Family, hope and resilience on the migrant trail | Jon Lowenstein

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: 潘 可儿

[This talk contains graphic images]

〔本演說含有清楚寫實的影像〕

So I'm sitting across from Pedro,

我坐在派德羅對面，

the coyote, the human smuggler,

他是人口販運的蛇頭，

in his cement block apartment,

我們在他的水泥公寓中，

in a dusty Reynosa neighborhood

在滿是灰塵的雷諾薩鄰坊，

somewhere on the US-Mexico border.

靠近美墨邊境。

It's 3am.

時間是早上三點。

The day before, he had asked me to come back to his apartment.

前一天，他要我回到他的公寓。

We would talk man to man.

我們要像男人對男人般地談話。

He wanted me to be there at night and alone.

他要我晚上獨自去那裡。

I didn't know if he was setting me up,

我不知道他是否會設計我，

but I knew I wanted to tell his story.

但我知道我想要說出他的故事。

He asked me, "What will you do

他問我：「你會怎麼做？

if one of these pollitos, or migrants, slips into the water and can't swim?

如果其中一個移民 掉到水中且不會游泳，

Will you simply take your pictures and watch him drown?

你會繼續拍照，然後看著他溺死嗎？

Or will you jump in and help me?"

還是你會跳下水幫我？」

At that moment, Pedro wasn't a cartoonish TV version of a human smuggler.

那一刻，派德羅並不是電視 卡通中的那種人口販運蛇頭。

He was just a young man, about my age,

他只是個年輕人，年齡和我相仿，

asking me some really tough questions.

正在問我一些很難答的問題。

This was life and death.

生死就在一線間。

The next night, I photographed Pedro as he swam the Rio Grande,

隔天晚上，我拍攝了 派德羅游過格蘭河的畫面，

crossing with a group of young migrants into the United States.

他和一群年輕移民一起游進美國。

Real lives hung in the balance every time he crossed people.

每當他帶人渡河時， 冒的都是真實性命的危險。

For the last 20 years,

在過去的二十年間，

I've documented one of the largest transnational migrations

我記錄下了世界歷史上 其中一個最大的跨國遷移，

in world history,

which has resulted in millions of undocumented people

結果是數百萬名 沒有合法文件的人在美國定居。

living in the United States.

The vast majority of these people leave Central America and Mexico

這些人大部分是要 離開中美和墨西哥，

to escape grinding poverty and extreme levels of social violence.

逃離極度貧困和極端的社會暴力。

I photograph intimate moments of everyday people's lives,

我拍攝記錄平凡小人物 生活中的私密時刻，

of people living in the shadows.

那些住在陰影中的人。

Time and again, I've witnessed resilient individuals

一而再再而三，我目睹了

在極度困難的情況中 堅韌不拔的人，

in extremely challenging situations

constructing practical ways to improve their lives.

用實際可行的方式 來改善他們的生活。

With these photographs,

透過這些照片，

I place you squarely in the middle of these moments

我讓各位直接進入這些時刻當中，

and ask you to think about them as if you knew them.

請各位用假設自己 認識他們的立場來想想他們。

This body of work is a historical document,

這些作品是歷史記錄文件，

a time capsule that can teach us not only about migration,

是時間膠囊，能夠教導 我們的課題不僅是移民，

but about society and ourselves.

還有社會和我們自己。

I started the project in the year 2000.

我從 2000 年開始這個計畫。

The migrant trail has taught me

移民路線讓我學到

how we treat our most vulnerable residents in the United States.

我們是如何對待 美國最脆弱的居民。

It has taught me about violence and pain and hope and resilience

它讓我學到暴力、痛苦、希望、

韌性、掙扎，和犧牲。

and struggle and sacrifice.

It has taught me firsthand

它讓我親身學到

that rhetoric and political policy directly impact real people.

辭令政策和政治政策 會直接影響到真實的人。

And most of all,

最重要的，

the migrant trail has taught me

移民路線讓我學到

that everyone who embarks on it is changed forever.

走過這條路的每個人 都從此改變了。

I began this project in the year 2000

我從 2000 年開始這個計畫，

by documenting a group of day laborers on Chicago’s Northwest side.

在芝加哥西北區記錄 一群臨時工的生活。

Each day, the men would wake up at 5am,

每天，他們五點就要起床，

go to a McDonald's, where they would stand outside

去麥當勞，站在店外，

and wait to jump into strangers' work vans,

等著跳上陌生人的工作小貨車，

in the hopes of finding a job for the day.

希望能找到那天的工作。

They earned five dollars an hour,

他們的時薪是五美元，

had no job security, no health insurance

沒有工作安全保障， 沒有健康保險，

and were almost all undocumented.

幾乎都是沒有合法文件的人。

The men were all pretty tough.

這些人都很強悍。

They had to be.

他們必須強悍。

The police constantly harassed them for loitering,

警方卻常騷擾他們， 說他們意圖不軌在外遊盪，

而他們只是每天努力討生活。

as they made their way each day.

Slowly, they welcomed me into their community.

慢慢地，他們歡迎我 進入他們的社區。

And this was one of the first times

這是我最初開始有意識地 用我的照相機來當作武器。

that I consciously used my camera as a weapon.

One day, as the men were organizing to make a day-labor worker center,

有一天，當他們組織起來 要成立臨時工人中心時，

a young man named Tomás came up to me and asked me

一位叫做托馬斯的年輕人來找我，

will I stay afterwards and photograph him.

問我之後能否留下來拍攝他。

So I agreed.

我同意了。

As he walked into the middle of the empty dirt lot,

當他走進空曠的爛泥地中間時，

a light summer rain started to fall.

天空中飄起了夏日細雨。

Much to my surprise, he started to take off his clothes. (Laughs)

讓我很意外的是， 他開始脫衣服。（笑）

I didn't exactly know what to do.

我不太知道該怎麼辦。

He pointed to the sky and said,

他指向天空，說：

"Our bodies are all we have."

「我們的身體是我們僅有的。」

He was proud, defiant and vulnerable, all at once.

他的驕傲、反抗、 脆弱，全都交織在一起。

And this remains one of my favorite photographs of the past 20 years.

這張照片仍是我過去二十年中 最愛的其中一張。

His words have stuck with me ever since.

在那之後，他的話就 一直留在我腦海中。

I met Lupe Guzmán around the same time,

大約同時期， 我遇見了路佩古茲曼，

while she was organizing and fighting the day-labor agencies

她當時正在組織和對抗 零時工仲介機構，

which were exploiting her and her coworkers.

這些機構在剝削她和她的同事。

She organized small-scale protests, sit-ins and much more.

她組織了一些小規模的 抗議、靜坐等等。

She paid a high price for her activism,

她為她的行動主義 付出很高的代價，

because the day-labor agencies like Ron's

因為像 Ron's 這種零時工仲介機構

blackballed her and refused to give her work.

會排擠她並且拒絕給她工作。

So in order to survive,

為了生存，

she started selling elotes, or corn on the cob, on the street,

她開始在街頭賣烤玉米，

as a street vendor.

成為了街頭小販。

現在，你仍然可以看到她

And today, you can still find her

selling all types of corn and different candies and stuff.

在販售各種口味的烤玉米 和不同的零食等等。

Lupe brought me into the inner world of her family

路佩把我帶入她家庭的內部世界，

and showed me the true impact of migration.

讓我看到移民的真正影響。

She introduced me to everyone in her extended family,

她把我介紹給她的 大家庭中的每個人，

Gabi, Juan, Conchi, Chava, everyone.

加比、黃恩、康奇、 加瓦，每個人。

Her sister Remedios had married Anselmo,

她姐姐里梅狄歐斯 嫁給了安賽爾摩，

whose eight of nine siblings

他的九位手足中有八位

had migrated from Mexico to Chicago in the nineties.

都是在九○年代從墨西哥 移民到芝加哥的。

So many people in her family opened their world to me

她的許多家人都對我 打開了他們的世界，

and shared their stories.

分享他們的故事。

Families are the heart and lifeblood of the migrant trail.

移民路線的心臟和命脈就是家庭。

When these families migrate,

當這些家庭移民時，

they change and transform societies.

他們會改變、轉變社會，

It's rare to be able to access so intimately

很難得有機會如此親密地進入

the intimate and day-to-day lives

這些人私人的日常生活，

of people who, by necessity, are closed to outsiders.

他們對外來者通常 必須採取封閉的態度。

At the time,

那時，

Lupe's family lived in the insular world of the Back of the Yards,

路佩的家人住在 「後院」的孤立世界中，

a tight-knit Chicago neighborhood,

後院是個聯繫緊密的芝加哥街坊，

which for more than 100 years had been a portal of entry

超過一百年來，它一直都是

近期移民進入的入口——

for recent immigrants --

first, from Europe, like my family,

首先，來自歐洲的人， 比如我的家人，

and more recently, from Latin America.

近期則是來自拉丁美洲的人。

Their world was largely hidden from view.

他們的世界大部分不會被看到。

And they call the larger, white world outside the neighborhood

他們把街坊外面那個 更大的白人世界稱為

"Gringolandia."

「Gringolandia」。

You know, like lots of generations moving to the Back of the Yards,

和許多搬入後院的世世代代一樣，

the family did the thankless hidden jobs that most people didn't want to do:

這個家庭也做了大部分人 不願意做的工作，

不受到注意的工作：

cleaning office buildings, preparing airline meals in cold factories,

打掃辦公室大樓、在寒冷的 工廠中準備航班上的餐點、

meat packing, demolitions.

包裝肉類、拆房子。

It was hard manual labor for low exploitation wages.

這些都是很辛苦的人工， 薪水被剝削到極低。

But on weekends, they celebrated together,

但，在週末，他們會一起慶祝，

with backyard barbecues

在後院烤肉、

and birthday celebrations,

慶生，

like most working families the world over.

就像世界上其他勞動家庭一樣。

I became an honorary family member.

我成了榮譽家庭成員。

My nickname was "Johnny Canales," after the Tejano TV star.

我的小名是「強尼卡納雷斯」， 這是一位德哈諾電視明星的名字。

I had access to the dominant culture,

我可以接觸主流文化，

so I was part family photographer, part social worker

所以我有一部分算是家庭 攝影師、一部分是社工、

and part strange outsider payaso clown, who was there to amuse them.

一部分是奇怪的外來小丑， 去那裡娛樂他們。

One of the most memorable moments of this time

這段時期最難忘的時刻之一，

was photographing the birth of Lupe's granddaughter, Elizabeth.

是拍攝路佩的孫女伊麗莎白出生。

Her two older siblings had crossed across the Sonoran Desert,

她兩位較年長的手足 已經穿越了索諾拉沙漠，

being carried and pushed in strollers into the United States.

在嬰兒車中被帶進美國。

So at that time,

所以那時，

her family allowed me to photograph her birth.

她的家人允許我拍攝她出生。

And it was one of the really coolest things

當護士把寶寶伊麗莎白 抱到加比的胸口時，

as the nurses placed baby Elizabeth on Gabi's chest.

那真的是酷極了。

She was the family's first American citizen.

她是全家的第一位美國公民。

That girl is 17 today.

現在，那個女孩十七歲了。

And I still remain in close contact with Lupe

我還和路佩及她大部分 家人保持密切聯絡。

and much of her family.

My work is firmly rooted in my own family's history

我的工作有著很堅固的根源， 就是我自己的家庭史，

of exile and subsequent rebirth in the United States.

包括流亡以及後來在美國重生。

My father was born in Nazi Germany in 1934.

1934 年，我父親生在納粹的德國。

Like most assimilated German Jews,

和大部分被同化的 德國猶太人一樣，

my grandparents simply hoped

我的祖父母就只是希望

that the troubles of the Third Reich would blow over.

納粹德國的問題會安然過去。

But in spring of 1939,

但 1939 年春天，

a small but important event happened to my family.

我的家庭發生了一件重要的小事。

My dad needed an appendectomy.

我爸爸需要做闌尾切除手術。

And because he was Jewish,

因為他是猶太人，

not one hospital would operate on him.

沒有醫院願意為他開刀。

The operation was carried out on his kitchen table,

手術是在他的廚房桌上進行的，

on the family's kitchen table.

在家中的廚房桌上。

Only after understanding the discrimination they faced

在了解到他們所面臨的歧視之後，

did my grandparents make the gut-wrenching decision

我的祖父母做出了摧心裂肝的決定，

to send their two children on the Kindertransport bound for England.

將他們的兩個孩子送去 難民兒童運動，讓他們前往英國。

My family's survival has informed my deep commitment

我的家人能存活下來， 讓我立下很深的承諾，

to telling this migration story

要用深刻、細微的方式 說出這個移民故事。

in a deep and nuanced way.

The past and the present are always interconnected.

過去和現在向來都是相互連結的。

The long-standing legacy

美國政府干涉拉丁美洲

of the US government's involvement in Latin America

所遺留下來的長久後果備受爭議，

is controversial and well-documented.

且被清楚記錄下來。

The 1954 CIA-backed coup of Árbenz in Guatemala,

1954 年，中情局支持 瓜地馬拉的阿本斯政變、

the Iran-Contra scandal, the School of the Americas,

伊朗門事件醜聞、 西半球安全合作學院、

the murder of Archbishop Romero on the steps of a San Salvador church

羅梅羅主教在聖薩爾瓦多 教堂的階梯上被謀殺，

are all examples of this complex history,

這些都是這段複雜歷史的例子，

a history which has led to instability

這段歷史造成了中美洲的 不穩定和罪犯逍遙法外。

and impunity in Central America.

Luckily, the history is not unremittingly dark.

幸運的是，這段歷史 並非一直都是黑暗的。

The United States and Mexico took in thousands and millions, actually,

七○和八○年代，美國和墨西哥

of refugees escaping the civil wars of the 70s and 80s.

其實收容了數百萬逃離內戰的難民。

But by the time I was documenting the migrant trail in Guatemala

但當我在瓜地馬拉記錄移民路線時，

in the late 2000s,

兩千年代末期，

most Americans had no connection to the increasing levels of violence,

大部分的美國人 都和中美洲不斷增加的暴力、

impunity and migration in Central America.

讓罪犯逍遙法外，及移民沒有任何關聯。

To most US citizens, it might as well have been the Moon.

對大部分美國公民而言， 這些事就像發生在月球上一樣。

Over the years, I slowly pieced together

這些年來，我慢慢地拼湊出

the complicated puzzle that stretched from Central America through Mexico

這複雜的拼圖，

從中美洲通過墨西哥

to my backyard in Chicago.

延伸到我在芝加哥的後院。

I hit almost all the border towns -- Brownsville, Reynosa, McAllen,

我幾乎去過每個邊境城鎮—— 布朗斯維爾、雷諾薩、麥卡倫

尤馬、加利西哥——

Yuma, Calexico --

recording the increasing militarization of the border.

記錄下邊境越來越嚴重的 軍事化備戰狀態。

Each time I returned,

我每次回來，

there was more infrastructure, more sensors, more fences,

就會看到更多基礎建設、 更多感測器、更多柵欄、

more Border Patrol agents and more high-tech facilities

更多邊境巡邏員、 更多高科技場所，

with which to incarcerate the men, women and children

那些場所是用來監禁 我們的政府所拘留的

who our government detained.

男人、女人，和孩子。

Post-9/11, it became a huge industry.

九一一之後，監禁 變成了很大的產業。

I photographed the massive and historic immigration marches in Chicago,

我拍攝了芝加哥很有 歷史性的大型移民遊行、

children at detention facilities

在拘留所的孩子，

and the slow percolating rise of anti-immigrant hate groups,

以及反移民仇恨團體 慢慢浸透的興起，

including sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona.

包括亞利桑納的喬阿爾帕約。

I documented the children in detention facilities,

我記錄下了在拘留所的孩子、

deportation flights

驅逐出境的班機，

and a lot of different things.

及許多不同的事物。

I witnessed the rise of the Mexican drug war

我目擊了墨西哥毒品戰爭的興起，

and the deepening levels of social violence in Central America.

以及中美洲社會暴力日益嚴重，

I came to understand how interconnected all these disparate elements were

我漸漸了解到這些迥然 不同的元素有多麼息息相關，

and how interconnected we all are.

及我們所有人有多麼息息相關。

As photographers,

身為攝影師，

we never really know which particular moment will stay with us

我們從來不知道哪些特定的時刻 會留在我們的腦海中，

or which particular person will be with us.

或者哪些特定的人會與我們同在。

The people we photograph become a part of our collective history.

我們拍攝的對象， 成為我們共同歷史的一部分。

Jerica Estrada was a young eight-year-old girl

葉麗卡艾斯特拉達 是一名八歲的女孩，

whose memory has stayed with me.

她的記憶留在我心中。

Her father had gone to LA in order to work to support his family.

她父親為了養家糊口，

去了洛杉磯工作。

And like any dutiful father,

和任何盡本分的父親一樣， 他帶著禮物返回瓜地馬拉的家。

he returned home to Guatemala, bearing gifts.

That weekend, he had presented his eldest son with a motorcycle --

那個週末，他給了 他的長子一台摩特車——

a true luxury.

真的算很奢華。

As the son was driving the father back home

當兒子載著父親 從一個家庭派對回家時，

from a family party,

a gang member rode up and shot the dad through the back.

一位幫派成員騎車衝上去， 從後面朝他的父親開槍。

It was a case of mistaken identity,

他認錯了人，

an all too common occurrence in this country.

在這個國家是很常發生的狀況。

But the damage was done.

但傷害已經造成。

The bullet passed through the father and into the son.

子彈穿過父親，擊中兒子。

This was not a random act of violence,

這不是個隨機暴力行為，

but one instance of social violence

而是社會暴力的一個例子，

in a region of the world where this has become the norm.

在世界的這個區域， 這種暴力已經成了常態。

Impunity thrives when all the state and governmental institutions

當國家和政府的制度 無法保護個人時，

罪犯逍遙法外的情況就會興起。

fail to protect the individual.

Too often, the result forces people to leave their homes and flee

通常，結果就是迫使 人們離開家園逃亡，

and take great risks in search of safety.

為了尋求安全而冒很大的風險。

Jerica's father died en route to the hospital.

葉麗卡的父親 在送往醫院途中過世。

His body had saved his son's life.

他的身體救了他兒子的命。

As we arrived to the public hospital,

當我們抵達公立醫院，

to the gates of the public hospital,

抵達公立醫院的大門，

I noticed a young girl in a pink striped shirt, screaming.

我注意到有一位穿著 粉紅條紋上衣的年輕女孩在尖叫。

Nobody comforted the little girl as she clasped her tiny hands.

當那個小女孩緊握著她的 小手時，沒有人安慰她。

She was the man's youngest daughter,

她就是那名男子最小的女兒， 她叫做葉麗卡艾斯特拉達。

her name was Jerica Estrada.

She cried and raged,

她哭泣、憤怒，

and nobody could do anything, for her father was gone.

沒有人能做什麼， 因為她父親已經走了。

These days, when people ask me

如今，如果有人問我

why young mothers with four-month-old babies

為什麼年輕母親會願意 帶著只有四個月大的寶寶

will travel thousands of miles,

旅行數千英里，

knowing they will likely be imprisoned in the United States,

甚至知道他們可能在美國會被監禁，

I remember Jerica, and I think of her and of her pain

我就會想起葉麗卡， 我會想起她和她的痛苦，

and of her father who saved his son's life with his own body,

想起她的父親用自己的身體 救了兒子的命，

and I understand the truly human need

我就會了解為了尋找 更好的人生而移民，

to migrate in search of a better life.

背後其實有著真正的人類需求。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）