From Prison to Purpose Through Wildland Firefighting | Royal Ramey | TED

翻译人员: Brisa Sun 校对人员: Bruce Wang

What I'm doing

我正在做的

and my cofounder Brendan Smith, and I [are] doing,

和我的联合创始人布伦丹·史密斯 正在做的事情

is like, changing the narrative of like, people that you think

就是改变那些看法，那些你可能认为

that might not have the ability or the competency

没有能力或资格

to go out here and fight wildland fires

去扑救野地火灾的人，

or even have the privilege to do it,

或是没有资格或特权来做这件事的人们，

can do it at a high level

也能够完美地完成这件事

and can be able to be a contributor to society,

并且为社会做出贡献，

just given a chance.

你只是需要给他们一个机会。

You really don't have control when you're in prison.

当你身处监狱时，你真的无法掌控任何东西

They tell you what to do, when to eat, when to sleep,

他们告诉你你该干什么，什么时候吃饭和睡觉

when you can come out to exercise,

什么时候你被允许外出活动，

to be on the phone with your family.

或是给你的家人打电话

You don’t select your cell, you don’t select your bed.

你不能选择呆在哪间房间， 对于你的床铺也没有选择权

You're getting told 24/7 what to do.

你每天24小时都在被告知自己该做什么

You have no control of your destiny in there.

在那里，你无法掌控自己的命运

It's really demeaning.

这真的让人感到羞辱

And it shows, like, how much you want to take that control back.

但这种感觉也显示出你多么渴望 重新掌控自己的生活。

Being a firefighter in prison definitely gave me the opportunity

在监狱里成为一名消防员的经历确实让我有机会

to take that control back.

重新掌控自己的生活。

And it showed me that I can be a hero, right?

它告诉我，我也可以成为一个英雄，不是吗？

Because everybody from the outside world kind of look at you as a zero.

因为外面世界的人都或多或少把你看作一无是处

And it really showed that when I put my mind to something,

而且这真的证明了，当我用心做一件事时，

I can actually do it.

我真的能做到它。

My name is Royal Ramey, and I am the cofounder and the CEO

我叫Royal Ramey，我是 林业与消防招聘项目的

of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment program.

联合创始人兼首席执行官

The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program

林业与消防招聘项目

is the intersection between workforce development,

是劳动力发展、

criminal justice and the climate crisis.

刑事司法，和气候危机的交汇点

We are about more than just training people who've been in prison

我们不仅仅将曾经身陷囹圄的人训练成

to be firefighters.

消防员

We are about training them to be better people,

我们将他们训练成更好的人，

to see the power they have to make real choices in their lives.

并且帮助他们看到自己 有能力在生活中做出真正的选择

After World War II,

在二战之后，

California relied heavily on incarcerated people to fight wildland fires.

加州在扑救野地火灾方面严重依赖服刑人员

Folks didn't want to do that work, and it was pretty hard.

当地人不想做这项工作， 而且它确实很辛苦。

So they wanted to exploit, you know,

所以他们想出要利用

folks that [were] incarcerated for a lower wage.

那些服刑人员，以支付较低的工资

It saved the state, you know, millions of dollars each year.

这么做帮助加州每年省下了几百万美元

These facilities are called California Conservation Camps, aka fire camps.

这些设施被称为加州保护营，也叫消防营

These long-standing facilities are where I found myself at the peak of my youth,

我的鼎盛青春时期同 这些历史悠久的设施一同度过，

and it literally changed my life.

它也确实改变了我的生活

In 2012, I was serving time in prison, feeling mentally devastated.

2012年，我在监狱服刑，一度精神崩溃

At the time, I remember looking

那时候，我记得我看着

at this "Sports Illustrated" cover of John Wall,

《体育画报》的封面人物约翰·沃尔，

realizing he was my same age with a bright future ahead of him.

我意识到他与我同龄，且有着一片大好前程

Why was he so different than me?

他为什么和我这么不一样？

How did I get here?

我怎么会在这里？

I was angry at life, and I felt a bit lost.

我对生活感到愤怒，也觉得有些迷茫。

During my sentence,

在我的服刑期间，

I had the opportunity to go to fire camp,

我有机会去到消防营，

and I want to be honest with you,

我可以很诚实地说，

I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

我当时并不知道我将面临什么

All I knew was it was an opportunity for me

我只知道这是我一个

to be more in a dormitory setting,

能够生活在更像是宿舍的环境中，

better food, access to weights

能够得到更好的吃食，得到使用举重器械权限，

and being closer to my family.

和离我家人更近的机会。

When I actually got on the crew

当我真正加入那个队伍时

and they gave me this pack and gave me this tool,

他们给我这个背包，给了我这个工具

I'm like, what the heck am I doing, right?

我当时想，我到底在干什么？

The smoke, the heat, you know,

浓烟，热浪，你知道的，

hiking up a steep hill with a 45-pound pack on your back, you know.

背着45磅重的背包攀上陡峭的山坡。

It was just crazy to know that I was going towards a fire

知道我要走向一场火灾，

where everybody else was running away from it.

而其他人都在逃离它， 这简直太疯狂了。

It is dangerous.

这很危险

You never know if this might be your last time.

你永远不知道这是否就是你最后一次

But I grew to love it.

但我渐渐爱上了它。

You know, I grew to love the camaraderie,

我渐渐喜欢上了这种情谊，

I grew to love the team cohesion,

我渐渐喜欢上了团队的凝聚力，

I grew to love, you know, the challenge.

我也渐渐喜欢上了挑战。

That was when the shift changed for me mentally.

那时，我的心态发生了转变。

It gives you, you know,

它给予了你一种心理上的能力，让你知道，

the mental capacity of just knowing that if challenges come your way,

如果挑战来临，

you can easily, you know, overcome them by making a choice.

你可以通过做出选择轻松地克服它们

It just really gave me, you know,

它也给予了我

the power to evaluate myself

审视自我的力量

and what I really wanted out of life

让我思考我真正想要什么，

and how I wanted to feel like I was doing something that actually was meaningful.

以及我如何希望自己做的事情是真正有意义的。

When we went to fires,

当我们去灭火时，

you would see signs of saying, "Thank you, firefighters."

那里总有一个标语，说，“谢谢你们，消防员”

And I always felt that, you know, they were talking to me,

我总是觉得，他们在和我对话

even though I was in orange, you know.

即使我还穿着橙色囚服

But once I got released from prison,

但一旦我从监狱释放出来，

I always wanted to be a wildland firefighter.

我就一直想成为一名野外消防员。

I always saw myself in that blue uniform.

我总幻想自己身着那件蓝色制服

You know, I always wanted to work for Cal Fire.

你知道的，我一直想为加州消防局工作。

I was like, you know what?

但是你知道吗？

You know, I really want to make it happen.

我真的想让它成真。

But it soon became clear:

但这事很快变得明朗：

prison and public service don’t mix, right?

监狱和公共服务是不能混为一谈的，对吧？

What is the true road map, right,

真正的路线图是什么呢？

what is the true process of becoming a firefighter with this record?

带着这样的记录， 成为一名消防员的真正过程是什么？

And how to navigate that?

如何才能应对这一切呢？

How to build up, you know,

如何建立起

a nice resume that explains that you [were] in fire camp?

一个解释你在消防营经历的完美简历呢？

How to explain your crime so folks don't judge you

如何才能解释你过去犯下的罪，以免人们来评判你？

because like, most folks like, in the fire service,

因为在消防事业中，几乎所有人

they're going to know if you've been incarcerated

都会知道你曾在监狱服过刑

just based off of that resume, based off the color of your skin.

仅仅基于你那封简历，或是你的肤色

I don't want to be judged, right?

我不想被评判，对吧？

I want to be judged by the work that I put in

我想被评价的是我所付出的努力，

and not by, you know, my past.

而不是，你知道的，我的过去。

So it took 11 months to figure it out.

所以我花了11个月才弄明白这一切

But you know, it was worth the journey.

但你知道，这是值得的。

And, you know, once we figured it out, my cofounder, Brendan Smith and I,

并且，一旦我们弄明白了这一切，我的联合创始人，布伦丹·史密斯和我，

we established the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program.

我们创建了林业与消防招聘项目

I wanted to be the Harriet Tubman, you know,

我想成为哈丽特·塔布曼，你知道的，

the underground railroad, you know,

地下铁路的那种角色，

to bring in people that [were] incarcerated in fire camps

帮助那些曾在消防营服刑的人，

and give them an opportunity to be successful in their lives.

为他们带来一个获得成功的机会。

And knowing that it’s generational changing, right,

并且明白这是一种代际改变，对吧，

like being able to have a family, career

能够提供一个拥有家庭和事业的机会

for folks that was told that they couldn't do this

给那些曾被告知因为他们的案底或过去

based on their record or their past.

而无法做到这些的人

That was my life's mission from then on.

自此这就是我的人生使命

We helped train and place over 200 people

通过我们的职业培训项目 我们已经帮助培训并在安置了超过200人

in the fire service through our career training program,

进入消防服务行业

but we impacted over 3,000 people

但是我们影响了超过三千个

that have been formerly and are currently incarcerated

曾经或正在

in California conservation camps.

加州保护营服刑的人

Interviewer: Do you ever feel like John Wall when you're out there?

采访者：你在外面的时候有没有觉得自己像约翰·沃尔？

Royal Ramey: (Laughs) Dang.

罗亚尔·雷米：（笑）哇哦。

That's deep.

这很深刻

I definitely feel like John Wall when I'm out there

我的确觉得自己像约翰·沃尔

knowing that you have the ability

你知道你有能力

to inspire people.

去启发人们

Especially with my upbringing and the challenges that I had in life.

特别是考虑到我的成长经历和我在人生中面临的挑战。

The power of opportunity is real.

机会的力量是真实的。

It's kind of like a phoenix coming out of the ashes.

它就像一只凤凰从灰烬中重生。

Like, we can make this happen.

我们可以实现这一点

We can make this work.

我们可以做到

Just give us a shot, you know.

只要给我们一个机会，你知道的。

All we need is that opportunity to be successful.

我们所需要的就是那个成功的机会。

People want purpose, want encouragement,

人们寻求目标，寻求鼓励，

want to be influenced, want to serve.

渴望被影响，渴望服务。

If we just get that opportunity, you'll see wonders, people can ...

如果我们得到这个机会，你会看到奇迹，人们能够……

You see the power in choice.

你会看到选择的力量。