What to do when everything feels broken | Daniel Alexander Jones

Translator: Hanningtone Omollo Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

"I've got people in me."

"Nina watu ndani yangu"

So sang the late Abbey Lincoln.

Aliimba marehemu Abbey Lincoln.

I take that lyric as mantra.

Nachukulia maandiko hayo kama mwito

"I've got people in me."

"Nina watu ndani yangu"

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

Jomama Jones ndiye aliye ndani yangu namtazama kama mwongozo.

She's my alter ego.

Ndiye nafsi mbadala wangu.

I've been embodying her in performance since 1995,

Nimemjumuisha kwa uigizaji tangu mwaka 1995,

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

na huja pale ambapo ana dondoo za kuwapa majamaa.

At this time of radical change,

Wakati huu wa mabadiliko makuu,

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

Nafurahia kuwa chombo cha ujumbe wake kwenu.

Jomama Jones: What if I told you

Jomama Jones: Ni vipi nikikwambia

it's going to be alright ...

itakua sawa........

but what if I told you not yet?

lakini itakuaje nkikwambia bado?

What if I told you there are trials ahead

Je, nikikwambia kuna majaribu mbeleni

beyond your deepest fears?

kuzidi hofu yako ya kina ?

What if I told you will you fall ...

Je, nikikwambia utaanguka .....

down, down, down?

chini chini chini ?

But what if I told you you will surprise yourself?

Lakini nikkiwambia utajishangaza?

What if I told you will be brave enough?

Je, nikikwambia utakua jasiri kutosha ?

What if I told you

Je, nikikwambia

we won't all make it through?

si sote tutafaulu?

But what if I told you

Lakini itakuaje nikikwambia

that is as it must be?

ipo inavyobidi iwe?

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

Je nikikwambia nayaona yajayo?

Do you like my hands?

Unapenda mikono yangu?

They're expressive, yeah?

Inajieleza, ndiyo?

Now look at your hands -- now go on.

Sasa tazama mikono yako -- tazama.

There's so much history recorded through their touches

Kuna historia kubwa iliyorekodiwa kupitia miguso yake.

and marks of the future sketched on their palms.

na alama za siku za baadaye kuchorwa katika viganja.

Sometimes hands grip tight,

Kuna wakati mikono hushikilia kwa nguvu,

sometimes hands let go.

wakati mwingine kuachilia.

What if I told you

Je nikikwambia,

it's all going to come undone?

yote itasambaratika ?

Hm.

Mmm

Ladies and gentlemen

Mabibi na mabwana

and otherwise described,

na wengineo,

I am Jomama Jones.

Mimi ni Jomama Jones

Some call me a soul sonic superstar,

Kwa wengine mimi nyota wa soniki

and I agree,

na nakubaliana,

though even in my past that was from the future.

japokua hata mwanzoni, ilitokana na yale yajayo.

Let me take you back to girlhood.

Kidogo nikupeleke utotoni,

Picture this:

Wazia hili:

it was Planting Day,

ni siku ya kupanda,

which was a holiday I invented

ambayo ni likizo nimebuni

for the Black youth community group I founded.

kwa vijana weusi kikundi cha jamii nilichoanzisha

I dashed home to put on my gardening ensemble

Nilikimbia nyumbani kuvalia mavazi ya bustani

when I caught my uncle Freeman red-handed.

nikamfumania mjomba wangu aitwaye Freeman

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

Kasimama mbele ya kibubu akiwa amenyanyua nyundo hewani.

He was fixing to steal my coins.

Alikuwa anajiandaa kuiba pesa zangu

And you see,

Unajua,

my uncle Freeman was a handyman.

mjomba wangu Freeman alikuwa mtu anayefahamu fani nyingi.

He could fix anything --

Angerekebisha kitu yoyote-

a broken chair, a shattered pot --

kiti kilichovinjika, chungu imepasuka-

even bring grandmother's plants back to life.

hata kurudisha uhai kwa mimea za nyanya

He had that magic touch with broken things ...

Alikua na sihiri na vitu vilivyovunjika

and broken people.

na watu wenye kasoro

He would take me with him on his jobs

Angenichukua akienda kazini

and say, "C'mon Jo,

na kusema, "Kuja Jo,

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

tukafanye kitu kuibadili huu ulimwengu kua bora."

His hands were wide and calloused,

Mikono yake mipana na migumu,

and they always reminded me of displaced tree roots.

kila wakati zikinikumbusha mizizi iliohamishwa

As we worked he would talk with folks

Tukifanya kazi angeongea na watu

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

kuhusu mabadiliko aliyoamini yangetokea karibuni.

I saw him mend flagging hopes

Nilitazama akiunda tena matumaini yaliyovunjika

and leave folks with their heads held high.

na kuacha watu wamefurahi.

His hands stirred the sunshine.

Mikono yake iliwasha miale ya jua

And now he was about to break my piggy bank.

Na hapa alikuwa akikaribia kuvunja kibubu mbele yangu.

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

Nikasema"Piga hatua nyuma, na unionyeshe mikono yako."

You know the irony was

Unajua cha ajabu kilichotokea kilikuwa

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

alikua akinipatia sarafu kuu kuu zote alizopata kwenye sakafu wakati akiwa anafanya kazi.

And I put them in the piggy bank

Nami niliziweka katika kibubu

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

pamoja na mapato yangu kutokana na vibarua

But by the spring of 1970,

Lakini kufika msimu wa masika 1970,

Uncle Freeman had lost his touch ...

mjomba Freeman aliacha ufanisi wake ...

along with most of his jobs.

na kupoteza kazi zake nyingi.

He saw a heavy future

Alitabiria mbeleni

of civil wrongs and Black power outages in his palms.

wenye dhuluma na uwezeshaji kwa raia weusi kiganjani mwake.

The last straw had come the previous winter

Pigo la mwisho lilikuja majira ya baridi iliyopita

when they had gunned down Fred Hampton.

wakati walipomuua Fred Hampton.

Overwhelmed with fear

Alipozidiwa na hofu

and rage

na ghadhabu

and grief,

na majonzi,

Uncle Freeman tried to game his future.

Mjomba Freeman alijaribu kupambana na yaliyo mbeleni.

He gripped too tight,

Akashikilia kwa mkazo,

and he started playing the numbers.

na kuanza kucheza na nambari.

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

"Sikia, moja ya hizi nambari zitashinda, binti.

You got a quarter for your uncle Free -- "

Una robo kwa ajili ya uncle wako Free --"

Now some of y'all have that relative.

Wengine wenu mnaye ndugu kama huyu.

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

Lakini nilijua papo hapo lazima ningechukua hatua.

I jumped up and I grabbed that hammer

Nikaruka na kunyaka nyundo

and I brought it crashing down on that pig.

na nikaileta chini kuvunja kibubu.

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

Mjomba akaanza kulia huku mimi nikiokota sarafu.

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

"Hatununui tikiti za bahati nasibu mjomba,

C'mon."

C'mon."

We spent every last cent at the seed store.

Tulitumia hadi centi ya mwisho kwenye duka la mbegu

You know, the kids in my gardening group?

Unakumbuka wale watoto wakulima ?

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

Hawakushtuka nilipomlazimisha mjomba Freeman

and put his hands in the earth again

kufanya kazi bustanini tena

and start breaking up that soil for our seeds.

na kutayarisha udongo kwa ajili ya mbegu

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

Na rafiki yangu mdogo akaja na kuanza kumpiga kofi mgongoni

saying, "Cry it out, Uncle Freeman.

akisema,"Lia mjomba Freeman,

Cry it out."

Lia

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

"Siwezi rekebisha",alisema

It's an ancient-future truism, that.

Ni yakini ya kale-mbeleni.

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

Hakua wa kwanza kuionelea hivyo na hatakua wa mwisho

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

Kwa sasa, ineonekana kila kitu kinavuja kuzidi marekebisho

It is.

Ni kweli

But that breaking apart can be a breaking open,

Lakini kuvunja kwa kutenganisha kunaweza kuwa kuvunja kwa kuacha wazi,

no matter how violent and uncertain

hata iwe dhalimu na isiyofahamika

and fearsome it seems.

na kuogofya inaonyesha

The thing is ...

Jambo kuu ni ...

we can't do it alone.

hatuwezi sisi wenyewe.

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

Mjomba Freeman alilia sana hiyo siku wakati wa upandaji mbegu zetu,

he was our very own irrigation system.

akawa mfumo wa kunyunyiza maji

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

"Sijui mimi ni nani tena, msichana mdogo",

he said to me at sundown.

aliniambia wakati wa machweo.

"Good, Uncle Freeman.

"Vyema, mjomba Freeman

Good.

Vyema.

You're new again,

Umekua mpya tena,

and that's just how we need you."

ni hivyo ndivyo tunakuhitaji uwe."