In uncertain times, think like a mother | Yifat Susskind

譯者: Val Zhang 審譯者: Pui-Ching Siu

One morning, 18 years ago,

18 年前的某個早上，

I stepped out of a New York City subway on a beautiful day in September.

我在個美好的 9 月秋天 踏出紐約地鐵。

The sun was warm and bright, the sky was a clear, perfect blue.

陽光溫暖明亮，天空晴朗蔚藍。

I had my six-month-old son in one of those front-facing baby carriers,

我把嬰兒車裡 6 個月大的兒子面轉朝前，

you know, so he could see everything.

好讓他認識這個世界。

And when I turned right on Sixth Avenue,

我在第 6 大道右轉的時候，

what he saw

映入他眼簾的是──

was the World Trade Center on fire.

著火的世貿中心。

As soon as I realized that this was an attack,

當我意識到這是恐怖襲擊，

the first thing I did, without even really thinking about it,

我下意識的反射動作

was to take my baby and turn him around in that carrier.

是立刻反轉寶寶的座椅。

I didn't want him to see what was going on.

我不想讓他看到發生了什麼事。

And I just remember feeling so grateful that he was still young enough

我記得當時感到慶幸，他還很小，

that I didn't have to tell him that someone had done this on purpose.

我並不需要告訴他 有人蓄意這麼做。

9/11 was like crossing a border,

911 事件就像穿過敵對邊界，

a hostile border into dangerous, uncharted territory.

進入充滿危險和未知的領域。

The world was suddenly in this terrifying new place,

世界驟然進入令人不安的新局勢，

and I was in this place as a new mother.

而我是新局勢下的新手母親。

I remember my thoughts kind of ping-ponging around

我記得我的思緒在

from, "How am I ever going to protect this baby?"

「我怎麼才能保護孩子」

to, "How am I ever going to get some sleep?"

與「我要怎麼 擠出時間睡覺」間反覆。

Well, my son turned 18 this year,

我兒子今年 18 歲了，

along with millions of other people who were babies on 9/11.

和數百萬經歷過 911 事件的嬰兒一樣。

And in that time,

那時候，

we have all crossed into this hostile, uncharted territory

我們都走進了這片 充滿敵意的未知領域，

of climate breakdown,

經歷著氣候異常、

of endless wars,

戰火不斷、

of economic meltdowns,

經濟崩潰、

of deep political divisions,

政治分歧加深，

of the many crises around the world that I don't need to list off,

世界各地危機重重，我不需列舉，

because they are blaring at you every single day from your news feed.

因為每天的新聞動態 都會大聲提醒你。

But there is something I've learned in these 18 years of parenting

但在當了 18 年的母親 及領導國際女性權益組織的時間裡，

and in my years leading a global women's rights organization.

我學會了一件事。

There is a way to face these big crises in the world

我們有辦法面對世上這些大型危機，

without feeling overwhelmed and despairing.

而不感到無以承受或絕望。

It's simple, and it's powerful.

方法很簡單，也很有效。

It's to think like a mother.

就是：像位母親般思考。

Now, to be clear, you don't have to be a woman

更明確地說，你不一定要是女性，

or a parent to do this.

也不需要為人父母。

Thinking like a mother is a lens that's available to everybody.

像位母親般思考 是每個人都能借鏡的方法。

The poet Alexis De Veaux writes,

詩人 Alexis De Veaux 寫道：

"Motherhood is not simply the organic process of giving birth.

「為人母不僅是分娩的生理過程，

It's an understanding of the needs of the world."

它還是對世界需求的理解。」

Now, it's easy to focus on all of the obstacles

我們很容易聚焦在

to making this the world we want:

阻止世界改變現狀的各種障礙：

greed, inequality, violence.

貪婪、不公、暴力。

Yes, there is all of that.

沒錯，有種種的問題。

But there's also the option to plant a seed, a different seed,

但我們可以選擇播不同的種子，

and cultivate what you want to see grow,

並耕耘你所樂見的。

even in the midst of crisis.

即使在危機之中也是如此。

Majid from Iraq understands this.

來自伊拉克的馬吉德明白這一點。

He is a housepainter by trade

他是一名房屋油漆工，

and someone who believes deeply in equal rights for women.

他深信女性平權。

When ISIS invaded northern Iraq where he lives,

當伊斯蘭國入侵他所住的 伊拉克北部時，

he worked with a local women's organization

他和當地一個女性組織合作，

to help build an underground railroad,

協助建造了地下鐵路。

an escape network for women's rights activists

這個鐵路網協助女性權益人士

and LGBTIQ folks who were targeted with assassination.

以及 LGBTIQ 人士躲避暗殺。

And when I asked Majid why he risked his own life

我問馬吉德為何冒著生命危險

to bring people to safety,

把人們帶到安全的地方，

he said to me,

他對我說：

"If we want a brighter future,

「若我們想要更光明的未來，

we have to build it now in the dark times

我們當下就得在黑暗中創造未來，

so that one day we can live in the light."

唯此我們才能迎向光明。」

That's what social justice work is, and that's what mothers do.

這就是社會的公平正義， 這就是母親們會做的事。

We act in the present with an idea of the future

我們在當下行動，

心懷我們希望創造的未來。

that we want to bring about.

All of the best ideas seem impossible at first.

所有偉大的想法起初都看似不可能。

But just in my lifetime,

但就在我的有生之年，

we've seen the end of apartheid,

我們見證了種族隔離的終結，

the affirmation that women's rights are human rights,

女權被確認為人權、

marriage equality,

婚姻平等、

the fall of dictators who ruled for decades

統治數十年的獨裁者垮臺，

and so much more.

以及很多其他事情。

All of these things seemed impossible

這些事情曾經都看似不可能，

until people took action to make them happen,

直到人們採取行動實現它們，

and then, like, almost right away,

之後，幾乎是轉眼間，

they seemed inevitable.

這些事情似乎是必然的趨勢。

When I was growing up,

在我成長的過程中，

whether we were stuck in traffic or dealing with a family tragedy,

無論我們是遇到堵車 還是面對家庭不幸，

my mother would say,

我的母親都會說：

"Something good is going to happen, we just don't know what it is yet."

「塞翁失馬，焉知非福。」

Now, I will admit that my brothers and I make fun of her for this,

我得承認，我和兄弟們會拿這笑她，

but people ask me all the time

但人們總問我

how I deal with the suffering that I see in my work

是如何面對工作中

in refugee camps and disaster zones,

在難民營和災區所見到的苦難，

and I think of my mom and that seed of possibility

這時我會想到我的母親

及她在我心中埋下希望的種子。

that she planted in me.

Because, when you believe that something good is coming

因為，當你相信好事會發生，

and you're part of making it happen,

並且你也在促成它發生的時候，

you start to be able to see beyond the suffering

你的眼界不會侷限在苦難

to how things could be.

並能看到希望的樣子。

Today, there is a new set of necessary ideas

今日有些必要的新想法，

that seem impossible but one day will feel inevitable:

現在看來遙不可及， 但有天將成為必然：

that we could end violence against women,

我們可以終結對女性的暴力，

make war a thing of the past,

讓戰爭只存在於歷史課本，

learn to live in balance with nature before it's too late

在還來得及的時候， 學習與自然共存，

and make sure that everybody has what they need to thrive.

確保人人都有成長的必要條件。

Of course, being able to picture a future like this is not the same thing

當然對未來有願景

跟知道如何實現是兩回事，

as knowing what to do to make it come about,

but thinking like a mother can help with that, too.

但像位母親般思考也能有所幫助。

A few years ago,

幾年前，

East Africa was gripped by a famine,

東非遭逢飢荒，

and women I know from Somalia

我知道有些索馬利亞的女性

walked for days carrying their hungry children

帶著飢餓的孩子徒步數日，

in search of food and water.

找尋食物跟水。

A quarter of a million people died,

25 萬人死去，

and half of them were babies and toddlers.

半數是嬰兒跟小孩。

And while this catastrophe unfolded,

但當災難的消息傳開，

too much of the world looked away.

世界大多數國家都撇過頭去。

But a group of women farmers in Sudan,

但一群蘇丹的女性農夫——

including Fatima Ahmed -- that's her holding the corn --

包含法蒂瑪·艾哈邁德—— 照片中她握著玉米——

heard about what was happening.

聽說了這個狀況。

And they pooled together the extra money that they had from their harvest

他們募集了農作收成的盈餘，

and asked me to send it to those Somali mothers.

請我轉交給索馬利亞的母親們。

Now, these farmers could have decided that they didn't have the power to act.

這些農民大可以說自己資源有限。

They were barely getting by themselves,

有些人也是勉強度日，

some of them.

They lived without electricity, without furniture.

他們沒有電或家具。

But they overrode that.

但他們不向現實低頭。

They did what mothers do:

他們做了母親會做的事：

they saw themselves as the solution and they took action.

將自己視為解決方案， 並採取行動。

You do it all the time if you have kids.

若你有小孩，這是很自然的事。

You make major decisions about their health care,

你為他們做出重大決定， 像是關於他們的健康照護，

their education, their emotional well-being,

他們的教育、情緒幸福感，

even if you're not a doctor or a teacher or a therapist.

即便你不是醫生、老師或治療師。

You recognize what your child needs

你察覺了孩子的需求，

and you step up to provide it the best you can.

然後挺身盡你所能地提供。

Thinking like a mother means seeing the whole world

像位母親般思考意味著

以肩負照顧弱勢責任的視角

through the eyes of those who are responsible

for its most vulnerable people.

來看待這世界。

And we're not used to thinking of subsistence farmers as philanthropists,

我們並不習慣糊口農民 也能是慈善家的概念，

but those women were practicing the root meaning of philanthropy:

但這些女性實踐著慈善的真義：

love for humanity.

對人類無私的大愛。

What's at the core of thinking like a mother shouldn't be a surprise:

像位母親般思考的核心 並不令人意外：

it's love.

那就是愛。

Because, love is more than just an emotion.

愛並不只是種情緒，

It's a capacity, a verb,

而是種能力，一個動詞，

an endlessly renewable resource --

一種永續的可再生資源——

and not just in our private lives.

不僅僅存在於私生活的領域。

We recognize hate in the public sphere.

我們能在公眾領域辨認出仇恨。

Right? Hate speech, hate crimes.

像是仇恨言論和仇恨犯罪。

But not love.

但卻不能辨認出愛。

What is love in the public sphere?

愛展現在公眾領域是什麼模樣呢？

Well, Cornel West, who is not a mother but thinks like one,

康乃爾·韋斯特不是位母親， 但像位母親般思考，

says it best:

對此有最佳的詮釋：

"Justice is what love looks like in public."

「正義就是愛在公眾領域的化身。」

And when we remember that every policy is an expression of social values,

若我們謹記每個政策背後 都是一種社會價值的表現，

love stands out as that superstar value,

愛就是其中最重要的價值，

the one best able to account for the most vulnerable among us.

最能夠保護我們之中最脆弱的人。

And when we position love as a kind of leading edge

當我們將愛置於制定政策的前沿，

in policy making,

we get new answers to fundamental social questions,

我們將以新的思維 去解答根本的社會議題，

like, "What's the economy for?"

像是：「經濟成長的目的是什麼？」

"What is our commitment to those in the path of the hurricane?"

「對颶風受災戶的政策能否兌現？」

"How do we greet those arriving to our borders?"

「我們如何對待移民？」

When you think like a mother,

當你像位母親般思考，

you prioritize the needs of the many,

你會重視多數人的需求，

not the whims of the few.

勝於少數人的一時興起。

When you think like a mother,

當你像位母親般思考，

you don't build a seawall around beachfront property,

你不會在濱海區的 房子周圍建造海堤，

because that would divert floodwaters

因為海水會轉向，

to communities that are still exposed.

影響周遭沿海的社區。

When you think like a mother,

當你像位母親般思考，

you don't try to prosecute someone

你不會試圖去起訴誰，

for leaving water for people crossing the desert.

僅因他把水留給那些跨越沙漠的人。

Because, you know --

因為你知道——

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Because you know that migration,

因為你知道移民

just like mothering,

就像養育孩子，

is an act of hope.

是懷抱希望的表現。

Now, not every mother thinks like a mother.

不是每位母親都像母親般思考。

When presented with a choice, some of us have made the wrong one,

當有機會選擇時，有些人會選錯，

hiding behind weapons or barbed wire or privilege

躲在武器、帶刺鐵絲網或特權後面

to deny the rest of the world,

並否定世上其他國家，

thinking they can see their way to safety in some kind of armed lifeboat

認為自己能安然處於武裝救生船上， 以種族歧視和仇外情緒為燃料，

fueled by racism and xenophobia.

找到通往安全的路。

Not every mother is a role model,

並非每位母親都是模範，

but all of us have a choice.

但我們都能選擇。

Are we going to jump on that armed lifeboat

我們要跳上那條武裝救生船，

or work together to build a mother ship that can carry everyone?

還是共同打造一艘 能承載所有人的母艦？

You know how to build that mother ship,

你知道如何建造母艦，

how to repair the world and ease the suffering.

如何修復世界，減輕痛苦。

Think like a mother.

像位母親般思考。

Thinking like a mother is a tool we can all use

像位母親般思考是 我們都能運用的方法，

to build the world we want.

來打造我們想要的世界。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）