Am I not human? A call for criminal justice reform | Marlon Peterson

Prevodilac: Jelena Ciric Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

She wrote:

Napisala je:

"When I become famous, I will tell everyone

„Kad postanem slavna, svima ću reći

that I know a hero named Marlon Peterson."

da poznajem heroja po imenu Marlon Piterson.“

Heroes rarely look like me.

Heroji uglavnom ne izgledaju kao ja.

In fact,

Zapravo,

I'm what garbage looks like.

smeće obično izgleda kao ja.

No, not the most appealing way to open a talk

To baš i nije najlepši način da započnem govor

or start a conversation,

ili počnem razgovor,

and perhaps you have some questions going through your head about that.

i možda vam se neka pitanja motaju po glavi o tome.

Zašto bi ovaj čovek rekao tako nešto o sebi?

Why would this man say such a thing about himself?

What does he mean?

Na šta tačno misli?

How can someone view him as a hero when he sees himself as garbage?

Kako neko može da ga vidi kao heroja kad on sebe vidi kao smeće?

Mislim da više učimo od pitanja nego od odgovora.

I believe we learn more from questions than we do from answers.

Because when we're questioning something,

Jer kad nešto preispitujemo,

we're invested in taking in some sort of new information,

predano upijamo neku novu informaciju,

or grappling with some sort of ignorance that makes us feel uncomfortable.

ili se rvemo sa nekakvim neznanjem zbog kojeg se osećamo neprijatno.

And that's why I'm here:

I zato sam ja ovde:

to push us to question,

da postavim pitanje,

even when it makes us uncomfortable.

čak i kad nam je zbog njega neprijatno.

My parents are from Trinidad and Tobago,

Moji roditelji su iz Trinidada i Tobaga,

the southernmost island in the Caribbean.

najjužnijeg ostrva u Karibima.

Trinidad is also home to the only acoustic instrument

Trinidad je domovina i jedinom akustičnom istrumentu

invented in the 20th century:

koji je pronađen u 20. veku:

the steel pan.

čeličnom bubnju.

Deriving from the African drums

On potiče od afričkih bubnjeva

and evolving from the genius of one of the ghettos in Trinidad,

i razvio se iz genijalnosti jednog od getoa u Trinidadu,

a city called Laventille,

grada koji se zove Laventij,

and the disregard of the American military ...

i neobaziranja na američku vojsku...

Well, I should tell you,

Pa, da vam kažem,

America, during WWII, had military bases set up in Trinidad,

Amerika je tokom II svetskog rata imala vojne baze u Trinidadu,

and when the war ended,

i kad se rat završio,

they left the island littered with empty oil drums --

otišli su sa ostrva krcatog praznim kantama od ulja -

their trash.

njihovim smećem.

So people from Laventille repurposed the old drums left behind

Tako su ljudi iz Laventija preradili te stare kante

into the full chromatic scale:

u punu hromatsku skalu:

the steel pan.

čelične bubnjeve.

Playing music now from Beethoven to Bob Marley to 50 Cent,

Sad sviraju muziku od Betovena do Boba Marlija i 50 Senta,

those people literally made music out of garbage.

ti ljudi su bukvalno napravili muziku od smeća.

Twelve days before my 20th birthday,

Dvanaest dana pre mog 20. rođendana,

I was arrested for my role in a violent robbery attempt

uhapšen sam zbog učešća u nasilnom pokušaju pljačke

in lower Manhattan.

u donjem Menhetnu.

While people were sitting in a coffee shop,

Dok su ljudi sedeli u kafiću,

four people were shot.

četvoro je upucano.

Two were killed.

Dvoje je ubijeno.

Five of us were arrested.

Nas petoro je uhapšeno.

We were all the products of Trinidad and Tobago.

Svi smo bili proizvod Trinidada i Tobaga.

We were the "bad immigrants,"

Bili smo „loši imigranti“

or the "anchor babies" that Trump and millions of Americans easily malign.

ili „bebe sidra“ koje Tramp i milioni Amerikanaca olako kleveću.

I was discarded, like waste material --

Bio sam odbačen, kao otpadni materijal -

and justifiably so to many.

i to opravdano, prema mnogima.

I eventually served 10 years, two months and seven days of a prison sentence.

Na kraju sam odslužio 10 godina, dva meseca i sedam dana zatvorske kazne.

I was sentenced to a decade of punishment in a correctional institution.

Bio sam osuđen na deceniju kazne u popravnoj instituciji.

I was sentenced to irrelevance --

Bio sam osuđen na beznačajnost -

the opposite of humanity.

suprotnost čovečnosti.

Interestingly,

Ono što je zanimljivo,

it was during those years in prison that a series of letters redeemed me,

baš tokom tih godina u zatvoru mnoga pisma su me iskupila,

helped me move beyond the darkness and the guilt

pomogla mi da izađem iz mraka i krivice

associated with the worst moment of my young life.

povezane sa najgorim trenutkom mog mladog života.

It gave me a sense that I was useful.

Dala su mi osećaj da sam koristan.

She was 13 years old.

Ona je imala 13 godina.

She had wrote that she saw me as a hero.

Napisala je da u meni vidi heroja.

I remember reading that,

Sećam se kad sam to čitao,

and I remember crying when I read those words.

sećam se da sam plakao dok sam čitao te reči.

She was one of over 50 students

Ona je bila jedan od preko 50 studenata

and 150 letters that I wrote during a mentoring correspondence program

i 150 pisama koja sam napisao tokom mentorskog programa prepiske

that I co-designed with a friend

koji sam osmislio s prijateljem

who was a teacher at a middle school in Brooklyn,

koji je bio nastavnik u osnovnoj školi u Bruklinu,

my hometown.

mom rodnom gradu.

We called it the Young Scholars Program.

Nazvali smo ga Program mladih naučnika.

Every time those young people shared their stories with me,

Svaki put kad bi ti mladi ljudi podelili svoje priče sa mnom,

their struggles,

svoje borbe,

every time they drew a picture of their favorite cartoon character

svaki put kad bi nacrtali sliku svog omiljenog crtanog lika

and sent it to me,

i poslali mi je,

every time they said they depended on my letters or my words of advice,

svaki put kad bi rekli da zavise od mojih pisama ili mojih saveta,

it boosted my sense of worthiness.

moj osećaj vrednosti je rastao.

It gave me a sense of what I could contribute to this planet.

To mi je dalo osećaj da mogu doprineti planeti.

It transformed my life.

To mi je promenilo život.

Because of those letters and what they shared with me,

Zbog tih pisama i onoga što su delili sa mnom,

their stories of teen life,

tih priča o tinejdžerskom životu,

they gave me the permission,

dali su mi dozvolu,

they gave me the courage to admit to myself

dali su mi hrabrost da priznam sebi

that there were reasons -- not excuses --

da su postojali razlozi - a ne izgovori -

but that there were reasons for that fateful day in October of 1999;

da su postojali razlozi za taj kobni dan oktobra 1999. godine;

that the trauma associated with living in a community

da trauma vezana za život u društvu

where guns are easier to get than sneakers;

gde su pištolji dostupniji nego patike;

that the trauma associated with being raped at gunpoint at the age of 14;

da trauma vezana za silovanje pod nišanom sa 14 godina;

that those are reasons for me

da su to moji razlozi

why making that decision,

zašto takva vrsta odluke,

that fatal decision,

takva fatalna odluka,

was not an unlikely proposition.

nije bila neverovatna opcija.

Because those letters mattered so much to me,

Zato što su mi ta pisma toliko mnogo značila,

because writing and receiving

zato što je slanje i primanje

i komunikacija s tim ljudima

and having that communication with those folks

so hugely impacted my life,

tako jako uticala na moj život,

I decided to share the opportunity with some friends of mine

odlučio sam da podelim priliku s nekim svojim prijateljima

who were also inside with me.

koji su bili tamo sa mnom.

Moji prijatelji Bil, Kori i Aroks,

My friends Bill and Cory and Arocks,

all in prison for violent crimes also,

svi u zatvoru zbog nasilnih zločina,

shared their words of wisdom with the young people as well,

takođe su delili mudrosti s mladim ljudima

i dobijali osećaj značaja zauzvrat.

and received the sense of relevancy in return.

We are now published writers and youth program innovators

Sada smo objavljivani pisci, inovatori programa za mlade,

and trauma experts

eksperti za traume

and gun violence prevention advocates,

zagovornici prevencije oružanog nasilja,

and TED talkers and --

TED govornici i -

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

and good daddies.

i dobre tatice.

That's what I call a positive return of investment.

To je ono što nazivam pozitivnim povratkom investicije.

Above all else,

Iznad svega drugog,

what building that program taught me was that when we sow,

stvaranje tog programa naučilo me da kad posejemo seme,

when we invest in the humanity of people no matter where they're at,

kad ulažemo u čovečanstvo i ljude, gde god se nalaze,

we can reap amazing rewards.

možemo da požnjemo neverovatne nagrade.

In this latest era of criminal justice reform,

U ovom najnovijem dobu reforme kriminalne pravde,

I often question and wonder why --

često se pitam i čudim se zašto -

why is it that so many believe

zašto toliki ljudi veruju

that only those who have been convicted of nonviolent drug offenses

da samo oni koji su osuđeni za nenasilne prestupe sa drogom

merit empathy and recognized humanity?

zavređuju empatiju i ljudskost?

Criminal justice reform is human justice.

Reforma kriminalne pravde je ljudska pravda.

Am I not human?

Zar ja nisam čovek?

When we invest in resources that amplify the relevancy of people

Kad ulažemo u sredstva koja povećavaju značaj ljudi

in communities like Laventille

u društvima poput Laventija,

or parts of Brooklyn or a ghetto near you,

delova Bruklina ili vašeg obližnjeg geta,

we can literally create the communities that we want.

bukvalno možemo da stvorimo društva koja želimo.

We can do better.

Možemo bolje.

We can do better than investing solely in law enforcement as a resource,

Možemo bolje od isključivog ulaganja u primenu zakona kao sredstva,

because they don't give us a sense of relevancy

jer oni nam ne daju osećaj značaja

that is at the core of why so many of us do so many harmful things

koji je u srži razloga zašto mnogi od nas rade mnogo štetnih stvari

in the pursuit of mattering.

tragajući za značajem.

See, gun violence is just a visible display of a lot of underlying traumas.

Vidite, oružano nasilje je samo vidni izraz skrivenih trauma.

When we invest in the redemptive value of relevancy,

Kad ulažemo u vrednost značajnosti koja iskupljuje,

we can render a return of both personal responsibility and healing.

možemo stvoriti povratak i lične odgovornosti i ozdravljenja.

That's the people work I care about,

To je rad ljudi do koga mi je stalo,

because people work.

jer ljudi rade.

Family, I'm asking you to do the hard work,

Porodice, molim vas za mnogo rada,

the difficult work,

za težak rad,

the churning work of bestowing undeserved kindness

za iscrpljujući rad darivanja nezaslužene dobrote

upon those who we can relegate as garbage,

onima koje možemo proterati kao smeće,

who we can disregard and discard easily.

koje možemo lako zanemariti i odbaciti.

I'm asking myself.

Tražim od samog sebe.

Over the past two months,

Tokom poslednja dva meseca,

I've lost two friends to gun violence,

izgubio sam dva prijatelja zbog oružanog nasilja.

both innocent bystanders.

Obojica su bili nevini prolaznici.

One was caught in a drive-by while walking home.

Jedan je upucan u prolazu dok se vraćao kući.

The other was sitting in a café while eating breakfast,

Drugi je sedeo u kafiću i doručkovao,

while on vacation in Miami.

na odmoru u Majamiju.

I'm asking myself to see the redemptive value of relevancy

Tražim od samog sebe da uvidim iskupljujuću vrednost značajnosti

in the people that murdered them,

u ljudima koji su ih ubili,

because of the hard work of seeing the value in me.

jer je neko teško radio da bi video vrednost u meni.

I'm pushing us to challenge our own capacity

Teram nas da izazivamo sopstveni kapacitet

to fully experience our humanity,

da potpuno iskusimo svoju ljudskost,

by understanding the full biography

razumevajući celu biografiju

of people who we can easily choose not to see,

onih koje lako možemo izabrati da ne vidimo,

because heroes are waiting to be recognized,

jer heroji čekaju da ih prepoznaju

and music is waiting to be made.

i muzika čeka da se napravi.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)