Aja Monet and phillip agnew: A love story about the power of art as organizing | TED

譯者: JIAWEN ZHANG 審譯者: Helen Chang

Aja Monet: Our story begins like all great, young love stories.

艾賈·莫內特：我們故事的開始 和所有美好年輕的愛情故事一樣。

Phillip Agnew: She slid in my DMs ...

菲利普·艾格紐：她在我的主頁 給我發了訊息……

AM: He liked about 50 of my photos,

艾：他在我 50 多張照片上點讚。

back-to-back, in the middle of the night --

一次又一次，在半夜裡——

PA: What I saw was an artist committed to truth and justice --

菲：我看到一位致力於 真理和正義的藝術家——

and she's beautiful, but I digress.

她很漂亮，但這就離題了。

AM: Our story actually begins across many worlds,

艾：我們的故事一開始 就橫跨了不同的世界，

over maqluba and red wine in Palestine.

包含巴勒斯坦的抓飯和紅酒。

But how did we get there?

但我們怎麼走到那裡的？

PA: Well, I was born in Chicago,

菲：嗯，我在芝加哥出生，

the son of a preacher and a teacher.

父母是牧師和老師。

My ears first rung with church songs sung by my mother on Saturday mornings.

每個星期六早晨， 母親的教堂聖歌在我耳邊響起。

My father's South Side sermons summoned me.

父親的南方佈道會召喚我。

My first words were more notes than quotes.

我小時所知道的音符比引言還多。

It was music that molded me.

音樂塑造了我。

Later on, it was Florida A&M University that first introduced me to organizing.

後來我在佛羅里達農工大學， 學會了如何組織。

In 2012, a young black male named Trayvon Martin was murdered,

2012 年，一位叫做崔文 · 馬丁的 年輕黑人男子被殺害了，

and it changed my life and millions of others'.

我和數百萬人的人生就此改變。

We were a ragtag group of college kids and not-quite adults

我們是下層社會中的 大學生和稱不上成年的人，

who had decided enough was enough.

我們確定我們受夠了。

Art and organizing became our answer to anger and anxiety.

我們用藝術與成立組織 回應憤怒和焦慮。

We built a movement and it traveled around the world

我們發起了一項運動， 它傳遍了全世界，

and to Palestine, in 2015.

並在 2015 年傳到巴勒斯坦。

AM: I was born to a single mother

艾：我出生在只有媽媽的單親家庭，

in the Pink House projects of Brooklyn, New York.

住在紐約布魯克林 粉紅屋計畫的房子裡。

Maddened by survival,

生存讓我抓狂，

I gravitated inwards towards books, poems and my brother's hand-me-down Walkman.

我移情於書本、詩詞， 以及我兄弟用過的隨身聽。

I saw train-station theater,

我看到火車站劇院，

subwoofing streets and hood murals.

有重低音樂的街道和引擎蓋上的壁畫。

In high school, I found a community of metaphor magicians

我在高中時發現一個社區，

裡面有寓言魔法師 和揭露真相的詩人。

and truth-telling poets

in an organization called Urban Word NYC.

這個組織叫「紐約城市詞」，

Adopted by the Black Arts movement,

被黑人藝術運動所採用，

I won the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam title.

我在傳奇的紐約詩人咖啡館 贏得大滿貫冠軍。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲和歡呼）

At Sarah Lawrence College, I worked with artists

我在莎拉勞倫斯學院 和一些藝術家合作，

to respond to Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake;

回應卡崔娜颶風和地震。

I discovered the impact of poetry

我發現詩歌的影響，

and the ability to not just articulate our feelings,

以及不僅表達感受，

but to get us to work towards changing things

還讓我們努力改變事物的能力，

and doing something about it,

並採取行動。

when a friend, Maytha Alhassen, invited me to Palestine ...

當我的朋友梅莎·愛哈森 邀請我去巴勒斯坦時……

PA: We were a delegation of artists and organizers,

菲：我們是藝術家 和組織者的代表團，

and we immersed ourselves in Palestinian culture,

我們沉浸在巴勒斯坦的文化、

music, their stories.

音樂，和故事裡。

Late into the night,

直至深夜，

we would have discussions about the role of art in politics

我們仍在討論藝術在政治上的作用，

and the role of politics in art.

和政治對於藝術的影響。

Aja and I disagree.

我和艾賈的看法分歧。

AM: Oh, we disagree.

艾：噢，我們的看法分歧。

PA: But we quite quickly and unsurprisingly fell in love.

菲：但不出所料， 我們很快就墜入愛河。

Exhibit A:

展示 A：

me working my magic.

我在展現我的魔術。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

AM: Obvious, isn't it?

艾：很明顯，不是嗎？

Four months later, this artist --

四個月後，這個藝術家——

PA: and this organizer --

菲：和這個組織者——

AM: moved into a little home with a big backyard, in Miami.

艾：搬進邁阿密一間 有個大後院的小屋。

PA: (Sighs)

菲：（嘆氣）

Listen, five months before this ever happened,

聽著，其實在五個月前，

I predicted it all.

我便預知到這一切，讓我告訴你。

I'm going to tell you --

一個朋友和我坐下來，說：

a friend sat me down and said,

"You've done so much for organizing,

「你為了組織做了那麼多事情，

when are you going to settle down?"

你什麼時候才安定下來？」

我直視著他的臉，說：

I looked him straight in the face

and I said, "The only way that it would ever happen

「讓我安定只有一種可能，

那就是給我一個大撞擊。

is if it is a collision.

This woman would have to knock me completely off course."

得要有個女人 把我撞得完全偏離軌道。」

I didn't know how right I was.

當時我不知道我有多正確。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Our first few months were like any between young lovers:

頭幾個月，我們就像 其他的年輕愛人一樣：

filled with hot, passionate, all-night ...

每個晚上都充滿著熱情和激情……

AM: nonstop ...

艾：永不休止的……

PA: discussions.

菲：討論。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

PA: Aja challenged everything I knew and understood about the world.

菲：艾佳顛覆了 我對世界的認知和看法。

She forced me --

她強迫我——

AM: lovingly --

艾：親切地——

PA: to see our organizing work with new eyes.

菲：用新的眼光看待組織工作。

她幫助我看到隱藏的事物，

She helped me see the unseen things

and how artists illuminate our interior worlds.

學藝術家照亮裡面的世界。

AM: There were many days I did not want to get up out of bed

艾：我有很多天不願意起床

and face the exterior world.

去面對外面的世界。

I was discouraged.

我感到氣餒。

There was so much loss and death

有太多的失去和死亡，

and artists were being used to numb, lull and exploit.

藝術家們習慣了被麻木、 被安撫，和被利用。

While winning awards, accolades and grants soothed so many egos,

在獲得獎項的同時， 各種榮譽和獎金滿足許多自我，

people were still dying

然而人們仍然正在死去，

and I was seeking community.

而我在尋求一個社群。

Meeting Phillip brought so much joy, love, truth into my life,

遇上菲利普，為我的生活 帶來了很多愛、歡樂和真理。

and it pulled me out of isolation.

他還帶我脫離孤立。

He showed me that community and relationships

他讓我看到：社群和人際關係

wasn't just about building great movements.

不只是用來建立偉大的運動，

It was integral in creating powerful, meaningful art,

更是創造強大而有意義的藝術時 不可或缺的一部分，

and neither could be done in solitude.

若要成功兩者缺一不可。

PA: Yeah, we realized many of our artist and organizer friends were also lost

菲：是的，我們發現很多藝術家 和組織者朋友迷失了自己，

in these cycles of sadness,

陷在悲傷的惡性循環裡，

and we were in movements that often found themselves at funerals.

我們經常參加他們的葬禮。

We asked ourselves

我們問自己，

what becomes of a generation all too familiar

是什麼讓這一代人如此熟悉死亡，

with the untimely ends of lives streamed daily on our Timelines?

讓我們的生命長河裡 每天都上演著不合時宜的死亡？

It was during one of our late-night discussions

在一次深夜長談中，

that we saw beyond art and organizing

我們的眼光越過藝術和組織，

and began to see that art was organizing.

開始看到藝術就是組織。

AM: The idea was set:

艾：想法逐漸構建起來：

art was an anchor, not an accessory to movement.

藝術是船錨，而非運動的附屬品。

Our home was a home of radical imagination;

我們的家是充滿想像力的家；

an instrument of our nurturing hearts;

是培育心靈的工具；

a place of risk where were dared to laugh, love, cry, debate.

是個敢於冒險去歡笑、 熱愛、哭泣和辯論的地方。

Art, books, records and all this stuff decorated our walls,

藝術、書本、唱片 和其他東西裝飾我們的牆壁。

and there was lizards --

還有蜥蜴——

walls of palm trees that guided our guests into our backyard,

牆壁上的棕櫚樹指引著 我們的客人進入後院，

where our neighbors would come and feel right at home.

我們的鄰居在這裡 會有賓至如歸的感覺。

The wind --

那陣清風——

the wind was an affirmation for the people who walked into the space.

清風為走進空間的客人帶來肯定。

And we learned that in a world --

而我們了解到在這個世界裡，

a bewildering world of so much distraction --

在這個讓人眼花撩亂的花花世界裡，

we were able to cultivate a space where people could come and be present,

我們開闢了一方土地， 讓人們可以來這裡，

and artists and organizers could find refuge.

為藝術家和組織者提供了庇護所。

PA: This became Smoke Signals Studio.

菲：此處成為冒煙信號工作室。

AM: As we struggle to clothe, house, feed and educate our communities;

艾：當我們為衣食住行 和社區教育奮力奮鬥時，

our spirits hunger for connection, joy and purpose;

我們的靈魂渴望連結、歡樂和目標。

and as our bodies are out on the front lines,

儘管我們的身體在前線，

our souls still need to be fed,

我們的靈魂仍然需要餵養，

or else we succumb to despair and depression.

否則我們將屈服、絕望和沮喪。

Our art possesses rhythmic communication,

我們的藝術有節奏地進行溝通，

coded emotional cues,

編碼的情緒暗示，

improvised feelings of critical thought.

批判的思維踴躍跳動。

Our social movements should be like jazz:

我們的社交運動應該像爵士樂：

encouraging active participation,

鼓舞積極參與、

listening,

聆聽、

spontaneity and freedom.

自發和自由。

What people see as a party ...

人們看起來是派對……

PA: is actually a movement meeting.

菲：但事實上是行動會議。

See, we aren't all protest and pain.

你看，我們不全只是抗議和痛苦。

Here's a place to be loved,

這裡是一個被愛、

to be felt, to be heard,

被感受、被聆聽的地方，

and where we prepare for the most pressing political issues

是為那些我們社區裡 最緊迫的政治問題

in our neighborhoods.

做準備的地方。

See, laws never change culture,

你看，法律從未改變文化，

but culture always changes laws.

但是文化總是在影響法律。

Art --

藝術——

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Art as organizing is even changing and opening doors

藝術作為組織，更是在改變，

in places seen as the opposite of freedom.

在與自由對立的地方敞開大門。

Our weekly poetry series

我們每星期的詩歌系列，

is transforming the lives of men incarcerated at Dade Correctional,

正在改變著大德勞改所人們的生活，

and we're so excited to bring you all the published work of one of those men,

我們非常高興為你們 帶來其中一人出版的作品，

Echo Martinez.

作者是伊可·馬丁內斯。

In the intro, he says ...

他在前言上說到……

AM: "Poetry for the people is a sick pen's penicillin.

艾：「詩歌之於人 就像青霉素之於病了的文人，

It's a cuff key to a prisoner's dreams.

是解開囚犯夢想枷鎖之鑰。

The Molotov in the ink.

是在墨水中的莫洛托夫。

It is knowledge, it is overstanding,

是知識，又是妄想，

it is tasting ingredients in everything you've been force-fed,

是你被強餵的一切事物中 有味道的成分。

but most of all, it's a reminder that we all have voices,

最重要的是，它提醒： 我們全都有聲音，

we all can be heard even if we have to scream."

即使要尖叫，我們也要被聽到。」

In 2018, we created our first annual Maroon Poetry Festival

在 2018 年，我們建立了 第一屆深紅詩歌節，

at the TACOLCY Center in Liberty City.

地點在自由城的塔克斯中心。

There, the Last Poets, Sonia Sanchez, Emory Douglas

在那裡，最後的詩人 索尼亞·桑切斯、埃默里·道格拉斯，

and the late, great Ntozake Shange,

和已故的偉大尼托扎克·尚格，

performed and met with local artists and organizers.

與當地的藝術家和組織者會面和表演。

We were able to honor them

對於他們敢於真言，

for their commitment to radical truth-telling.

我們表示尊敬。

And in addition to that,

除此以外，

we transformed a public park

我們把一個公園

into the physical manifestation of the world we are organizing for.

改造成我們正在組織的世界那樣。

Everything that we put into poetry,

我們把投入到詩歌裡面的

we put into the art, into the creativity,

全都投入藝術和創造，

into the curated kids' games

投入兒童的遊戲策劃，

and into the stunning stage design.

投入動人的舞臺設計。

PA: Our work is in a long line of cultural organizers

菲：我們的工作 聚集很多文化組織者，

that understood to use art to animate a radical future.

他們了解如何用藝術 賦予激進的未來活力。

Artists like June Jordan,

藝術家諸如俊·左丹、

Emory Douglas

伊莫麗·多格拉思、

and Nina Simone.

和寧娜·席夢。

They understood what many of us are just now realizing --

我們才剛發現的事情， 其實他們早就看透了。

that to get people to build the ship,

那就是想要讓人們去建船

you've got to get them to long for the sea;

就要讓他們渴望大海。

that data rarely moves people, but great art always does.

數據很難打動人們， 但是偉大的藝術總是辦得到。

This understanding --

理解了這......

(Applause)

（掌聲）

This understanding informed the thinking

這個理解提供了一些訊息，

behind the Dream Defenders' "Freedom Papers,"

夢想捍衛者的背後是「自由論文」，

a radical political vision for the future of Florida

是有關佛羅里達州未來的激進政見：

that talked about people over profits.

將人擺在利益之前。

Now, we could have done a policy paper.

我們本可以做一份政策文件。

Instead, artists and organizers came together in their poetry

相反地，藝術家和組織者 在他們的詩歌中走到一起，

to create incredible murals

攜手共創驚人的壁畫

and did the video that we see behind us.

和製作了我們身後的這段影片。

We joined the political precision of the Black Panther Party

我們注入黑豹黨的精準政治，

and the beautiful poetry of Puerto Rican poet Martín Espada

和波多黎各詩人 馬丁·埃斯帕達的美麗詩歌，

to bring our political vision to life.

把我們的政治願景帶到現實。

AM: Now thousands of Floridians across age, race, gender and class

艾：現在成千上萬的佛羅里達人， 跨年齡、種族、性別和階級，

see the "Freedom Papers" as a vision for the future of their lives.

把「自由論文」當作未來生活的願景。

For decades, our artists and our art has been used to exploit,

幾十年來，我們的 藝術家和藝術被利用、

lull, numb,

被安撫、被麻木，

sell things to us

向我們推銷，

and to displace our communities,

還取代我們的社群。

but we believe that the personal is political

但是我們相信人是政治的，

and the heart is measured by what is done,

用行動衡量心，

not what one feels.

不是用感覺。

And so art as organizing is not just concerned with artists' intentions,

因此，藝術組織 不僅關注藝術家的意圖，

but their actual impact.

還關注他們的實際影響。

Great art is not a monologue.

偉大的藝術不是獨白。

Great art is a dialogue between the artist and the people.

偉大的藝術是藝術家與人的對話。

PA: Four years ago, this artist ...

菲：四年前，這個藝術家……

AM: and this organizer ...

艾：和這個組織者……

PA: found that we were not just a match.

菲：發現我們不僅是彼此匹配。

AM: We were a mirror.

艾：我們更是對方的鏡子。

PA: Our worlds truly did collide,

菲：我們的世界真的碰撞了，

and in many ways ...

在很多方面……

AM: they combined.

艾：結合了。

PA: We learned so much about movement,

菲：我們掌握了很多關於政治運動、

about love and about art at its most impactful:

關於愛和藝術最有影響的部分：

when it articulates the impossible and when it erodes individualism,

當它明確地表明不可行，

當它侵蝕了個人主義，

when it plays into the gray places of our black and white worlds,

當它遊走於黑白世界裡的灰色地帶，

when it does what our democracy does not,

當它做了民主沒做的事，

when it reminds us that we are not islands,

當它提醒我們並不是孤島，

when it adorns every street but Wall Street and Madison Avenue,

當它裝飾了除了華爾街 和麥迪遜大道之外的所有街道，

when it reminds us that we are not islands

當它提醒我們並不是孤島

and refuses to succumb to the numbness,

且拒絕向麻木屈服，

when it indicts empire

當它控訴帝國，

and inspires each and every one of us to love,

並鼓舞著我們每一個人去愛、

tell the truth

去說出真相，

and make revolution irresistible.

讓革命不可阻擋。

AM: For the wizards --

艾：為了——

(Applause)

（掌聲）

AM: For the wizards and ways of our defiance,

為了我們反抗的嚮導和方式，

love-riot visions of our rising, risen, raised selves.

我們不斷提升。

The overcoming grace --

克服障礙的恩典——

fires, bitter tongues,

火焰、苦澀的舌頭，

wise as rickety rocking chairs,

如同擺晃的搖椅那樣有智慧，

suffering salt and sand skies.

忍受著鹽和漫天塵沙。

Memories unshackled and shining stitches

記憶被解放和閃亮的縫針，

on a stretch-marked heart.

在有著伸展紋的心臟上。

For the flowers that bloom in midnight scars.

為了在午夜疤痕上盛開的花朵。

How we suffered and sought a North Star.

我們遭難，尋求北極星指引。

When there was no light, we glowed.

在黑暗中，我們發熱發亮。

We sparked this rejoice,

我們激起喜悅，

this righteous delight.

那種正義的喜悅。

We have a cause to take joy in.

我們有理由高興。

How we weathered and persisted,

我們飽受風霜，頑強抵制，

tenacious,

堅韌不拔，

no stone unturned.

不遺餘力。

How we witnessed the horror of mankind

我們看到了人的恐怖，

and did not become that which horrified us.

卻沒有成為那些令我們恐懼的人。

PA: Thank you.

菲：謝謝大家。

AM: Thank you.

艾：謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）