Michael Rain: What it's like to be the child of immigrants | TED

Prevodilac: Aleksandar Bošnjak Lektor: Ivana Korom

I remember one morning when I was in the third grade,

Sećam se jednog jutra kad sam bio treći razred,

my mom sent me to school with a Ghanaian staple dish called "fufu."

mama me je poslala u školu sa ganjanskim glavnim jelom "Fufu".

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Fufu is this white ball of starch made of cassava,

Fufu je bela ukrućena lopta, napravljena od tapioke,

and it's served with light soup, which is a dark orange color,

i sevira se uz blagu supu, koja je tamno narandžaste boje,

and contains chicken and/or beef.

i sadrži piletinu i/ili govedinu.

It's a savory, flavorful dish

Pikantna je, jelo sa puno ukusa,

that my mom thought would keep me warm on a cold day.

za koje je majka mislila da će me držati toplim po hladnom danu.

When I got to lunch and I opened my thermos,

Kada sam otišao da ručam, i kad sam otvorio termos,

releasing these new smells into the air,

ispuštajući ove nove mirise u vazduh,

my friends did not react favorably.

moji prijatelji nisu pogodno reagovali.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

"What's that?" one of them asked.

"Šta je to?", jedan od njih je pitao.

"It's fufu," I responded.

"To je fufu", odgovorio sam.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

"Ew, that smells funny. What's a fufu?" they asked.

"Fuj, to čudno miriše. Šta je fufu?", pitali su.

Their reaction made me lose my appetite.

Zbog njihove reakcije sam izgubio apetit.

I begged my mother to never send me to school with fufu again.

Molio sam mamu da me više ne šalje sa fufuom.

I asked her to make me sandwiches or chicken noodle soup

Tražio sam da mi napravi sendviče ili pileću supu

or any of the other foods that my friends were eating.

ili bilo koju drugu hranu koju su moji prijatelji jeli.

And this is one of the first times

Ovo je bio jedan od prvih puta

I began to notice the distinction between what was unique to my family

kada sam počeo da primećujem razlike između toga

šta je jedinstveno za moju porodicu, a šta je bilo uobičajeno za sve ostale.

and what was common for everyone else,

what was Ghanaian and what was African

Šta je bilo ganjanski, šta afrički, a šta američki.

and what was American.

I'm a first-generation American.

Ja sam prva generacija Amerikanaca.

Both of my parents are immigrants.

Oba moja roditelja su imigranti.

In fact, my father, Gabriel, came to the US almost 50 years ago.

U stvari, moj otac, Gabrijel, je došao u Ameriku skoro pre 50 godina.

He arrived in New York

Stigao je u Njujork iz grada Kumasi

from a city called Kumasi in a northern region of Ghana,

u severnom delu Gane, u zapadnoj Africi.

in West Africa.

He came for school, earning his bachelor's degree in accounting

Došao je zbog škole, stekavši diplomu iz računovodstva

and eventually became an accountant.

i na kraju je postao računovođa.

My mother, Georgina, joined him years later.

Moja majka, Džordžina, mu se pridružila kasnije.

She had a love of fashion

Imala je ljubav prema modi

and worked in a sewing factory in lower Manhattan,

i radila je u fabrici za šivenje na donjem Menhetnu,

until she saved up enough to open her own women's clothing store.

dok nije uštedela dovoljno da otvori svoju radnju ženske odeće.

I consider myself an American

Smatram se Amerikancem

and an African

i Afrikancem

and a Ghanaian.

i Gancem.

And there's millions of people around the world

Postoje milioni ljudi širom sveta

who are juggling these different classifications.

koji žongliraju ovim različitim klasifikacijama.

They might be Jamaican-Canadians or Korean-Americans or Nigerian-Brits.

Mogu biti Jamajčani-Kanađani ili Koreanci-Amerkanci ili Negerijci-Britanci.

But what makes our stories and experiences different

Ali ono što čini naše priče i iskustva drugačijim

is that we were born and raised in a country different than our parents,

je to što smo mi rođeni i odgajani u zemlji drugačijoj od naših roditelja.

and this can cause us to be misunderstood

i ovo može da prouzrokuje da budemo neshvaćeni

when being viewed through a narrow lens.

kada smo gledani kroz uske objektive.

I grew up in New York, which is home to the largest number of immigrants

Odrastao sam u Njujorku, koji je kuća najvećem delu imigranata

anywhere in the United States.

bilo gde u Americi.

And you would think growing up in a place like New York,

Mislili biste da, odrastanjem na mestu kao što je Njujork

it would be easy for a first-generation person to find their place.

bilo bi lako za osobu prve generacije da nađe svoje mesto.

But all throughout my childhood,

Ali kroz celo detinjstvo

there were these moments that formed my understanding

bilo je trenutaka koji su formirali moje shvatanje

of the different worlds I belonged to.

različitih svetova kojima sam pripadao.

When I was in the fifth grade, a student asked me

Kad sam bio u petom razredu, jedan učenik me je pitao

if my family was refugees.

da li su moji izbeglice.

I didn't know what that word meant.

Nisam znao šta ta reč znači.

He explained to me that his parents told him

Objasnio mi je da su mu roditelji rekli

that refugees are people from Africa who come to the US

da su izbeglice ljudi iz Afrike koji su došli u Ameriku

to escape death, starvation and disease.

da bi izbegli smrt, gladovanje i bolest.

So I asked my parents, and they laughed a bit,

Pitao sam roditelje i smejali su se malo,

not because it was funny but because it was a generalization.

ne zato što je bilo smešno nego zato što je to generalizacija.

And they assured me that they had enough to eat in Ghana

Uverili su me da su imali dovoljno da jedu u Gani,

and came to the US willingly.

i da su svojevoljno došli u Ameriku.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

These questions became more complex as I got older.

Ova pitanja su postala komplikovanija kako sam odrastao.

Junior high school was the first time

Osnovna škola je bio prvi put

I went to school with a large number of black American students,

da sam išao u školu sa velikim brojem crnih Američkih učenika.

and many of them couldn't understand why I sounded differently than they did

I mnogi nisu mogli da shvate zašto sam zvučao drugačije od njih

or why my parents seemed different than theirs.

ili zašto su moji roditelji izgledali drugačije od njihovih.

"Are you even black?" a student asked.

"Jesi li ti uopšte crnac?", jedan učenik me je pitao.

I mean, I thought I was black.

Mislio sam da jesam.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I thought my skin complexion settled that.

Mislio sam da je moj ten to rešio.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I asked my father about it, and he shared his own confusion

Pitao sam oca za to i on je bio zbunjen

over the significance of that when he first came to the US.

zbog značaja toga kada je došao u Ameriku.

He explained to me that, when he was in Ghana, everyone was black,

Objasnio mi je da, kada je bio u Gani, svi su bili crni,

so he never thought about it.

tako da nikad nije razmišljao o tome.

But in the US, it's a thing.

Ali u Americi se o tome priča.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But he would say, "But you're African.

Ali bi rekao: "Ti si Afrikanac.

Remember that."

Zapamti to."

And he would emphasize this,

I naglasio bi ovo,

even though many Africans in the continent would only consider me to be

iako bi me mnogi Afrikanci na kontinentu jedino smatrali

just an American.

samo Amerikancem.

These misconceptions and complex cultural issues

Ove zablude i kompleksni kulturni problemi

are not just the inquiries of children.

nisu samo pitanja mladih.

Adults don't know who immigrants are.

Odrasli ne znaju ko su imigranti.

If we look at current trends,

Ako pogledamo sadašnje trendove,

if I asked you: What's the fastest-growing

da sam vas pitao: koja je najbrže rastuća

immigrant demographic in the United States,

imigrantska demografija u Americi,

who would you think it was?

za koju mislite da bi bila?

Nine out of 10 people tell me it's Latinos,

9 od 10 ljudi mi kažu Latinoamerikanci,

but it's actually African immigrants.

ali su zapravo Afrički imigranti.

How about in academics?

Šta mislite za akademike?

What's the most educated immigrant demographic?

Koja je najobrazovanija imigrantska demografija?

A lot of people presume it to be Asians, but it's actually African immigrants.

Mnogo ljudi misli da su to Azijati, ali su zapravo afrički imigranti.

Even in matters of policy,

Čak i u političkim pitanjia

did you know that three out of the eight countries

da li ste znali da 3 od 8 zemalja

in the so-called "travel ban"

u takozvanim "zabranjenim zemljama"

are African countries?

su Afričke zemlje?

A lot of people assume those targeted Muslims only live in the Middle East,

Mnogo ljudi misli da oni označeni Muslimani žive samo na Bliskom istoku,

but a lot of those banned people are Africans.

ali mnogo onih kojima je zabranjeno su Afrikanci.

So on these issues of education and policy and religion,

O problemima edukacije politike i religije,

a lot of things we presume about immigrants are incorrect.

dosta stvari koje mi pretpostavljamo o imigrantima su netačne.

Even if we look at something like workplace diversity and inclusion,

Čak i ako pogledamo raznolikost na radnom mestu i uključivanje,

if I asked you what gender-ethnicity combination

da vas pitam koji rodno-etnički spoj

is least likely to be promoted to senior managerial positions,

je manje verovatan da bude unapređen na višu menadžersku poziciju,

who would you think it was?

koji biste mislili da je u pitanju?

The answer is not Africans this time.

Odogovor nije Afrikanci ovog puta.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And it's not black women or men,

I nisu crne žene ili muškarci,

and it's not Latin women or men.

i nisu latino žene ni muškarci.

It's Asian women who are least likely to be promoted.

Azijatkinje su te koje imaju najmanje šansi da budu unapređene.

Sakupljanje ovih priča i problema je

Capturing these stories and issues is part of my work

deo mog posla kao digitalnog pripovedača

as a digital storyteller

that uses tech to make it easier for people to find these stories.

koji koristi tehnologiju da olakša ljudima nalaženje ovih priča.

This year, I launched an online gallery of portraits and firsthand accounts

Ove godine sam pokrenuo online galeriju portreta

i neposredne naloge za projekat "Enodi".

for a project called Enodi.

The goal of Enodi is to highlight first-generation immigrants just like me

Cilj "Enodija" je da istakne prvu generaciju imigranata kao što sam ja

who carry this kinship for the countries we grew up in,

koji nose ovo srodstvo za zemlje u kojima smo odrasli,

for the countries of origin

za zemlje porekla,

i za ovaj koncept "crnila".

and for this concept called "blackness."

I created this space to be a cyberhome for many of us who are misunderstood

Napravio sam ovo mesto da bude sajberkuća za nas koji su neshvaćeni

in our different home countries.

u različitim domovinama.

There are millions of Enodis

Ima na milione Enodija

who use hyphens to connect their countries of origin

koji koriste crtice da povežu zemlje porekla

sa različitim domovima u Americi

with their various homes in the US

or Canada or Britain or Germany.

ili Kanadi ili Britaniji ili Nemačkoj.

In fact, many people you might know are Enodi.

U stvari, mnogi ljudi koje vi znate su Enodi.

Actors Issa Rae and Idris Elba are Enodi.

Glumci Isa Rej i Idris Elba su Enodi.

Colin Powell,

Kolin Pauel,

former Attorney General Eric Holder,

nekadašnji državni tužilac Erik Holder,

former President of the United States, Barack Obama,

nekadašnji predsednik Amerike, Barak Obama,

are all the children of African or Caribbean immigrants.

su svi deca afričkih ili karipskih imigranata.

But how much do you know about us?

Ali koliko znate o nama?

This complicated navigation

Ova komplikovana navigacija

is not just the experience of first-generation folks.

nije samo iskustvo ljudi prve generacije.

We're so intertwined

Mi smo toliko isprepletani

in the lives and culture of people in North America and Europe,

sa životima i kulturom ljudi u Severnoj Americi i Evropi,

that you might be surprised how critical we are

da biste bili iznenađeni koliko smo mi presudni

to your histories and future.

za vaše istorije i budućnost.

So, engage us in conversation;

Tako da, uključite nas u razgovor.

discover who immigrants actually are,

Otkrijte ko su zapravo imigranti

and see us apart from characterizations

i vidite nas odvojeno od karakterizcija

or limited media narratives

ili ograničenih medijskih interpretacija

or even who we might appear to be.

pa čak i od toga za koga se činimo da smo.

We're walking melting pots of culture,

Mi smo kotlovi pretapanja kulture,

and if something in that pot smells new or different to you --

i ako vam nešto u tom kotlu miriše na novo ili drugačije,

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

don't turn up your nose.

ne podižite nos.

Ask us to share.

Zamolite nas da podelimo.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Aplauz)

(Applause)