ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carvens Lissaint - Performance artist
Carvens Lissaint is a slam poet, performance artist, and member of the Hip Hopera Theater troupe.

Why you should listen

Carvens Lissaint is a Haitian American performance artist. Raised in Upper West Side Harlem, New York, he lives in Washington Heights. He established himself as a spoken word artist in 2006 and went on to win multiple poetry slams across the country and coach award-winning teams. He made his transition into musical theater in 2007 as a part of the Hip Hopera Theater troupe, working with Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in collaboration with the Metropolitan Theater Opera Guild. He also debuted his high-energy one-man show Walk (directed and co-developed by Queen God-Is, choreographed by Nicco Anann) at Dance Theater Workshop and off Broadway at the 2009 Hip Hop Theater Festival. Carvens lives, eats and breathes art hoping to share his light and become a better being of the Universe.

More profile about the speaker
Carvens Lissaint | Speaker | TED.com
TEDYouth 2011

Carvens Lissaint: "Put the financial aid in the bag"

Filmed:
367,402 views

At TEDYouth 2011, performance artist Carvens Lissaint shows how to use language, metaphor and imagery to express a powerful idea -- as in this spoken-word performance, a stirring plea to make college education more accessible.
- Performance artist
Carvens Lissaint is a slam poet, performance artist, and member of the Hip Hopera Theater troupe. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
(Music音乐)
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(音乐)
00:28
I want everyone大家 to put their hands on top最佳 of their head.
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大家把手放到头上。
00:33
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Put your hands on top最佳 of your head.
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是的,是的,就是,把手放在你的头上。
00:36
Just relax放松. Just stay calm冷静. Everything will be nice不错
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放松,平静。
00:39
and smooth光滑 if you just participate参加 and just relax放松, okay?
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如果你仅仅参与并放松,会感觉很好和舒适,是不是?
00:42
Yeah. All right, now put your hands down.
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是的。好了,现在把手放下来。
00:45
Don't be no hero英雄. Put your hands down. Okay?
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不是没有英雄。放下手,好吗?
00:48
All right. Now. Cool. Good.
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好的,现在,冷静,很好。
00:51
I want you to run all that financial金融 aid援助.
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我想让你考虑所有的经济资助。
00:56
Yeah, sucka混蛋, put the scholarships奖学金 in the bag, yeah, yeah.
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是的,很差劲,把奖学金放到书包里,对,对。
01:00
Put the scholarships奖学金 in the bag. Yeah, you too, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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把奖学金放到书包。是的,你也一样,对,对,对。
01:02
Yeah, you. Yeah, yeah. You over there, go put the Pell佩尔 Grants资助 in the bag.
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是的,你,对,对,那边的那个。把你的Pell奖学金放到包里
01:05
Put the Pell佩尔 Grants资助 in there too. Yeah, you. Go. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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把Pell奖学金也放进去。对,就是你,好,对,对,对。
01:08
You, go over to that booth and get me some of them subsidized补贴, some of them subsidized补贴 loans贷款.
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你,去那边的货摊,给我拿些补助,一些贷款补贴。
01:12
It ain't a game游戏 no more. I know you're hiding the money somewhere某处 here.
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这不再是游戏。我知道你在那藏了些钱。
01:15
With all this tuition学费 you got me and my homies兄弟们 payin'付' --
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你所有的学习指导和家庭投入
01:18
Woo求爱! -- I'm about to get gangster-scholar匪徒学者 up in here.
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哇!我为了在那得到差劲的奖学金。
01:21
Up in here. I'm about to go N.W.A. meets符合 Beastie野兽 Boys男孩
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就在那。我打算去 N.W.A 见野兽男孩。
01:24
if I don't see the cash现金, man.
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如果我没有现金,男人。
01:26
Cause原因 we're not gonna take it. ♪ Oh ...
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因为我们没有带现金,哦...
01:29
Oh, you thought I was playing播放.
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啊,你认为你正在玩。
01:32
Oh, you thought this was a game游戏. Back up, back up. Mind心神 your business商业, that's all.
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啊,你认为这是一个游戏。后退,后退,注意,就这些。
01:35
What do you, think this is a game游戏? What?
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你,也认为这是游戏?什么?
01:38
Huh? You don't even know me.
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啊?你就不认识我。
01:41
I'll say something else其他. Don't call me crazy.
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我要讲些其它的。不要叫我疯子。
01:43
Do not call me -- Rives, tell 'em“时间 don't call me crazy before I go crazy.
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不要叫我-Rives。告诉他们在我变疯前,不要叫我疯子。
01:46
I'm telling告诉 you, now I'm about to go crazy. I'm about to go Tupac图帕克 Thug暴徒 Life in here.
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我就要告诉你,现在我就要变疯。我要取Tupac Thug那边生活。
01:49
Like, "I ain't a killer凶手 but don't push me. Revenge复仇 is like the sweetest甜蜜 joy喜悦 --" Woo求爱!
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就像“我不是杀手,不要逼我。复仇像是最甜蜜的欢乐-”哇!
01:52
I'm about to go Biggie大不了 Smalls小商品 Brooklyn布鲁克林 type类型, like,
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我也想要布鲁克林Biggie Smalls的风格。
01:56
"Super Nintendo任天堂, Sega世嘉 Genesis创世纪. When I was dead broke打破 --"
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“超级任天堂,创世纪。当我完全破产-“
01:59
Woo求爱! I'm about to go KRS-OneKRS-一
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哇! 我也要成为艺人。
02:02
cuckoo布谷鸟 for Cocoa可可 Puffs-type喷吹式 wild野生.
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寻找可可的原始风格。
02:05
Like, "Wa daDA daDA dang, waWA daDA daDA daDA dang,
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就像,“哇 当 当 当,哇 当当 当当,
02:08
listen to my nine millimeter毫米 go bang." You know what?
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你我的9毫米重击声。“ 你知道是什么吗?
02:11
You are dumb. You are really dumb.
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你无法可说。你真的无话可说。
02:13
Hide隐藏 your kids孩子, hide隐藏 your wife妻子, 'cause'原因 we gettin'刚开了 financial金融 aid援助
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不要告诉你的孩子和爱人。因为我们得到了经济资助
02:16
all up and in and around here. You think this is a game游戏?
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所有的都有了。你认为这是游戏吗?
02:19
You think I want to be out here doing this?
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你认为我要出去做这个吗?
02:22
Do you know how hard it was to find these guns枪炮?
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你知道找到这些枪支多么难吗?
02:24
All right, I'm sorry. You understand理解?
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好的,对不起。你明白了?
02:27
I'm just trying to get my education教育. You know what I mean?
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我刚才试着得到我的教育。你知道我的意思?
02:29
I'm just trying to fight斗争 for the opportunity机会 that my great-great-great-grandfather伟大-伟大-伟大的祖父 died死亡 for, you know what I'm saying?
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我正在努力找到我的先祖致死都在寻找的机会。你知道我在说什么?
02:35
You know how my ancestors祖先 did sit-ins静坐,
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你知道我的祖先怎么静坐示威。
02:40
just so I can sit in a classroom课堂.
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就像我做在教室里。
02:43
And all these years年份, all y'all你们 been doing
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所有这么多年,你所做的
02:47
is strangling绞杀 the life out of my bank银行 statement声明,
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正在束缚着我的银行账单意外的生活,
02:51
leaving离开 my pockets口袋 as vacant空的 as parking停車處 lots.
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让我的口袋像停车场一样空旷。
02:54
Professor教授 Willie威利 Lynch林奇 taught you well, huh?
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Wille Lynch 教授也教过你,啊?
02:59
Keep the body身体, take the money.
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保持身体,拿上钱。
03:02
Force feed饲料 my people deception骗局 and failure失败.
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迫使我面对欺骗和失败。
03:06
Condition条件 our brains大脑 to malfunction故障 at the sight视力
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在成功的视点以我们的头脑失灵为条件。
03:09
of success成功. Just keep the cycle周期 going.
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仅仅保持运转。
03:12
Make us pay工资 for an education教育 that will end结束 up failing失败 us.
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使我们为教程我们失败的教育买单。
03:15
Put us in debt债务 so we're giving back
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让我们负债, 那些我们要偿还的债务
03:18
the money we earned from our back-breaking回破 work.
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用我们繁重的劳动所得。
03:20
This seems似乎 all too familiar.
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这写都太熟悉了。
03:23
Sounds声音 like the rust of shackles镣铐 locking锁定 their way onto my degree.
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听起来像是生锈的手铐锁住了我的学习之路。
03:27
Sounds声音 like the Thirteenth第十三 Amendment修订 in reverse相反.
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听起来项是第13修正案的反转。
03:30
Lecture演讲 halls大厅 shouldn't不能 feel like cotton fields领域,
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大学讲座不应该像在棉花地里一样,
03:33
shouldn't不能 sound声音 like muffled闷响 freedom自由 songs歌曲 trapped被困
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不应该像模糊不清的几代人梦想的自由歌曲
03:36
in the jaws of a generation's一代 dreams. Oho! Oh, it all makes品牌 sense.
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哦!这些都是对的。
03:39
Give us enough足够 to get by but not enough足够 to provide提供 for ourselves我们自己.
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给了我们足够的认可,可是提供给我们的不足。
03:42
Keep us psychologically心理 feeble微弱 so we lose失去 our purpose目的 in the process处理.
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保持我们心理上的弱势,使我们在这个过程中失去了目的。
03:46
Stop thieving小偷 our aspirations愿望 out of our sleep睡觉.
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当我们睡觉时,停止窃取我们的精神。
03:50
Don't call it financial金融 aid援助
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不要称它经济援助
03:53
if you're not helping帮助 anyone任何人 with it.
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如果你没有用它帮助任何人。
03:56
We have fought战斗.
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我们已经在争取
03:59
We have fought战斗 way too hard
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我们争取的太艰难了
04:03
to let green绿色 paper build建立 a barricade in front面前 of our futures期货.
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无法通过我们未来前边的障碍。
04:07
I will not let you potentially可能 rob food餐饮 out of my children's儿童 stomach.
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我不想让你剥夺了我们孩子的食物。
04:12
Best最好 believe I'm going out blasting爆破.
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最好相信我也会爆发。
04:14
I ain't no killer凶手, but don't push me.
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我不是杀手,可是不要逼我。
04:17
I wish希望 it didn't come to this, but I have to for my cousins表兄弟
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我希望我碰不上这些,可是我不得不为了我海地的亲戚们
04:20
in Haiti海地 who don't even know what a college学院 looks容貌 like,
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他们甚至不知道大学是什么样子,
04:23
for my best最好 friend朋友 Raymond雷蒙德 sitting坐在 in cell细胞 block nine
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为了我最好的朋友Raymond,坐在一个小的街区
04:26
instead代替 of a university大学,
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而不是上大学
04:28
for the nooses套索 hanging my GPAGPA by its neck颈部.
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为了那些套在我脖子上的GPA。
04:31
There is no other option选项.
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没有其它选择。
04:34
There is no other way.
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没有其它路可走。
04:38
Just, please, put the money in the bag.
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仅仅是请把钱放大书包里。
04:42
Put the money in the bag. I just want to go to school学校, man.
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把钱放到书包里,我只想去上学,男人。
04:47
I just want to get my education教育. I just want to learn学习. I just want to grow增长.
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我只想要我的教育。我只想学习。我仅仅要成长。
04:51
Put the money in the bag, please.
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请把钱放到书包里。
04:54
Just put the money in the bag.
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仅仅把钱放到书包里。
Translated by Yuyang Zhao
Reviewed by Jiawei Ni

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carvens Lissaint - Performance artist
Carvens Lissaint is a slam poet, performance artist, and member of the Hip Hopera Theater troupe.

Why you should listen

Carvens Lissaint is a Haitian American performance artist. Raised in Upper West Side Harlem, New York, he lives in Washington Heights. He established himself as a spoken word artist in 2006 and went on to win multiple poetry slams across the country and coach award-winning teams. He made his transition into musical theater in 2007 as a part of the Hip Hopera Theater troupe, working with Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in collaboration with the Metropolitan Theater Opera Guild. He also debuted his high-energy one-man show Walk (directed and co-developed by Queen God-Is, choreographed by Nicco Anann) at Dance Theater Workshop and off Broadway at the 2009 Hip Hop Theater Festival. Carvens lives, eats and breathes art hoping to share his light and become a better being of the Universe.

More profile about the speaker
Carvens Lissaint | Speaker | TED.com