

Hm.

Hmm.

Ladies and gentlemen

Ibu-ibu dan Bapak-bapak

and otherwise described,

serta hadirin sekalian,

I am Jomama Jones.

Saya Jomama Jones.

Some call me a soul sonic superstar,

Sebagian orang memanggil saya superstar soul sonic,

and I agree,

dan saya setuju,

though even in my past that was from the future.

sekalipun masa lalu saya berasal dari masa depan.

Let me take you back to girlhood.

Mari ikut ke masa kecil saya.

Picture this:

Bayangkan ini:

it was Planting Day,

Saat itu Planting Day,

which was a holiday I invented

hari libur yang saya ciptakan

for the Black youth community group I founded.

bagi komunitas pemuda kulit hitam yang saya dirikan.

I dashed home to put on my gardening ensemble

Saya berlari pulang untuk memakai perangkat berkebun

when I caught my uncle Freeman red-handed.

dan menangkap basah paman saya, Freeman.

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

Dia berdiri di dekat celengan saya sambil mengangkat palu tinggi-tinggi.

He was fixing to steal my coins.

Jelas dia ingin mencuri uang saya.

And you see,

Anda tahu,

my uncle Freeman was a handyman.

Paman Freeman seorang tukang.

He could fix anything --

Dia bisa memperbaiki apa pun,

a broken chair, a shattered pot --

kursi rusak, pot pecah--

even bring grandmother's plants back to life.

bahkan menghidupkan tanaman nenek.

He had that magic touch with broken things ...

Dia punya sentuhan ajaib untuk barang rusak...

and broken people.

dan juga orang yang hancur.

He would take me with him on his jobs

Dia akan mengajak saya untuk bekerja

and say, "C'mon Jo,

dan berkata, "Ayo, Jo,

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

ayo lakukan sesuatu untuk membuat dunia yang lebih baik."

His hands were wide and calloused,

Tangannya lebar dan kapalan,

and they always reminded me of displaced tree roots.

mengingatkan saya akan akar pohon yang tak terurus.

As we worked he would talk with folks

Saat kami bekerja, dia akan mengajak orang-orang mengobrol

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

tentang perubahan yang dia yakini akan segera terjadi.

I saw him mend flagging hopes

Saya melihatnya memperbaiki harapan yang lesu

and leave folks with their heads held high.

dan meninggalkan mereka dengan kepala terangkat tinggi.

His hands stirred the sunshine.

Tangannya membawa kebahagiaan.

And now he was about to break my piggy bank.

Dan kini dia hendak memecahkan celengan saya.

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

Saya berkata, "Hentikan, perlihatkan tanganmu."

You know the irony was

Ini ironis.

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

Dulu dia memberi saya uang receh yang dia temukan saat bekerja.

And I put them in the piggy bank

Lalu saya masukkan ke celengan

bersama uang yang saya peroleh dalam pekerjaan sampingan masa kecil.

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

But by the spring of 1970,

Tetapi pada musim semi tahun 1970,

Uncle Freeman had lost his touch ...

Paman Freeman kehilangan sentuhannya...

along with most of his jobs.

bersama dengan sebagian besar pekerjaannya.

He saw a heavy future

Dia melihat masa depan yang berat

of civil wrongs and Black power outages in his palms.

dari pelanggaran sipil dan padamnya kekuatan kulit hitam di tangannya.

The last straw had come the previous winter

Bencana terakhir datang pada musim dingin sebelumnya

when they had gunned down Fred Hampton.

saat mereka menembak Fred Hampton.

Overwhelmed with fear

Dipenuhi dengan ketakutan,

and rage

amarah,

and grief,

dan kesedihan,

Uncle Freeman tried to game his future.

Paman Friedman mencoba mempertaruhkan masa depannya.

He gripped too tight,

Dia berusaha mengendalikannya

and he started playing the numbers.

dan mulai mempermainkan angkanya.

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

"Salah satu dari angka ini akan berhasil, nak.

You got a quarter for your uncle Free -- "

Nanti Paman bagi 1/4 untukmu."

Di antara kalian mungkin punya kerabat seperti itu.

Now some of y'all have that relative.

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

Tetapi, saya tahu pasti bahwa ada yang harus dilakukan.

I jumped up and I grabbed that hammer

Saya melompat dan merebut palu itu

and I brought it crashing down on that pig.

dan saya hantamkan ke celengan itu.

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

Paman Freeman mulai menangis saat saya mengumpulkan koin itu.

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

"Kita tidak akan membeli lotre, Paman Freeman.

C'mon."

Ayolah."

We spent every last cent at the seed store.

Kami menghabiskan semua uangnya di toko bibit.

You know, the kids in my gardening group?

Anda tahu anak-anak di kelompok berkebun saya?

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

Mereka tidak peduli saat saya meminta Paman berjongkok

and put his hands in the earth again

dan menyentuh tanah lagi,

and start breaking up that soil for our seeds.

lalu mulai menggali tanah untuk menanam benih.

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

Teman saya, Taesha, datang dan menepuk punggungnya

saying, "Cry it out, Uncle Freeman.

sambil berkata, "Menangislah, Paman.

Cry it out."

Menangislah."

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

"Saya tak bisa memperbaiki ini," isaknya.

It's an ancient-future truism, that.

Itu adalah kebenaran masa depan kuno.

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

Dia bukan orang pertama dan terakhir yang merasakan itu.

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

Kini, rasanya seperti tak ada yang bisa diperbaiki.

It is.

Begitulah.

But that breaking apart can be a breaking open,

Tetapi, kehancuran itu dapat menjadi celah,

no matter how violent and uncertain

tak peduli sekejam, setidak pasti,

and fearsome it seems.

dan semenakutkan kelihatannya.

The thing is ...

Masalahnya...

we can't do it alone.

kita tidak bisa melakukannya sendiri.

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

Paman Freeman menangis keras hari itu saat kami menanam benih,

he was our very own irrigation system.

dia menjadi sistem perairan kami.

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

"Saya tak tahu lagi siapa diri saya, nak,"

he said to me at sundown.

katanya pada suatu senja.

"Good, Uncle Freeman.

"Bagus, Paman Freeman.

Good.

Bagus.

You're new again,

Paman baru dilahirkan lagi,

and that's just how we need you."

dan sosokmu inilah yang kami butuhkan."