Siyanda Mohutsiwa: How young Africans found a voice on Twitter
希杨达·莫胡提瓦: 在推特上倾听年轻非洲人之声
When her hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar went viral, Botswana writer Siyanda Mohutsiwa triggered a lighthearted but electrifying discussion of some serious African issues. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
your country be drinking or doing?
你的国家在喝什么、干什么?
about South Africa,
according to the rules
continual attempts
影射了南非的持续努力,
for decades by apartheid,
would be drinking all kinds of alcohol
#如果非洲是个酒吧,
to get along in its stomach.
where I wondered if I crossed the line.
怀疑自己是不是有些越界了。
about my own country
有关自己国家的推文,
I'm familiar with.
I had ever tweeted
我曾经发过的所有推文,
我其实很幽默,
all over the world.
to do many different things.
做各种各样的事情。
Nigeria would be outside explaining
尼日利亚呆在酒吧外不停解释
the bouncer's account details.]
守门员的银行账户。]
ordering bottles it can't pronounce
南非一直在点叫不出名字的酒,
却根本付不起钱。]
South Sudan would be the new guy
南苏丹会是一个新来的人,
即使是非洲人也没听说过:
we don't know exist:
Lesotho would be that person
莱索托是一个没人知道的家伙,
but is always in the pictures.]
that don't think that they're in Africa:
自认为不属于非洲的国家:
Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco
埃及、利比亚、突尼斯、
“我们到底在这鬼地方干什么?!”]
are we doing here?!!"]
that had made a big turnaround:
重大转变的国家:
Rwanda would be that girl
卢旺达是一个女孩儿,
but leaves drunk, happy and rich]
走的时候却很醉很爽很有钱。]
over their Africanness.
that Pan-Africanism could work,
泛非主义是真实可行的,
between us, at our fingertips
from two different African countries.
两个不同的非洲国家。
called Botswana in southern Africa.
名叫博茨瓦纳。
our 50th year of stable democracy.
祖国获得稳定民主50周年。
social policies.
is the Kingdom of Swaziland.
also in southern Africa.
同样在非洲南部。
完整的君主制国家。
and a royal family
seem very different.
这两个国家看上去很不同。
I could see the difference.
我就可以看到二者的差别。
it didn't rain quite as much in the other.
另一个国家下雨没那么多。
I didn't really realize
我并没有深刻意识到
were from two different places.
这有多么重要。
to have a very peculiar effect on me.
它对我产生了很特殊的影响。
可以说流利的西斯瓦提语,
anything that was being said to me
对我所说的任何话,
I was meant to move forward.
都是我必须要接受的。
by how very non-Swazi I was becoming.
自己变得多么“非斯威士兰”。
into Africa's private school system,
我进入了非洲的私立学校系统,
is to beat the Africanness out of you,
把你的非洲特质去除掉,
a very peculiar adolescence.
我度过了一个特别的青春期。
in ideas of identity was born here,
就是在这里产生的,
of belonging to two places at once
似乎同属于两个不同地方,
to either one very well
in between and around simultaneously.
空旷、虚无的空间。
of a shared African identity.
产生了浓厚的兴趣。
to read about politics
我不断地阅读有关政治的文章,
and what all those things mean.
努力搞明白这些都意味着什么。
about African philosophies.
有着强烈的好奇心。
of black intellectuals
黑人学者的一些作品,
and black consciousness.
还有黑人意识运动。
that I had digested these grand ideas,
已经消化了这些宏大的想法,
of iconic African statesmen
非洲著名领导者的演讲,
that I could get my hands on.
所有的非洲小说。
of a teenage girl
欣然加入了其中,
of hearing about all this random stuff.
我乱七八糟的话题感到烦躁了。
and the whole continent,
甚至是整个大陆,
for smartphones and Internet surfing
还有网络冲浪资源,
messages to each other on this platform
我们在这个平台互相发消息,
and a little bit of creativity.
should have been paying attention to,
of being young and African.
所要面对的日常现实。
was not available to everybody.
这种奢侈不是所有人都能享受的。
a teenage girl in Botswana
博茨瓦纳的一个十几岁女孩,
to have fun on the Internet,
the three other people you knew online.
不只是你所知的两三个能上网的人。
Zimbabweans, Ghanaians, Nigerians.
加纳人、尼日利亚人。
who were travelling around the continent,
他们环绕非洲大陆旅行,
under the hashtag #myafrica.
标记了话题 #我的非洲。
on Twitter or on Google
或是其它社交媒体,
was just pictures of animals
都是各种动物的图片,
in hotel resorts.
of the tourism sectors.
找寻某种意义上的归属感。
on the beaches of Nigeria.
是非洲人自己在自拍。
in cocktail bars in Nairobi.
是非洲人自己在品酒。
that I began to meet
politics, economic policy.
政治、经济政策。
of something amazing,
the future of our continent in real time,
我们大陆的未来,
finances and watchful governments.
也没有小心警惕的政府盯着。
about other African countries
might know about Africa as a whole.
对整个非洲大陆的了解。
were constantly being bombarded
ruled by black people
under crushing white rule
受白人压迫统治的社会,
in a black and free nation.
archaic education system,
过时的殖民性教育系统,
carried over from the 1920s --
从20世纪20年代带到现在,
I could name all the various causes
我就可以背出
in Europe in the past 200 years,
发生的原因,
of my neighboring country.
名字都不知道。
are deeply intertwined.
largest refugee centers.
非洲占了六个。
没有什么“苏丹问题”,
or Kenyan problems,
of sharing the successes?
共享我们的成功呢?
increasing inter-African trade,
非洲国家之间的贸易额,
and putting pressure on leaders
然后给各国领导者施压,
they've already signed.
他们签署的地区协定。
for Africa to share its successes
最重要的方法,
I like to call social Pan-Africanism.
我称为“社交泛非主义”的思想。
already exists,
totally new here.
of the political elite.
of the ordinary African.
and shaky institutions,
than a handful of leaders
比大陆上大多数人的寿命都要长,
of the populations has been alive,
is social Pan-Africanism.
就是社交泛非主义。
to suffocate our innovation.
我们的创造力不被其扼杀。
comes up with something brilliant,
产生了一个新颖的想法时,
this wouldn't work in my country,"
不可能在我们国家实现的”,
begin to realize
逐渐开始意识到,
is our canvas, is our home.
是我们共同的家园。
we can begin to think collaboratively,
我们开始用合作方式思考,
"If you want to go fast, you go alone,
“你想走快些,就得自己走;
you go together."
is how we can go far together.
就是我们可以一起走远的道路。
has given young Africans
had to violently take: a voice.
武力夺取的东西:自由之声。
to hear from the youth in Africa,
了解非洲青少年的状况,
minister of youth --
he has for your generation
接下来20年他对年轻一代的计划。
by your possibly tyrannical government,
你的声音被专制的政府听见,
suffer the consequences
还要承受可能的后果,
might make someone care.
吸引某些人的关注。
to back each other up
ridiculously high tertiary fees.
价格高得离谱的高等教育。
who are marching to parliament.
她们反抗国家的议会。
who are being illegally detained.
他们被人非法扣押。
with it the most:
a social Pan-Africanist thinking
利用社交泛非主义的思维方式,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Siyanda Mohutsiwa - WriterWhen her hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar went viral, Botswana writer Siyanda Mohutsiwa triggered a lighthearted but electrifying discussion of some serious African issues.
Why you should listen
Blogger, humorist and math student Siyanda Mohutsiwa explores African topics both weighty (reviving PanAfricanism) and witty (“5 things NOT to say when trying to seduce an Afrikaner”). Her columns for African media outlets like the Mail & Guardian, Za News, and her own website Siyanda Writes have gained a loyal following.
But when Mohutsiwa’s hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar exploded on Twitter, the viral thread (which pondered the hypothetical bar mannerisms of various African nations) became a platform for everyday Africans to unite in a playful dialogue on national differences, and helped turn Mohutsiwa into a social media star.
Siyanda Mohutsiwa | Speaker | TED.com