The power of the Afro pick | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Transcriber: TED Translators admin Reviewer: Camille Martínez

翻译人员: Yanyan Hong 校对人员: Wanting Zhong

You don't really look at a toothbrush and say,

你不会看着牙刷说，

"I'm great!"

“我超棒！”

But when you look at an Afro pick, which is a grooming tool,

但当你看着非洲式梳子 这种梳洗工具时，

it can remind you in your subconscious to, like,

它能在潜意识里提醒你，

really be proud and, like, "All right."

要感到自豪，像是， ”不错。“

[Small thing.]

【小事物】

[Big idea.]

【大智慧】

An Afro pick is a utilitarian tool

非洲式梳子是一种实用的工具，

used to maintain the Afro hairstyle.

用来保持非洲式发型。

I think the Afro pick was designed

我认为非洲式梳子的设计

for the ergonomics of creating something

是为了在人体工程学上

that felt like you were running fingers through your hair.

符合用手指捋头发的感觉。

The shape, even the depth that it goes in -- it's like a hand.

它的形状，甚至是梳头的 深浅度——都像是一只手。

You have plastic or nylon teeth,

梳齿有塑料的或尼龙的，

and then you have the stainless steel or the nickel teeth.

还有不锈钢或镍制的。

I always prefer the metal tooth

我一直偏爱金属的梳齿，

just 'cause I like the sound

只是因为我喜欢它的声响，

and the ones I know have the black power fist on the handle.

而且我知道它们的手柄上 有象征黑人力量的拳头。

When I think of black hair in America,

当我想到美国的黑人发型，

I think of something that's been policed.

我想到的是它受到的监管。

Back in the days, it was expected for black people

在过去，大家都指望黑人

to chemically treat their hair.

对他们的头发做化学处理。

Whether that's healthy for them is a secondary thing to blending in.

融入社会比他们的健康更重要。

In the 50s, dancer Ruth Beckford and a lot of jazz singers

在上世纪 50 年代，舞者露丝·贝克福德 （Ruth Beckford）和许多爵士歌手

were tired of straightening their hair,

都厌倦了弄直头发，

so they said, all right, we're going to just let it grow naturally

于是他们说，好吧， 我们要让头发自然生长，

and started rocking natural, close-cropped hair.

开始留起自然的、剪得很短的发型。

And in the 60s, that style evolved

而到了 60 年代， 发型发生了改变，

with the formation of the Afro,

形成了黑人卷发（Afro），

which was the cropped hair, natural, picked out

也就是把剪短过的天然头发梳出来，

into a more spherical shape.

做成更加球型的样式。

You had civil rights leaders, activists, that adopted the hairstyle

民权领袖、活动家都采用了这种发型，

as a means of rebellion and black pride.

代表黑人的骄傲和反抗的手段。

And then you had musicians like James Brown,

接着，像詹姆斯 · 布朗 （James Brown）这样的音乐家，

who was infamously known for chemically straightening his hair,

过去曾因用化学试剂 把头发弄直而备受恶评，

reject that and go natural.

他摈弃了直发，走起了自然风格。

It went hand-in-hand with his music,

这与他的音乐相得益彰，

so he had songs like "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud."

比如《大声叫，我是黑人我骄傲》 这样的歌曲。

The black is beautiful movement

“黑即美” 的社会运动

is just rejecting the notion that to be black

对抗的是认为 “黑皮肤、

or to have darker skin, to have a curlier grade of hair,

深色皮肤和卷曲的头发

was something to be ashamed of.

是令人羞耻的” 这种想法。

I have one of my favorite pictures of my mother

我有一张很喜欢的照片，

and my grandmother,

里面是我的妈妈和祖母，

and my grandmother had a small 'fro,

我的祖母就有小黑卷，

and that was in the 60s.

而这是在 60 年代拍摄的。

African hair combs date back to 3500 BCE.

非洲式梳子可以 追溯到公元前 3500 年，

The oldest African combs are found in ancient Egypt and Sudan,

最早的非洲式梳子 出现在古埃及和苏丹，

so they were making pyramids and combs.

也就是说他们在造金字塔和梳子。

The way the ancient African combs were embellished

古代的非洲式梳子上的装饰

represented status or tribal affiliation.

象征着地位或所属部落。

It's no coincidence that the fist on the modern Afro pick

现代的非洲式梳子上的拳头

also sets the tone for affiliation

也奠定了归属和诉求的基调，

and what set you claim.

这点并非巧合。

And then there's the Black Power movement.

接着，就有了 “黑人权力” 运动。

Most movements need their icons, right?

大多数运动都需要有标志物，对吧？

You have the fist, you have the 'fro.

比如拳头，还有黑人发型。

These things coincide with the Black Panther aesthetic,

这些东西很符合黑豹党的美学，

where you could kind of spot your tribe from afar,

这样从很远的地方就能看到你的党派，

because you're not just keeping a pick in, like, your beauty kit.

因为你不只是把梳子放在化妆包里，

It's in your back pocket,

它可以放进裤子后的口袋里，

purposely with the first outside of it,

故意把拳头标志露在外面，

and in your hair, you'll rock it in your 'fro.

也可以插在你的黑人卷发里。

If I think about iconic Afros,

如果让我去想象征性的黑人卷，

I definitely think about Angela Davis.

我肯定会想到安吉拉 · 戴维斯 （Angela Davis）。

Her 'fro personifies elegance, style,

她的黑人卷发象征着优雅、风格、

freedom, rebellion.

自由、反抗。

You feel all of these feelings at once

看到安吉拉·戴维斯 站在法庭上为她的生命而战时，

when you see Angela Davis fighting for her life in federal court.

你能同时感受到这些情感。

By the 80s, the Afro style became less radical.

到了 80 年代，非洲发型 变得不再那么激进。

The Afro picks are still produced to this day

时至今日，非洲式梳子上

with the clenched fist,

仍有紧握的拳头，

so it's the remnants of the movement

这是当年的社会运动

in the everyday object.

在日常生活用品上残留的痕迹。

When I was young, it was just, like, another object.

小时候，我觉得它只不过是一件物品。

It was a comb.

它就是把梳子。

But as I became more enlightened

但当我明白了更多事情，

to really understand the roots and the origin

真正了解了它的根源和起源、

and the intentionality of the design

它的设计意图、

and why the fist and all of these things ...

为什么有拳头，所有这一切……

I woke up.

我觉醒了。