ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Clint Smith - Poet, educator
Clint Smith's work blends art and activism.

Why you should listen

Clint Smith is a writer, teacher and doctoral candidate at Harvard University studying education, incarceration and inequality. Previously, he taught high school English in Prince George’s County, Maryland where, in 2013, he was named the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year by the Maryland Humanities Council.

Clint is a 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and author of the poetry collection Counting Descent. He has received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Cave Canem and the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Boston Review, American Poetry Review, Harvard Educational Review and elsewhere. He was born and raised in New Orleans, LA.

More profile about the speaker
Clint Smith | Speaker | TED.com
TED@NYC

Clint Smith: The danger of silence

克林特•史密斯: 沉默的危险性

Filmed:
5,033,082 views

”我们花了太多时间倾听人们在说什么,却几乎不会注意到他们未曾提及的事情。“说唱诗人,教师克林特•史密斯这样说到。一段短小精悍,发自肺腑的演讲,帮助我们找到了畅所欲言的勇气,来对抗无知和不公。
- Poet, educator
Clint Smith's work blends art and activism. Full bio

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

00:13
Dr博士. Martin马丁 Luther路德 King国王, JrJR.,
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小马丁·路德·金博士,
00:14
in a 1968 speech言语 where he reflects反映
upon the Civil国内 Rights Movement运动,
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在1968年的一次
回顾民权运动的演讲中
00:18
states状态, "In the end结束,
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说到:”最终,
00:21
we will remember记得 not the words of our enemies敌人
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我们会记住的不是敌人的话语,
00:24
but the silence安静 of our friends朋友."
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而是朋友的沉默。"
00:27
As a teacher老师, I've internalized内在 this message信息.
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作为一名教师,
我在心中早已接纳并消化了这种信息。
00:30
Every一切 day, all around us,
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每一天,在我们周围,
00:31
we see the consequences后果 of silence安静
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我们都会看到沉默产生的后果,
00:33
manifest表现 themselves他们自己 in the form形成 of discrimination区别,
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以歧视,暴力,屠杀
00:36
violence暴力, genocide种族灭绝 and war战争.
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和战争的形式展现在我们面前。
00:39
In the classroom课堂, I challenge挑战 my students学生们
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在课堂里,我给学生们出了道难题,
00:42
to explore探索 the silences沉默 in their own拥有 lives生活
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让他们通过诗歌来探索
00:44
through通过 poetry诗歌.
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自己生活中的沉默。
00:46
We work together一起 to fill those spaces空间,
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我们一起填补空白之处,
00:48
to recognize认识 them, to name名称 them,
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去欣赏它们,给它们起名字,
00:51
to understand理解 that they don't
have to be sources来源 of shame耻辱.
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并试着明白
他们并不是羞耻的来源。
00:54
In an effort功夫 to create创建 a culture文化 within my classroom课堂
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为了在我的课堂上
创造一种文化氛围,
00:57
where students学生们 feel safe安全 sharing分享 the intimacies亲密关系
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让学生们可以无所顾忌的分享
00:59
of their own拥有 silences沉默,
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他们从前从未提及的事,
01:01
I have four core核心 principles原则 posted发布 on the board
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我在教室前面的黑板上
01:03
that sits坐镇 in the front面前 of my class,
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写下了四个核心原则,
01:05
which哪一个 every一切 student学生 signs迹象
at the beginning开始 of the year:
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年初的时候每名学生都签了名:
01:08
read critically危重, write consciously自觉,
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批判性的阅读,有意识的写作,
01:10
speak说话 clearly明确地, tell your truth真相.
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清晰的说话,说实话。
01:14
And I find myself thinking思维 a lot about that last point,
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在最后一条上,
我不由地思考了很多,
01:17
tell your truth真相.
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说出实话。
01:19
And I realized实现 that
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我意识到
01:20
if I was going to ask my students学生们 to speak说话 up,
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如果想让学生们畅所欲言,
01:23
I was going to have to tell my truth真相
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我就得实话实说,
01:25
and be honest诚实 with them about the times
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坦诚地告诉他们我曾经
01:27
where I failed失败 to do so.
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还无法做到这一点。
01:29
So I tell them that growing生长 up,
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所以我告诉他们我在新奥尔良
01:31
as a kid孩子 in a Catholic天主教徒 family家庭 in New Orleans奥尔良,
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一个天主教家庭长大,
01:33
during Lent四旬期 I was always taught
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在四旬斋期间,
(译注:基督教在复活节前为期40天的一个节期)
01:36
that the most meaningful富有意义的 thing one could do
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大人们告诉我能做的最有意义的事
01:38
was to give something up,
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就是放弃一些事情,
01:39
sacrifice牺牲 something you typically一般 indulge放纵 in
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牺牲你曾经所沉迷的事物,
01:42
to prove证明 to God you understand理解 his sanctity尊严.
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向上帝证明你感悟到了他的圣洁。
01:44
I've given特定 up soda苏打, McDonald's麦当劳, French法国 fries薯条,
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我放弃了汽水,麦当劳,薯条,
01:47
French法国 kisses, and everything in between之间.
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法式亲吻还有这其中的各种东西。
01:50
But one year, I gave up speaking请讲.
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不过有一年,我放弃了说话。
01:54
I figured想通 the most valuable有价值 thing I could sacrifice牺牲
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我发现我能够牺牲的最有价值的东西
01:56
was my own拥有 voice语音, but it was like I hadn't有没有 realized实现
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就是我的声音,但我还没有意识到
02:00
that I had given特定 that up a long time ago.
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我已经放弃说话有很长一段时间了。
02:03
I spent花费 so much of my life
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我花了太多时间
02:05
telling告诉 people the things they wanted to hear
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告诉人们他们想要听到的东西,
02:07
instead代替 of the things they needed需要 to,
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而不是他们需要听到的那些,
02:08
told myself I wasn't meant意味着 to be anyone's任何人的 conscience良心
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我也告诉自己
我不想成为任何人的道德标杆,
02:11
because I still had to figure数字 out being存在 my own拥有,
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因为我仍然需要学着以身作则,
02:13
so sometimes有时 I just wouldn't不会 say anything,
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所以有时候我一言不发,
02:16
appeasing安抚 ignorance无知 with my silence安静,
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用沉默来安抚无知,
02:19
unaware不知道 that validation验证 doesn't need words
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却并未意识到
其实合理性并不需要言辞
02:21
to endorse拥护 its existence存在.
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来证明其存在。
02:23
When Christian基督教 was beat击败 up for being存在 gay同性恋者,
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当一名基督徒因其为同性恋
而遭到殴打时,
02:25
I put my hands in my pocket口袋
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我却把双手放在口袋里,
02:26
and walked with my head
down as if I didn't even notice注意.
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低着头走过去,
装作什么都没看到。
02:29
I couldn't不能 use my locker更衣室 for weeks
because the bolt螺栓 on the lock
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我有几个星期没法用我的柜子,
因为锁头上的安全栓
02:31
reminded提醒 me of the one I had put on my lips嘴唇
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让我想起了之前
被我放在嘴唇上的那一枚,
02:33
when the homeless无家可归 man on the corner
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那时有个角落里的流浪汉
02:35
looked看着 at me with eyes眼睛 up merely仅仅 searching搜索
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正抬起头看着我,
仅仅想要寻找
02:37
for an affirmation肯定 that he was worth价值 seeing眼看.
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他值得人们注意的证据。
02:39
I was more concerned关心 with
touching接触 the screen屏幕 on my Apple苹果
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相比起给他食物,
02:41
than actually其实 feeding馈送 him one.
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我更关心手机上有什么好玩的。
02:43
When the woman女人 at the fundraising筹款 gala节日
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当募捐晚会上的女士
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said "I'm so proud骄傲 of you.
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说到“我真为你感到自豪。
02:46
It must必须 be so hard teaching教学
those poor较差的, unintelligent无知 kids孩子,"
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给那些贫穷的,智商低下的孩子
上课一定很难。”
02:49
I bit my lip, because apparently显然地
we needed需要 her money
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我依旧没有开口,因为很明显,
相比学生们的尊严,
02:51
more than my students学生们 needed需要 their dignity尊严.
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我们更需要她的钱。
02:53
We spend so much time
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我们花费了太多时间
02:55
listening to the things people are saying
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倾听人们正在说的事,
02:59
that we rarely很少 pay工资 attention注意 to the things they don't.
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却不会注意到他们没说的那些。
03:03
Silence安静 is the residue残留 of fear恐惧.
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沉默是恐惧的残留物。
03:06
It is feeling感觉 your flaws破绽
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让你无比痛苦的
03:07
gut-wrench肠扳手 guillotine断头台 your tongue.
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意识到自己的缺点却无言以对。
03:09
It is the air空气 retreating撤退 from your chest胸部
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让你感到胸口憋闷
03:11
because it doesn't feel safe安全 in your lungs.
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无法呼吸。
03:13
Silence安静 is Rwandan卢旺达 genocide种族灭绝. Silence安静 is Katrina卡特里娜.
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沉默是卢旺达大屠杀。
沉默是卡特里娜飓风。
03:16
It is what you hear when there
aren't enough足够 body身体 bags包装袋 left.
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是当你听到没有足够的裹尸袋。
03:19
It is the sound声音 after the noose套索 is already已经 tied.
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是当绳索被套紧时的声音。
03:22
It is charring炭化. It is chains. It is privilege特权. It is pain疼痛.
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是碳化,是锁链,是特权,是伤痛。
03:25
There is no time to pick your battles战斗
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已经没有时间决定是否要奋起反抗,
03:27
when your battles战斗 have already已经 picked采摘的 you.
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此时冲突已来到了你的面前。
03:29
I will not let silence安静 wrap itself本身 around my indecision优柔寡断.
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我不会允许沉默让我变得优柔寡断。
03:32
I will tell Christian基督教 that he is a lion狮子,
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我会告诉基督徒,他是一头狮子,
03:34
a sanctuary避难所 of bravery and brilliance.
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是勇气和智慧的庇护所。
03:36
I will ask that homeless无家可归 man what his name名称 is
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我会询问流浪汉的名字,
03:38
and how his day was, because sometimes有时
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他过得怎么样,因为有时候
03:40
all people want to be is human人的.
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大家只想做个真正的人。
03:42
I will tell that woman女人 that my students学生们 can talk about
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我会告诉那位女士
我的学生们会谈论先验论,
03:45
transcendentalism超验 like their last name名称 was Thoreau梭罗,
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仿佛他们有着梭罗(Thoreau)家族血统,
03:47
and just because you watched看着
one episode插曲 of "The Wire线"
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仅仅因为你看过了一集《火线》
(译注:美剧,又译为《线人》、《监听风云》),
03:49
doesn't mean you know anything about my kids孩子.
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并不意味着你很了解我的孩子们。
03:51
So this year,
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那么今年,
03:53
instead代替 of giving something up,
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我并没有放弃什么东西,
03:55
I will live生活 every一切 day as if there were a microphone麦克风
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而是把每天都过得好像有个麦克风
03:58
tucked under my tongue,
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被植入进了我的嘴里,
04:00
a stage阶段 on the underside下侧 of my inhibition抑制.
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而家里的地面就是讲台。
04:04
Because who has to have a soapbox肥皂盒
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当你只需要大声的表达你的观点时,
04:06
when all you've ever needed需要 is your voice语音?
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谁还会需要一个肥皂箱呢?
(译注:美国人常站在肥皂箱上进行街头演讲)
04:10
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
(掌声)
04:12
(Applause掌声)
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Reviewed by Zhiting Chen

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Clint Smith - Poet, educator
Clint Smith's work blends art and activism.

Why you should listen

Clint Smith is a writer, teacher and doctoral candidate at Harvard University studying education, incarceration and inequality. Previously, he taught high school English in Prince George’s County, Maryland where, in 2013, he was named the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year by the Maryland Humanities Council.

Clint is a 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and author of the poetry collection Counting Descent. He has received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Cave Canem and the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Boston Review, American Poetry Review, Harvard Educational Review and elsewhere. He was born and raised in New Orleans, LA.

More profile about the speaker
Clint Smith | Speaker | TED.com