Jarreth Merz: Filming democracy in Ghana

26,889 views ・ 2011-09-28

TED


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翻译人员: Chunxiang Qian 校对人员: Xiaoyu Hu
00:15
I was born in Switzerland
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我出生在瑞士
00:19
and raised in Ghana, West Africa.
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在西非的加纳长大
00:22
Ghana felt safe to me as a child.
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加纳对儿时的我是安全的家
00:24
I was free, I was happy.
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我很自由快乐
00:28
The early 70s
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70年代早期
00:30
marked a time of musical and artistic excellence in Ghana.
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是加纳的音乐和艺术的辉煌时期
00:33
But then by the end of the decade,
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但是70年代末
00:35
the country had fallen back into political instability
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加纳陷入政治动荡
00:38
and mismanagement.
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和政策混乱
00:42
In 1979,
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1979年
00:44
I witnessed my first military coup.
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我目睹了军事政变
00:48
We the children had gathered at a friend's house.
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我们一群孩子聚集在一个朋友家里
00:51
It was a dimly lit shack.
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是个破烂昏暗的棚子
00:53
There was a beaten up black and white television
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有台破旧的黑白电视机
00:55
flickering in the background,
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在背景处一直闪动着
00:58
and a former head of state and general
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放的是前总统和将军
01:00
was being blindfolded
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被蒙住眼睛
01:02
and tied to the pole.
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绑在柱子上
01:04
The firing squad aimed, fired --
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行刑的队伍来了,枪决了他们
01:07
the general was dead.
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将军死了
01:09
Now this was being broadcast live.
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这个场景在电视上直播
01:12
And shortly after, we left the country,
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不久后,我们离开了加纳
01:15
and we returned to Switzerland.
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回到了瑞士
01:17
Now Europe came as a shock to me,
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然后欧洲对我来说是个冲击
01:20
and I think I started feeling the need
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我开始觉得有必要
01:23
to shed my skin in order to fit in.
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掩盖自己的肤色以融入这个社会
01:26
I wanted to blend in like a chameleon.
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我想如变色龙一样
01:28
I think it was a tactic of survival.
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我觉得这是生存的技巧
01:31
And it worked, or so I believed.
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这个方法成功了,至少我觉得是这样的
01:34
So here I was in 2008
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2008年的时候
01:39
wondering where I was in my life.
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我开始思考我的人生定位
01:42
And I felt I was being typecast as an actor.
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我觉得我被定型为一个演员
01:45
I was always playing the exotic African.
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总是演异国风情的非洲人
01:48
I was playing the violent African,
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或是暴力的非洲人
01:50
the African terrorist.
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非洲恐怖分子
01:52
And I was thinking,
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我琢磨
01:54
how many terrorists could I possibly play
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在做回我自己之前
01:56
before turning into one myself?
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我得演多少恐怖分子?
01:59
And I had become ashamed of the other,
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我开始以我的一部分
02:02
the African in me.
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以我的非洲血统为耻
02:05
And fortunately I decided in 2008
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幸运的是2008年的时候
02:08
to return to Ghana,
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在阔别了28年之后
02:10
after 28 years of absence.
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我决定回到加纳
02:13
I wanted to document on film
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我打算拍一部
02:15
the 2008 presidential elections.
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2008年总统大选的纪录片
02:18
And there, I started by searching
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在那儿,我以搜寻
02:21
for the footprints in my childhood.
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我儿时的印迹作为开始
02:23
And before I even knew it,
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但是我都没有意识到
02:25
I was suddenly on a stage
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我突然身处
02:27
surrounded by thousands of cheering people
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政治示威的队伍里
02:29
during a political rally.
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周围围绕着成千上万高声呼喊人
02:31
And I realized that, when I'd left the country,
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我意识到,当年离开这个国家的时候
02:34
free and fair elections in a democratic environment
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在民主环境下的自由公平选举
02:37
were a dream.
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只不过是个梦想
02:39
And now that I'd returned, that dream had become reality,
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如今我回来的时候,梦想已经实现了
02:42
though a fragile reality.
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尽管它很脆弱
02:44
And I was thinking,
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我想,
02:46
was Ghana searching for its identity
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是不是像我在寻找自身定位一样
02:48
like I was looking for my identity?
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加纳也在探索它的定位?
02:50
Was what was happening in Ghana a metaphor
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发生在加纳的一切就像
02:52
for what was happening in me?
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发生在我身上一切的隐喻?
02:56
And it was as if through the standards of my Western life,
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就好像在西方式的标准下
03:02
I hadn't lived up to my full potential.
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我并没有完全挖掘我的潜能
03:05
I mean, nor had Ghana,
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加纳也是
03:07
even though we had been trying very hard.
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虽然我们都很努力的尝试过
03:09
Now in 1957,
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1957年
03:11
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country
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加纳是撒哈拉以南非洲国家中
03:13
to gain its independence.
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第一个取得独立的国家
03:15
In the late 50s,
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50年代末期
03:17
Ghana and Singapore had the same GDP.
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加纳和新加坡的GDP一样
03:20
I mean, today, Singapore is a First World country
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现在新加坡是个发达国家
03:23
and Ghana is not.
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而加纳不是
03:26
But maybe it was time to prove to myself,
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但这也许正是证明我们自己的时候
03:29
yes, it's important to understand the past,
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是的,认识历史非常重要
03:31
it is important to look at it in a different light,
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要从另一个角度去解读它非常重要
03:35
but maybe we should look at the strengths in our own culture
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但是也许我们应该重视自身文化中的力量
03:39
and build on those foundations in the present.
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并以现在的文化作为基石
03:43
So here I was, December 7th, 2008.
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2008年12月7日,我在现场
03:48
The polling stations opened to the voters at 7:00 AM,
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早晨7点投票站向选民开放
03:53
but voters, eager to take their own political fate into their hands,
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但选民想要掌握他们政治命运的愿望是如此急切
03:57
were starting to line up at 4:00 AM in the morning.
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他们凌晨4点就开始排队
04:00
And they had traveled from near, they had traveled from far,
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有些住在附近,有些远道而来
04:03
because they wanted to make their voices heard.
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但他们都想表达自己的声音
04:05
And I asked one of the voters, I said, "Whom are you going to vote for?"
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我问一个选民:“你打算投谁的票?”
04:08
And he said, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."
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他说:“不好意思不能告诉你。”
04:11
He said that his vote was in his heart.
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他说他心中有打算
04:14
And I understood, this was their election,
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我非常理解,这是他们的选举
04:17
and they weren't going to let anyone
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他们不会让任何人
04:19
take it away from them.
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夺走这个权利
04:21
Now the first round of the voting didn't bring forth a clear winner --
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第一轮选举没有诞生一个明晰的获选人-
04:24
so nobody had achieved the absolute majority --
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还没有人完全占上风-
04:28
so voting went into a second round three weeks later.
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所以3周后进行第二轮选举
04:31
The candidates were back on the road; they were campaigning.
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候选人重新开始竞选活动
04:34
The rhetoric of the candidates, of course, changed.
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他们收起了文绉绉的措辞
04:36
The heat was on.
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气氛变得激烈
04:38
And then the cliche came to haunt us.
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然后就出现了意料之中的状况
04:43
There were claims of intimidation
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投票站收到
04:45
at the polling stations,
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举报
04:47
of ballot boxes being stolen.
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声称投票箱被窃取
04:51
Inflated results started coming in
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随之而来一系列的麻烦
04:54
and the mob was starting to get out of control.
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人群开始失去控制
04:57
We witnessed the eruption of violence in the streets.
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我们目睹了大街上大量的暴力事件
05:01
People were being beaten brutally.
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很多人惨遭毒打
05:04
The army started firing their guns. People were scrambling.
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军队开始开火 人群混乱不堪
05:07
It was complete chaos.
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完全一片混乱
05:09
And my heart sank,
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我的心渐渐往下沉
05:11
because I thought, here we are again.
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因为我想,再一次
05:13
Here is another proof
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非洲再一次证明
05:15
that the African is not capable of governing himself.
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我们非洲人没有能力自治
05:18
And not only that, I am documenting it --
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不仅如此,我正在记录着-
05:21
documenting my own cultural shortcomings.
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记录着我自己的文化的短处
05:25
So when the echo of the gunshots
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然而当枪声
05:28
had lingered,
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逐渐散去
05:30
it was soon drowned by the chanting of the mob,
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人群开始呼喊
05:32
and I didn't believe what I was hearing.
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我无法相信我所听到的
05:34
They were chanting, "We want peace.
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他们在呼喊“我们渴望和平”
05:36
We want peace."
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“我们渴望和平”
05:39
And I realized it had to come from the people.
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我意识到和平必然来自人民
05:42
After all, they decide,
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毕竟是他们的抉择
05:44
and they did.
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而他们这样做了
05:46
So the sounds that were before distorted and loud,
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于是之前嘈杂混乱的声音
05:50
were suddenly a melody.
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变成和谐的乐章
05:53
The sounds of the voices were harmonious.
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人民和谐地表达想法
05:56
So it could happen.
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这是可能的
05:59
A democracy could be upheld peacefully.
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民主可以以和平手段来实现
06:02
It could be, by the will of the masses
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它可以通过人民的意愿实现
06:05
who were now urgently pressing
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他们正为之急切地努力着
06:07
with all their heart and all their will
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并全心全意地努力着
06:09
for peace.
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来实现和平的
06:11
Now here's an interesting comparison.
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现在有个有趣的对比
06:14
We in the West,
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在西方
06:16
we preach the values,
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我们宣扬
06:18
the golden light of democracy,
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民主的力量
06:21
that we are the shining example of how it's done.
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我们是其完美模范
06:24
But when it comes down to it,
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但实际上
06:27
Ghana found itself in the same place
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当加纳处在
06:31
in which the U.S. election stalled
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和2000年美国大选的
06:33
in the 2000 presidential elections --
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相同处境时-
06:35
Bush versus Gore.
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布什对戈尔那样的处境时
06:38
But instead of the unwillingness of the candidates
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候选人没有表现出任何不情愿
06:41
to allow the system to proceed and the people to decide,
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去让体制和人民做抉择
06:44
Ghana honored democracy
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加纳尊重了民主
06:47
and its people.
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和它的人民
06:49
It didn't leave it up to the Supreme Court to decide;
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它没有把选举带到最高法庭上
06:52
the people did.
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而是让人民决定
06:55
Now the second round of voting
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然而第二轮选举
06:58
did not bring forth a clear winner either.
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也没有诞生获选者
07:00
I mean, it was so incredibly close.
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我说,票数非常接近
07:02
The electoral commissioner declared,
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选举委员会
07:05
with the consent of the parties,
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在各党派的同意下决定
07:07
to run an unprecedented
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进行前所未有的
07:09
second re-run.
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第二轮复选
07:11
So the people went back to the polls
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人们回到选举站
07:15
to determine their own president,
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去决定谁做他们的总统
07:17
not the legal system.
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而不是让司法系统来做
07:19
And guess what, it worked.
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结果如何?成功了
07:23
The defeated candidate
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失败的候选人
07:25
gave up power
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放弃职权
07:27
and made way for Ghana to move into a new democratic cycle.
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加纳踏入新的民主进程
07:30
I mean, at the absolute time
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在民主需要的
07:32
for the absolute need of democracy,
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时候
07:34
they did not abuse their power.
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他们没有滥用职权
07:39
The belief in true democracy and in the people runs deep,
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人们深深坚信真正的民主
07:43
proving that the African is capable of governing himself.
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这证明了非洲人民有能力自治
07:48
Now the uphill battle for Ghana and for Africa
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现在加纳和非洲艰难的(民主)斗争
07:51
is not over,
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还没有结束
07:53
but I have proof that the other side of democracy exists,
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但我有证据,民主的另一面是存在的
07:57
and that we must not take it for granted.
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我们不应该视而不见
08:00
Now I have learned
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现在我意识到
08:02
that my place is not just in the West or in Africa,
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我的定位不仅是在西方或是非洲
08:06
and I'm still searching
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我仍在寻找
08:08
for my identity,
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我的定位
08:10
but I saw Ghana
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但我目睹加纳
08:13
create democracy better.
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开创了更好的民主
08:15
Ghana taught me
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加纳告诉了我
08:17
to look at people differently
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用不一样的视角看人
08:19
and to look at myself differently.
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看自己
08:22
And yes,
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是的
08:24
we Africans can.
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我们非洲人能行
08:26
Thank you.
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谢谢
08:28
(Applause)
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(掌声)
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