TED@NYC

Clint Smith: The danger of silence

克林特．史密斯: 沈默的危險性

Filmed: 2014-07-08

Readability: 3.7

5,033,082 views

「我們花這麼多時間傾聽人們說的話，卻鮮少注意他們所沒說的事。」說唱詩人與教師克林特．史密斯說。在這段簡短卻真摯有力的演講中，他與我們分享如何找到發聲的勇氣，對抗無知與不公。

Clint Smith - 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馬丁 Luther路德 King國王, JrJR.,

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小馬丁．路德．金博士

00:14

in a 1968 speech言語 where he reflects反映
upon上 the Civil國內 Rights權 Movement運動,

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在 1968 年一場演講中反思人權運動時，

00:18

states狀態, "In the end結束,

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說道：「最終，

00:21

we will remember記得 not the words話 of our enemies敵人

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我們會記得的並非敵人的話語，

00:24

but the silence安靜 of our friends朋友."

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而是朋友的沈默。」

00:27

As a teacher老師, I've internalized內在 this message信息.

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身為教師，我把這句話內化了。

00:30

Every一切 day, all around us,

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每天在我們的周遭

00:31

we see the consequences後果 of silence安靜

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都能看見沈默的後果

00:33

manifest表現 themselves他們自己 in the form形成 of discrimination區別,

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以各種形式呈現：

歧視、暴力、屠殺、戰爭。

00:36

violence暴力, genocide種族滅絕 and war戰爭.

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00:39

In the classroom課堂, I challenge挑戰 my students學生們

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在教室中，我鼓勵學生

00:42

to explore探索 the silences沉默 in their其 own擁有 lives生活

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透過詩作，在生活中探索沈默。

00:44

through通過 poetry詩歌.

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00:46

We work together一起 to fill填 those spaces空間,

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我們一起填滿那些空白、

00:48

to recognize認識 them, to name名稱 them,

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認識它們、指出它們

00:51

to understand理解 that they don't
have to be sources來源 of shame恥辱.

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並瞭解它們並不必是種羞恥。

00:54

In an effort功夫 to create創建 a culture文化 within中 my classroom課堂

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為了在教室裡創造這種文化，

00:57

where students學生們 feel safe安全 sharing分享 the intimacies親密關係

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讓學生分享他們所沈默的事而感到自在，

00:59

of their其 own擁有 silences沉默,

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01:01

I have four四 core核心 principles原則 posted發布 on the board板

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我將四個核心原則放到黑板上，

01:03

that sits坐鎮 in the front面前 of my class類,

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就在教室最前方，

01:05

which哪一個 every一切 student學生 signs跡象
at the beginning開始 of the year年:

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每位學生在學期開始時都簽名：

01:08

read讀 critically危重, write寫 consciously自覺,

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批判性地閱讀、有意識地寫作、

01:10

speak說話 clearly明確地, tell your truth真相.

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清晰地說話、說實話。

01:14

And I find myself我 thinking思維 a lot about that last point點,

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我對於最後一點想了很多，

01:17

tell your truth真相.

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說實話。

01:19

And I realized實現 that

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後來我發現，

01:20

if I was going to ask問 my students學生們 to speak說話 up,

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如果我要學生勇敢說出口，

01:23

I was going to have to tell my truth真相

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我就要以身作則說實話，

01:25

and be honest誠實 with them about the times時

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並在自己無法做到時坦白。

01:27

where I failed失敗 to do so.

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01:29

So I tell them that growing生長 up,

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所以我告訴他們，

01:31

as a kid孩子 in a Catholic天主教徒 family家庭 in New新 Orleans奧爾良,

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在紐奧良天主教家庭長大的我，

01:33

during中 Lent四旬期 I was always taught教

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在大齋期，我總被教導說

01:36

that the most最 meaningful富有意義的 thing one could do

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一個人能做最有意義的事

01:38

was to give something up,

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就是放棄某一件東西，

01:39

sacrifice犧牲 something you typically一般 indulge放縱 in

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犧牲你平常很享受的一件事

01:42

to prove證明 to God you understand理解 his sanctity尊嚴.

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向上帝證明你理解祂的神聖。

01:44

I've given特定 up soda蘇打, McDonald's麥當勞, French法國 fries薯條,

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我齋戒過汽水、麥當勞、薯條、

01:47

French法國 kisses吻, and everything in between之間.

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法式接吻以及其他不少事。

01:50

But one year年, I gave給 up speaking請講.

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但有一年，我放棄說話。

01:54

I figured想通 the most最 valuable有價值 thing I could sacrifice犧牲

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我想我能犧牲的最寶貴的事情

01:56

was my own擁有 voice語音, but it was like I hadn't有沒有 realized實現

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就是我的言語，但其實我沒發現

02:00

that I had given特定 that up a long time ago前.

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我老早就放棄自己的言語了。

02:03

I spent花費 so much of my life

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我用了生命中太多時間

02:05

telling告訴 people the things they wanted to hear聽

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告訴別人他們想聽的事

02:07

instead代替 of the things they needed需要 to,

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而非當頭棒喝。

02:08

told myself我 I wasn't不 meant意味著 to be anyone's任何人的 conscience良心

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告訴自己我無須扮演其他人的良知，

02:11

because I still had to figure數字 out being存在 my own擁有,

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因為我也不知道自己的良知是什麼，

02:13

so sometimes有時 I just wouldn't不會 say anything,

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所以有些時候我安靜不說話，

02:16

appeasing安撫 ignorance無知 with my silence安靜,

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以沈默來掩飾我的無知，

卻沒意識到沈默暗示著默許。

02:19

unaware不知道 that validation驗證 doesn't need words話

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02:21

to endorse擁護 its existence存在.

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當克里斯汀因同性戀傾向被毆打，

02:23

When Christian基督教 was beat擊敗 up for being存在 gay同性戀者,

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02:25

I put my hands手 in my pocket口袋

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我將手插口袋，

02:26

and walked走 with my head頭
down as if I didn't even notice注意.

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低頭走過，視而不見。

02:29

I couldn't不能 use my locker更衣室 for weeks週
because the bolt螺栓 on the lock鎖

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連置物櫃的鎖閂都在提醒我，

02:31

reminded提醒 me of the one I had put on my lips嘴唇

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讓我想起我是如何雙唇緊閉地

02:33

when the homeless無家可歸 man on the corner角

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應對轉角的流浪漢。

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looked看著 at me with eyes眼睛 up merely僅僅 searching搜索

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那仰望的視線不過是

02:37

for an affirmation肯定 that he was worth價值 seeing眼看.

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想確認自己是否值得被看一眼。

02:39

I was more concerned關心 with
touching接觸 the screen屏幕 on my Apple蘋果

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而我只專心滑我手上的蘋果，

02:41

than actually其實 feeding饋送 him one.

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而沒想過要餵他一顆。

02:43

When the woman女人 at the fundraising籌款 gala節日

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當慈善會的女人說

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said "I'm so proud驕傲 of you.

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「我真是替你感到驕傲。

02:46

It must必須 be so hard硬 teaching教學
those poor較差的, unintelligent無知 kids孩子,"

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教導窮苦、不聰明的學生很辛苦吧」的時候，

02:49

I bit位 my lip唇, because apparently顯然地
we needed需要 her money錢

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我緊閉雙唇，因為很顯然我們需要她的錢

02:51

more than my students學生們 needed需要 their其 dignity尊嚴.

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勝過於我的學生需要尊嚴。

02:53

We spend花 so much time

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我們花這麼多時間

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listening聽 to the things people are saying話

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傾聽人們說的話，

02:59

that we rarely很少 pay工資 attention注意 to the things they don't.

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卻鮮少注意他們所沒說的事。

03:03

Silence安靜 is the residue殘留 of fear恐懼.

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沈默是恐懼的殘渣。

03:06

It is feeling感覺 your flaws破綻

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是感受到自己的缺點

03:07

gut-wrench腸扳手 guillotine斷頭台 your tongue舌.

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狠狠地將你的舌頭斬斷；

03:09

It is the air空氣 retreating撤退 from your chest胸部

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是從胸腔吐出的空氣，

03:11

because it doesn't feel safe安全 in your lungs肺.

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因為在肺裡覺得不安全。

03:13

Silence安靜 is Rwandan盧旺達 genocide種族滅絕. Silence安靜 is Katrina卡特里娜.

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沈默有如盧安達大屠殺；有如卡崔娜。

03:16

It is what you hear聽 when there
aren't不 enough足夠 body身體 bags包裝袋 left.

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是屍體袋不夠時會聽到的聲音；

03:19

It is the sound聲音 after the noose套索 is already已經 tied綁.

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是上吊繩綁好時的聲音；

03:22

It is charring炭化. It is chains鏈. It is privilege特權. It is pain疼痛.

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是焦炭；是鎖鍊；是特權；是痛楚。

03:25

There is no time to pick挑 your battles戰鬥

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沒有時間挑選自己的戰役，

03:27

when your battles戰鬥 have already已經 picked採摘的 you.

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因為戰役已活生生擺在眼前。

03:29

I will not let silence安靜 wrap包 itself本身 around my indecision優柔寡斷.

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我不會讓優柔寡斷助長沉默，

03:32

I will tell Christian基督教 that he is a lion獅子,

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我會告訴克里斯汀他是雄獅，

03:34

a sanctuary避難所 of bravery膽 and brilliance輝.

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是勇敢與輝煌的聖地。

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I will ask問 that homeless無家可歸 man what his name名稱 is

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我會問那流浪漢的名字，

03:38

and how his day was, because sometimes有時

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問他那天過得如何，因為有時候

03:40

all people want to be is human人的.

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大家想要的只是被當作人一樣對待。

03:42

I will tell that woman女人 that my students學生們 can talk about

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我會告訴那位女士，我的學生可以

03:45

transcendentalism超驗 like their其 last name名稱 was Thoreau梭羅,

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像梭羅那樣談論超驗主義。

03:47

and just because you watched看著
one episode插曲 of "The Wire線"

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就因為妳看了一集《火線重案組》

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doesn't mean you know anything about my kids孩子.

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不代表妳就了解我的學生。

03:51

So this year年,

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所以今年

03:53

instead代替 of giving給 something up,

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我非但不會放棄某物，

03:55

I will live生活 every一切 day as if there were a microphone麥克風

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我要像舌頭底下
有麥克風一樣地過每一天，

03:58

tucked藏 under下 my tongue舌,

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04:00

a stage階段 on the underside下側 of my inhibition抑制.

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在我壓抑的腳下有個舞台。

04:04

Because who has to have a soapbox肥皂盒

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誰還需要講台？

04:06

when all you've ever needed需要 is your voice語音?

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你的勇敢發聲就足矣。

04:10

Thank you.

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謝謝。

04:12

(Applause掌聲)

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（掌聲）

Translated by Adrienne Lin
Reviewed by Kuan-Yi Li

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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

THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM

克林特．史密斯: 沈默的危險性 | TED Talk | TED.com