Chinaka Hodge: What will you tell your daughters about 2016? | TED

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

Translator: Nelson Lutta Reviewer: Joachim Mangilima

Tell your daughters of this year,

Ambieni ma binti wenu kuhusu mwaka huu

how we woke needing coffee

jinsi tulivyo amka tukihitaji kahawa

but discovered instead cadavers strewn about our morning papers,

ila tukapata pindi imemwagwa, kati ya magazeti ya asubuhi

waterlogged facsimiles of our sisters, spouses, small children.

faksi za dada, mke/mume, watoto wadogo zilizojaa maji

Say to your baby of this year when she asks, as she certainly should,

Mwambie mwana wako kuhusu huu mwaka atakapo kuuliza, anavyofaa kukuuliza,

tell her it was too late coming.

mwambie ili kuwa imechelewa kuja

Admit even in the year we leased freedom, we didn't own it outright.

Kubali kuwahata ule mwaka tulikodisha uhuru,hatuku umiliki moja kwa moja

There were still laws for every way we used our privates

Bado kulikuwa na sheria jinsi tunavyotumia sehemu zetu za siri.

ilhali wakivuruga upole wetu

while they pawed at the soft folds of us,

grabbed with no concern for consent,

wakatunyakua bila kujali ridhaa

no laws made for the men that enforced them.

Hamna sheria ziliundiwa wanaume walioitekeleza

Tulifunzwa ku hepa,

We were trained to dodge,

to wait, to cower and cover,

kungoja, kuhofia, na kujifunika

kungoja zaidi, na bado kungoja.

to wait more, still, wait.

Tuliambiwa tuwe kimya

We were told to be silent.

But speak to your girls of this wartime,

Ila ambia ma binti wako kuhusu muda huu wa vita

a year preceded by a score of the same,

mwaka uliotanguliwa na matokeo sawa,

so as in two decades before,

kama miongo miwili iliyopita

we wiped our eyes,

tuliyapangusa macho yetu

ma jeneza yakafunikwa na bendera

laced caskets with flags,

kuondoa eneo la uhalifu wa Klabu,

evacuated the crime scene of the club,

caterwauled in the street,

kwaruza kuomboleza mitaani,

laid our bodies on the concrete against the outlines of our fallen,

tukailaza mili yetu kwenye sakafu ya saruji tukiegemea walioanguka,

cried, "Of course we mattered,"

tukalia, "Bila shaka tuna umuhimu,"

chanted for our disappeared.

tukawaimbia waliopotea.

The women wept this year.

Wanawake walilia huu mwaka.

They did.

Walilia.

In the same year, we were ready.

Mwaka huo huo, tulikuwa tayari.

Mwaka tuliopoteza uoga na kusonga kwa ujasiri

The year we lost our inhibition and moved with courageous abandon

was also the year we stared down barrels,

huu pia ndio mwaka tulioyangalia chini mapipa

sang of cranes in skies, ducked and parried,

tukaimba korongo angani, tuka hepa na kupangua,

kashika dhahabu kwa hijab, tukapokea vitisho vya kifo,

caught gold in hijab, collected death threats,

knew ourselves as patriots,

tulijifahamu kama wazalendo,

kasema, "tuko 35 sasa, mda wa kutulia na kumtafuta mgombea mwenza,"

said, "We're 35 now, time we settled down and found a running mate,"

made road maps for infant joy, shamed nothing but fear,

tukakuza ramani ya furaha mpya ya kitoto, kutokua na aibu ila ya hofu,

called ourselves fat and meant, of course,

tukajiita wanene na kumaanisha, bila shaka,

impeccable.

safi kabisa

This year, we were women,

Mwaka huu, tulikuwa wanawake,

not brides or trinkets,

sio bibi harusi au kishaufu,

not an off-brand gender,

sio jinsia duni,

not a concession, but women.

sio mawaidha, ila wanawake.

Instruct your babies.

Wafunze watoto wako.

Remind them that the year has passed to be docile or small.

Wakumbushe kua mwaka wa kuwa watulivu au wadogo umepita.

Wale kati yetu waliosema ni wanawake kwa mara ya kwanza,

Some of us said for the first time that we were women,

took this oath of solidarity seriously.

kachukua kiapo hiki cha umoja kwa umahiri

Kuna wale walizaa watoto na wale hawakuzaa,

Some of us bore children and some of us did not,

and none of us questioned whether that made us real

na hamna miongoni mwetu aliuliza ilitufanyawakweli

or appropriate or true.

au sahihi au kweli.

When she asks you of this year,

Anapokuuliza juu ya mwaka huu,

your daughter, whether your offspring or heir to your triumph,

binti wako, iwapo mwanawe au mrithi wa ushindi wako,

from her comforted side of history teetering towards woman,

toka pande ya faraja yake historia, kiyumba kuelekea wanawake,

she will wonder and ask voraciously,

atashangaa na kuuliza kwa lafua,

licha yake kutoweza kuelewa kafara yako,

though she cannot fathom your sacrifice,

ataiweka ukadiri wako takatifu,

she will hold your estimation of it holy,

curiously probing, "Where were you?

jambo la ajabu atadadisi,"Ulikuwa wapi?

Did you fight? Were you fearful or fearsome?

Ulipigana? Ulikuwa na hofu au ulihofisha?

What colored the walls of your regret?

Nini ilikupa majuto?

What did you do for women in the year it was time?

Ulifanyia nini wanawake katika mwaka uliowasili

This path you made for me, which bones had to break?

Njia hii ulio nitengezea, mifupa ipi ilibidii ivunjwe?

Did you do enough, and are you OK, momma?

Ulifanya ya kutosha, na je uko sawa, mama?

Na je wewe ni shujaa?

And are you a hero?"

She will ask the difficult questions.

Atauliza yale maswali magumu.

She will not care about the arc of your brow,

Hatajali juu ya mikunjo ya uso wako,

uzito wa ufumbata wako.

the weight of your clutch.

She will not ask of your mentions.

Hatakuuliza kuhusu kutajwa kwako.

Binti wako, uliyembebea mengi, anataka kujua

Your daughter, for whom you have already carried so much, wants to know

what you brought, what gift, what light did you keep from extinction?

ulimletea nini, zawadi ipi, ulizuia nuru ipi kutokomea

When they came for victims in the night,

Walipowakujia waathirika usiku,

did you sleep through it or were you roused?

ulilala au uliamshwa?

Bei ya kuwa macho ilikuwa nini?

What was the cost of staying woke?

What, in the year we said time's up, what did you do with your privilege?

Nini, kwa mwaka tuisema saa imefika, ulifanyia nini upendeleo wako?

Uliyanywa umaskini wa wengine?

Did you sup on others' squalor?

Did you look away or directly into the flame?

Uliangalia kando au uliuangalia moto?

Did you know your skill or treat it like a liability?

Uliujua ujuzi wako au uliutunza kama dhima?

Were you fooled by the epithets of "nasty" or "less than"?

Je ulidanganywa na matusi ya "gonjwa" au "ndogo kuliko"?

Did you teach with an open heart or a clenched fist?

Je ulifunza na moyo mkunjufu au ngumu iliyokazwa?

Where were you?

Ulikuwa wapi?

Tell her the truth. Make it your life.

Mwambie ukweli. Ifanye iwe maisha yako.

Confirm it. Say, "Daughter, I stood there

Ithibitishe. Sema,"Binti, nilisimama pale

with the moment drawn on my face like a dagger,

kwa muda, uliochorwa kwa uso wangu kama sime

and flung it back at itself,

na kuirusha ilipotoka

kukata nafasi kwa'jili yako."

slicing space for you."

Tell her the truth, how you lived in spite of crooked odds.

Mwambie ukweli, vile ulivyoishi licha ya tabia mbaya

Tell her you were brave,

Mwambie ulikuwa jasiri

and always, always in the company of courage,

na daima, daima ukaungana na ujasiri,

mostly the days when you just had yourself.

sana sana zile siku, ulikuwa wewe mwenyewe,

Tell her she was born as you were,

Mwambie alizaliwa jinsi wewe ulivyo,

as your mothers before, and the sisters beside them,

kama kina mama wako mbeleni, na kina dada kando yao,

in the age of legends, like always.

Katika muda wa wazalendo, kama kawaida.

Mwambie alizaliwa kwa muda uliyofaa,

Tell her she was born just in time,

just in time

kwa muda uliyofaa

to lead.

kuongoza.

(Applause)

(Vigelegele)