The Mission to Safeguard Black History in the US | Julieanna L. Richardson | TED

翻译人员: J Zhong 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

As a little Black girl,

作为一个年幼的黑人女孩，

I did not know

我并不知道

that American history had anything to do with someone who looked like me.

美国历史和我这样的人 有着密切的关系。

American history was George Washington cutting down his cherry tree.

美国历史就是乔治·华盛顿 砍下他的樱桃树。

American history was white.

在我的印象中 美国历史一直是属于白人的。

Raised in a small steel mining town of Duquesne, Pennsylvania,

我在一个宾夕法尼亚州一个开采钢铁的 小镇迪凯纳长大，

my family moved to Newark, Ohio, not New Jersey, but Ohio,

我的家人搬到了俄亥俄州的纽瓦克， 不是新泽西，是俄亥俄州的那个，

when I was age nine.

那时候我九岁。

And one day the teacher asked us to talk about our family backgrounds.

有一天， 我的老师问我们我们的家庭背景。

My classmates' hands literally rose up like arrows to the sky.

同学们的手如同射向天空的箭 一样迅速的举了起来。

"I'm part German, I'm part Italian, I'm part French, I'm part Polish, Jewish."

“我是德国人，我是意大利人, 我是法国人，波兰人，犹太人。”

They all had hyphenates.

他们都有属于自己的标签。

What was I?

但我又是谁？

The only thing that we studied back then about Black people

那时候我们唯一学习的 和黑人相关的知识是

were the other George Washington,

另一个乔治·华盛顿，

Tuskegee Institute's George Washington Carver.

塔斯克基研究所的乔治·华盛顿·卡弗 （George Washington Carver）。

And my white teacher said he could do a lot of things with peanuts.

我的白人老师说 他可以用花生做很多事情。

And then there was the taboo issue of slavery,

然后就是奴隶问题，

and no one wanted to be associated with slavery.

没有人愿意和奴隶这个词沾上边。

So to my nine-year-old brain

所以我九岁的大脑

those two facts together did not compute.

无法把这两个信息串联起来。

How could he have done all those things with peanuts

在我们都是奴隶的情况下，

when all we had been were slaves?

他怎么可能做到 所有那些与花生有关的事？

So I mumbled something like "Negro" or "Black,"

所以我喃喃地说了些什么 像“黑人”类的话，

"Native American" because most Black people think

还有“美洲原住民”， 因为大多数黑人觉得

they have Native American blood in them.

他们有美国原住民的血脉。

And I added in French, I lied,

我还撒谎说我有法国血统，

My father had been stationed in France,

我爸爸在法国待过，

but I wanted to have a history also.

我也想拥有属于自己的历史。

That sense of not knowing and not belonging

那一种迷茫的， 没有归属感的感觉一直伴随着我，

stayed with me until my sophomore year at Brandeis University.

直到我在布兰戴斯 大学就读的第二年。

I remember it like it was yesterday.

我对它记忆犹新。

It was a fall day.

那是一个秋天。

The leaves were a golden brown.

叶子是金黄色的。

And I’m in New York’s Schomburg Library

我在纽约的朔姆堡图书馆 （Schomburg Library）

with my headphones on, listening to the song:

带着耳机听着这首歌：

"I'm just wild about Harry,

“我为哈利疯狂，

Harry's wild about me."

哈利也为我疯狂。”

This song,

这首歌，

this song that I associated with President Harry Truman,

是一首被我与哈里·杜鲁门总统 联系起来的歌，

who was a white president,

哈里·杜鲁门是一个白人总统，

I had found in a Black music collection

我从存放在黑人图书馆的

in a Black library written by a Black songwriting team

黑人音乐集里找到这首由 诺布尔·西塞尔 (Noble Sissle)

of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake

以及尤比·布萊克 (Eubie Blake) 组成的黑人歌曲创作团队创作的歌曲，

in the 1921 production of "Shuffle Along" on Broadway.

出现在了 1921 年在百老汇上演的 音乐剧《Shuffle Along》中。

I was thrilled.

我激动极了。

And I took my --

我拿出我的——

I went up to the librarian, the famous librarian,

我跑进图书馆， 那座著名的图书馆，

Jean Blackwell Hutson,

吉恩·布莱克威尔·哈特森，

she gave me a list of people to interview.

给了我一个可供采访的 人名清单。

And I had my tape recorder in hand,

我也准备好了我的磁带录音机，

today, it would be an iPhone.

换做现在估计会是一台 iPhone。

And I went out and interviewed

我采访了出演

"Gone with the Wind's" Butterfly McQueen,

《乱世佳人》的巴特弗莱·麦克昆 (Butterfly McQueen)，

Leigh Whipper, who was the oldest living Black actor at the time,

最长寿的黑人演员利·惠珀 (Leigh Whipper)，

historian John Henrik Clarke and tap dancer Honi Coles.

历史学家约翰·亨利克·克拉克 (John Henrik Clarke)

和踢踏舞者霍尼·科尔 (Honi Coles)。

I had found myself.

我终于找到了自己。

I had a history to call my own.

我找到了属于自己的历史。

I, too, according to Langston Hughes,

就像朗斯顿·休斯 (Langston Hughes) 所说的，

I too, was, am America.

我同样是个美国人。

And from that day forward,

自那天起，

my life was forever changed.

我的生活被彻底改变了。

Today, from our boardrooms to our classrooms,

在今天，不论在会议室还是教室，

on TV and social media,

电视还是社交媒体上，

debates are raging about whose history matters.

人们都在激烈辩论 究竟谁的历史更重要。

Those who document their history

那些记录历史的人

are who society says matters.

往往是被社会认可的重要人物。

For the Black community, that documentation has been elusive.

但黑人群体在这样的记录中 是相当模糊的。

How many of you had heard about Tulsa and its Black Wall Street until recently,

你们有多少人是最近才听说 塔尔萨的黑人华尔街的，

let me see a show of hands.

让我看看有多少人举手。

Great.

挺好。

But there are those who don't.

但也有许多人没听说过。

Black people went from having absolutely no rights

黑人从前根本不享有任何权力，

to the US electing its first Black president.

到现在，美国选出了第一位黑人总统。

Our civil rights gains paved the way for the women's movement,

我们的公民权利 从女权运动，同性恋权力运动，

the gay rights movement and the social movements of today.

以及今天的社会运动一路增长。

In the 1960s we had found ourself,

在 1960 年代我们认识了自己，

and James Brown led the way.

而詹姆斯·布朗 (James Brown) 领导了我们。

"Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud."

“大声说出来， 我是黑人且我为此骄傲。”

(Applause)

（掌声）

He did it for us,

他为我们创作了这首歌，

that became our national anthem.

这首歌成了我们的国歌。

And recently,

最近，

I attended the estate sale

我参加了出演 波吉和贝丝 (Porgy and Bess) 的

of "Porgy and Bess's" Etta Moten Barnett,

艾塔·摩腾·巴尼特 (Etta Moten Barnett) 的遗产拍卖会，

she had the famous contralto voice.

她曾是著名的女低音歌手。

And her husband, Claude Barnett, Pan-Africanist,

她的丈夫克劳德·巴尼特 （Claude Barnett）是个泛非主义者，

who was founder of the Associated Negro Press,

成立了黑人联合通讯社，

in their home, literally,

在他们的家中，说真的，

was clothing and furniture and rare books and artwork

有衣物，家具， 珍稀藏书和艺术品，

that demonstrated the fineness of their lives.

这展现出了他们的精致生活。

But as I approached one room,

但当我接近一间房间时，

I looked to my side and I saw something I should not have seen there.

在我身侧，我看到了一件 我不应该在那里看见的东西。

There were family photographs

那是他们的家庭合照、

and letters and scrapbooks.

书信和剪贴簿。

As the estate seller yelled out, "Cash and carry,"

当房产经销商喊着， “付现即可带走”的时候，

I told her, "You can't do that, not with this."

我告诉她，“你不能这样， 不能卖掉这个。”

A local university had offered 3,000 dollars for the entire collection.

一所本地的大学出 3000 美元 要卖下所有的藏品。

I told her, "Please give it to me.

我对她说，“请你把这个给我。

Honestly, I'll take it and preserve it.

我是认真的，我会带走它， 好好保护它。

These are family heirlooms."

这些都是传家宝。”

She told me it would be a quarter of a million dollars.

她给我的报价是 250,000 美元。

A quarter of a million dollars?

250,000 美元？

I don't have that.

我可没那个钱。

I bought the little I could.

我最后尽量买下了一些。

But ...

但是……

That priceless, intact, one-of-a-kind collection,

这无价的，完好无损的， 举世仅有的藏品集，

from that day forth,

从那天起，

of rich Black history,

代表着黑人历史，

100 years of rich Black history,

100 年丰富黑人历史的藏品集，

was henceforward scattered to the wind.

从此以后就随风消散了。

The same thing happened at the estate sale of poet Maya Angelou.

同样的事情重演在诗人 马娅·安杰卢 (Maya Angelou) 的

遗产拍卖会上。

And if that does not resonate with you, then I want you to think forward.

如果这无法引起你的共鸣， 我希望你能进一步设想一下。

At the estate sale of young poet laureate Amanda Gorman,

在国家青年桂冠诗人阿曼达·戈尔曼 (Amanda Gorman) 的遗产拍卖会上，

that her writings and her poetry would suffer a similar fate.

她的手稿和诗歌 都会遭受同样的命运。

We have in this country already lost

在这个国家中我们已经失去了

a lot of the 17th, 18th and 19th century documentation

许多 17 , 18 和 19 世纪的

of the African American experience.

非裔美国人历史的记录。

We can ill afford to lose the 20th and the 21st century.

我们无法再承受在 20 和 21 世纪 失去更多了。

Preservation will determine if the Black community is viewed as valueless,

只有人们认识到了黑人群体的 宝贵之处，才能够确保

or value-full.

保护工作的进行。

Consider 17-year-old Darnella Frazier

想想 17 岁的达内拉·弗雷泽 (Darnella Frazier)

and that nine-minutes and 29-second recording

还有乔治·弗洛伊德被谋杀时的

of George Floyd's murder.

9 分钟 29 秒的录音。

And the complete disregard

还有社会对黑人生命

that it showed society having of Black life.

表现出来的彻头彻尾的漠视。

We in the Black community have always had value.

黑人群体中的我们 一直以来都是有价值的。

It's just been hidden from view, not well documented.

它只是没能被人看见， 没有被好好记录下来。

Over 20 years ago,

二十多年前，

I sat at my dining room table.

我坐在我家的餐桌前。

I was unemployed,

我没有工作，

no kids and single.

单身无孩。

And you get to the point in your life when you start asking:

到了生命中的某一个阶段 你就会开始问：

What will be your leave-behind, your legacy?

你死后会留下什么遗产？

And those stories of my sophomore year

我重又想起那些 我大学二年级的回忆。

came back to me.

I took my love of the theater.

我对戏剧很有热情。

My degree in American studies.

我读了美国研究专业。

My legal training from Harvard Law School.

我在哈佛法学院接受了法务训练。

And I set out to create the nation's largest

我正准备创建本国最大的

African American video oral history archive.

非裔美国人视频口述历史档案。

It's called The HistoryMakers.

它叫 “历史创造者们” （The HistoryMakers）。

And back then, lots of people had thought I had lost my mind.

在那时候，很多人都认为我疯了。

But we’ve interviewed thousands and thousands of African American leaders.

但现在我们已经采访了上千上万的 非裔美国人领袖。

One early interview was of civil rights leader Julian Bond.

其中有一场对人民领袖朱利安·邦德 （Julian Bond）的早期采访。

We had traveled from Chicago to Washington, DC.

我们从芝加哥赶到华盛顿特区。

We had asked him to bring photos of him.

我们希望他能够带上一张 他自己的照片。

And one of the photos was like the one here.

其中一张照片 与现在展示的这张差不多。

And when he walked into the room, literally,

当他走进房间的时候，

I was taken back to my 12-year-old self and my serious crush on him

当我看见他的时候 我感觉自己仿佛回到了 12 岁,

when I had seen him.

对他心动不已。

Look at those curls.

瞧他帅气的卷发！

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Chairman of the NAACP,

他是美国全国有色人种协进会 （NAACP）的会长，

he had been one of the student leaders for SNCC,

曾经是学生非暴力协调委员会 (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

的学生领袖之一。

At the tender age of 25,

在年仅 25 岁时，

he had been elected to the Georgia House of Representatives.

他就被选为了 佐治亚州众议会的议员。

Georgia being Georgia, then and now,

佐治亚州，不论当时还是现在， 都想不到有一天

and there being no Stacey Abrams in sight,

黑人女性斯泰西·艾布拉姆斯 (Stacey Abrams) 会当选议员，

they refused to seat him.

他们拒绝承认朱利安的议员席位。

And his case went up to the US Supreme Court.

他的案件甚至上诉到了 美国最高法院。

And he won.

而且他赢了。

He was seated.

他得到了议员的席位。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Another early interview

一场更早的采访

was of Tuskegee Airmen Colonel Bill Thompson.

是关于来自塔斯克基的空军上校 比尔·汤普森 (Bill Thompson) 的。

We arrived at Colonel Thompson's house,

我们拜访了汤普森上校的住所，

and he had prepared for us

而他为了我们的采访

for four days.

已经做了四天的准备。

He had boxes and boxes of material

他拿出了一箱又一箱的材料，

that are now housed at the Air and Space Museum

这些材料现在被保存在隶属于 史密森学会的

at the Smithsonian.

美国国家航空航天博物馆里。

He sits me down.

他邀请我坐下。

He says, "Do you know of the Golden Thirteen?"

他问，“你听说过黄金十三人吗？”

I said, "No, Colonel Thompson, I've never heard of the Golden Thirteen."

我回答，“不，汤普森上校， 我从没听说过黄金十三人。”

He said, "They were the Navy's version of the Tuskegee Airmen

他说，“他们在海军里的地位堪比 塔斯克基飞行员，

and there are four left living in the country,

现在在国内仍然健在的有四位，

and one lives upstairs.

其中一位就住在楼上。

And he'd like to talk to you also."

而且他也想要接受你的采访。”

It was at that moment that I knew

在这个时刻我意识到，

that we were on a path of great discovery.

我们正走在一条伟大的探索之路上。

Four years later,

四年以后，

I'm seated next to General Colin Powell.

我的位置被安排在了 科林·鲍威尔 (Colin Powell) 将军身边。

Of course, I tried to get him to interview with me.

当然，我试图采访他。

He so politely declines.

他非常礼貌地拒绝了我。

Then I tell him my Colonel Bill Thompson story.

于是我把我和比尔·汤普森 上校的故事说给了他。

He tells me about the Montford Point Marines,

他则告诉我 蒙特福德角海军陆战队协会

that they were the Marines version of the Tuskegee Airmen.

在海军陆战队中的地位 堪比塔斯克基飞行员。

The Tuskegee Airmen, the Navy's Golden Thirteen,

塔斯克基飞行员、 海军的黄金十三人

the Montford Point Marines:

和蒙特福德角海军陆战队协会：

all three helped desegregate the US armed forces.

是他们让美国军队中 对黑人的歧视有所改观。

But unfortunately, most people only know of the Tuskegee Airmen.

不幸的是，很多人 只听说过塔斯克基飞行员。

We have such an opportunity to make change.

我们掌握着一个 改变现状的大好机会。

Our crews have traveled to 413 cities and towns

我们的团队已经走过了 413 个城市和小镇，

across the United States.

探寻了美国各个角落。

Our collection is housed permanently in the Library of Congress.

我们的收集品 被永久保存在国会图书馆里。

Our digital archive,

我们的数字档案，

thanks to the computer geniuses at Carnegie Mellon,

托那些卡内基梅隆大学的 电脑天才的福，

is now accessible worldwide

现在能够全天候、全年无休地

24 hours a day, seven days a week,

在各种移动设备、电脑和手机上

on all kinds of portable devices and computers and phones.

对全世界公众开放了。

We have interviewed, as I said,

之前提到，我们已经采访了

thousands of African American leaders.

上千位非遗美国人领袖。

There is Alonzo Pettie, the oldest living Black cowboy;

有阿隆佐·佩提 (Alonzo Pettie)， 目前在世最年长的黑人牛仔；

Katherine Dunham, the inventor of Black dance;

凯瑟琳·邓翰 (Katherine Dunham)， 黑人舞蹈的创造者；

Katherine Johnson, the NASA scientist

凯瑟琳·约翰逊 (Katherine Johnson)， 美国国家航空航天局的科学家，

whose story was portrayed in the movie “Hidden Figures”;

她的故事被改编进了电影 《无名英雄》里。

Poets Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez,

诗人妮基·乔瓦尼 (Nikki Giovanni)、 索尼娅·桑切斯 (Sonia Sanchez)，

and Ursula Burns, the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

还有尤苏拉·伯恩斯 (Ursula Burns)， 首位财富 500 强公司的黑人女性 CEO。

We are now the digital repository for the Black experience,

我们成为了保存黑人历史的数字宝库，

and it will include those digitized copies of the family heirlooms

这个宝库里还会展示我之前提到过 正在消逝的

that I spoke of us losing.

那些传家宝的数字化版本。

When I think back on my fourth-grade self,

每当我回想起四年级的我，

I have such compassion for her.

我就会对她感到深切的同情。

A little Black girl in a sea of white faces in rural Ohio.

一个在俄亥俄乡下被白人面孔包围的 黑人小女孩。

Little did she know that Black history was all around her.

她根本不知道黑人 历史原来触手可及。

Yards from her home was the first Black school built for Black children

在她家乡的不远处就是第一所 为黑人孩子建造的黑人学校，

by a man named Shackleford, who sat at gunpoint,

建造者名叫沙克尔福德 (Shackleford)， 他每日如履薄冰，

daring any white mob to tear down his school for Black children.

因为任何白人流氓都有可能 前来破坏他专为黑人孩子建造的学校。

Her hometown of Newark, Ohio,

年少的我的家乡 是俄亥俄州的纽瓦克，

was also the 1815 birth place for Edward James Roye,

也正是 1815 年爱德华·詹姆斯·罗伊 (Edward James Roye) 出生的地方，

who had tired of life in America and migrated back to Africa.

他受够了美国的生活， 移民回到了非洲。

And in 1870, he had become the fifth president

在 1870 年，他成为了非洲国家 利比里亚的

of the African country of Liberia.

第五任总统。

What if she had known

她要是知道

that being president of a country would be possible

像她一样的人 也是能够成为一国总统的话，

for someone who looked like her?

会怎样想呢？

What if her classmates had known that history

要是她的同学能够了解那些历史，

and that would have changed their views and their world experience?

而且因此对世界的看法有所改观呢？

You all know

你们都知道

that I'm that little girl.

我就是那个小女孩。

And when I had spoken to General Powell,

我与鲍威尔将军对谈的时候，

he told me that no one can change their yesterdays.

他告诉我没人能改变自己的过去。

But all of us can change our tomorrows.

但每个人都能够影响自己的未来。

I ask you today

我希望你们

to join with me in changing America’s tomorrows,

能够和我携手改变美国的未来，

so that the Black community and its experience and its history

让黑人群体的文化和历史

will have an undeniable place

守住它无可争议的地位，

and permanent place in this great country

在美国这个大国和它的语言体系里

and in America's lexicon.

得到它永久的席位。

I also ask you to join me so no child will ever feel

我希望你们加入我， 好让孩子们不需要再体会到

that way that I felt in that classroom

我小时候在教室里

when I did not know the history

对黑人的遗产和历史

that was my legacy.

一无所知的感觉。

We can all work together and make this happen.

我们能够一起建设这样的未来。

Thank you for listening to this little Black girl's story.

感谢你们聆听 这个黑人小女孩的故事。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）