TED2008
Chris Abani: On humanity
Razmišljanja Krisa Abanija o ljudskosti
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Kris Abani priča priče o ljudima: ljudima koji se suprotstavljaju vojnicima. Ljudima koji saosećaju. Ljudima koji su humani i koji vraćaju svoju humanost. To je, kako sam kaže, "ubuntu": jedini način za mene da budem human jeste da mi vi moju humanost vratite.
Chris Abani - Novelist, poet
Imprisoned three times by the Nigerian government, Chris Abani turned his experience into poems that Harold Pinter called "the most naked, harrowing expression of prison life and political torture imaginable." His novels include GraceLand (2004) and The Virgin of Flames (2007). Full bio
Imprisoned three times by the Nigerian government, Chris Abani turned his experience into poems that Harold Pinter called "the most naked, harrowing expression of prison life and political torture imaginable." His novels include GraceLand (2004) and The Virgin of Flames (2007). Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
My search is always to find ways to chronicle,
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Moja potraga je uvek za načinima da se pohrane,
00:23
to share and to document stories about people, just everyday people.
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podele i dokumentuju priče o ljudima, svakodnevnim ljudima.
00:28
Stories that offer transformation, that lean into transcendence,
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Priče koje nude promenu, naginju ka transcendenciji,
00:33
but that are never sentimental,
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ali koje nikada nisu sentimentalne,
00:35
that never look away from the darkest things about us.
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koje nikada ne sklanjanju pogled sa najtamnijih stvari o nama.
00:39
Because I really believe that we're never more beautiful
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Jer zaista verujem da smo najlepši
00:42
than when we're most ugly.
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onda kada smo najružniji.
00:44
Because that's really the moment we really know what we're made of.
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Jer je to momenat kada zaista znamo od čega smo napravljeni.
00:48
As Chris said, I grew up in Nigeria
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Kao što je Kris rekao, odrastao sam u Nigeriji
00:53
with a whole generation -- in the '80s --
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sa čitavom generacijom - u '80-im -
00:55
of students who were protesting a military dictatorship, which has finally ended.
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studenata koji su protestovali protiv vojne diktature koja se konačno okončala.
01:01
So it wasn't just me, there was a whole generation of us.
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Dakle nisam samo ja bio u pitanju, bila je to čitava generacija.
01:03
But what I've come to learn
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Ali ono što sam shvatio
01:06
is that the world is never saved in grand messianic gestures,
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jeste da se svet se spašava velikim mesijanskim delima,
01:10
but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion,
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već dugim nizom nežnih, mekanih i skoro nevidljivih dela saosećajnosti,
01:17
everyday acts of compassion.
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svakodnevnim postupcima saosećajnosti.
01:19
In South Africa, they have a phrase called Ubuntu.
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U Južnoj Africi postoji izraz "ubuntu".
01:26
Ubuntu comes out of a philosophy that says,
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"Ubuntu" dolazi iz učenja koje kaže,
01:28
the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect
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jedini način da ja budem čovek jeste da
01:32
my humanity back at me.
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mi ti vratiš tu moju ljudskost.
01:34
But if you're like me, my humanity is more like a window.
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Ali ako ste poput mene, moja humanost je više poput prozora.
01:38
I don't really see it, I don't pay attention to it
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Zapravo je ne vidim, ne obraćam pažnju na nju
01:40
until there's, you know, like a bug that's dead on the window.
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sve dok ne vidim, znate, mrtvu bubu na prozoru.
01:43
Then suddenly I see it, and usually, it's never good.
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Odjednom je vidim i obično, nije dobra.
01:47
It's usually when I'm cussing in traffic
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Obično onda kada psujem na nekoga u saobraćaju
01:50
at someone who is trying to drive their car and drink coffee
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ko pokušava da vozi svoj auto i pije kafu
01:53
and send emails and make notes.
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i šalje email i pravi beleške.
01:57
So what Ubuntu really says
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Dakle, ono što ubuntu zaista govori
02:00
is that there is no way for us to be human without other people.
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jeste da ne postoji način da budemo humani bez drugih ljudi.
02:05
It's really very simple, but really very complicated.
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Ustvari je vrlo jednostavno, ali zapravo vrlo komplikovano.
02:08
So, I thought I should start with some stories.
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Tako sam pomislimo kako bih mogao da počnem sa nekim pričama.
02:11
I should tell you some stories about remarkable people,
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Trebalo bi da vam ispričam nekoliko priča o značajnim ljudima,
02:13
so I thought I'd start with my mother.
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pa sam odlučio da počnem sa svojom majkom.
02:16
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
02:17
And she was dark, too.
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I ona je bila tamna.
02:19
My mother was English.
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Bila je engleskinja.
02:20
My parents met in Oxford in the '50s,
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Moji roditelji su se upoznali u Oksfordu '50-ih,
02:22
and my mother moved to Nigeria and lived there.
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i moja majka se preselila u Nigeriju i tamo živela.
02:24
She was five foot two, very feisty and very English.
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Bila je visoka oko metar šezdeset, vrlo živahna i prava Engleskinja.
02:28
This is how English my mother is -- or was, she just passed.
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Evo kolika je Engleskinja - ili je bila, nedavno je preminula.
02:31
She came out to California, to Los Angeles, to visit me,
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Došla je u Kaliforniju, Los Anđeles da me poseti
02:35
and we went to Malibu, which she thought was very disappointing.
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i otišli smo u Malibu, za koji je mislila da je razočaravajući.
02:37
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
02:39
And then we went to a fish restaurant,
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A onda smo otišli u riblji restoran,
02:41
and we had Chad, the surfer dude, serving us,
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i posluživao nas je Čed, surfer,
02:44
and he came up and my mother said,
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i došao je, a moja majka je rekla,
02:46
"Do you have any specials, young man?"
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"Mladiću, da li imate neke specijalitete?"
02:48
And Chad says, "Sure, like, we have this, like, salmon,
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A Čed je rekao, "Naravno, kao, imamo taj losos,
02:52
that's, like, rolled in this, like, wasabi, like, crust.
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to je kao rolovano u ovoj kao, kao vasabi, kori.
02:54
It's totally rad."
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Ludilo."
02:56
And my mother turned to me and said,
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I moja majka se okrenula i rekla:
02:59
"What language is he speaking?"
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"Na kom jeziku on govori?"
03:01
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
03:02
I said, "English, mum."
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Rekao sam: "Na Engleskom, mama."
03:04
And she shook her head and said,
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Protresla je glavom i rekla:
03:06
"Oh, these Americans. We gave them a language,
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"Oh, ovi Amerikanci, dali smo im jezik.
03:08
why don't they use it?"
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Zašto ga ne koriste?"
03:10
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
03:16
So, this woman, who converted from the Church of England
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Dakle, ova žena, koje se preobratila iz engleske crkve
03:20
to Catholicism when she married my father --
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u katolicizam kada se udala za mog oca -
03:22
and there's no one more rabid than a Catholic convert --
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i nijedan preobrat nije toliko fanatičan kao katolički -
03:26
decided to teach in the rural areas in Nigeria,
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odlučila je da predaje u ruralnim oblastima Nigerije,
03:30
particularly among Igbo women,
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naročito među Igbo ženama,
03:32
the Billings ovulation method,
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Bilings metod ovulacije,
03:34
which was the only approved birth control by the Catholic Church.
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što je bio jedini odobren vid kontracepcije od strane katoličke crkve.
03:38
But her Igbo wasn't too good.
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Ali njen Igbo nije bio previše dobar.
03:42
So she took me along to translate.
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Pa je povela mene da joj prevodim.
03:44
I was seven.
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Imao sam sedam godina.
03:46
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
03:47
So, here are these women,
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Dakle, tu su te žene,
03:49
who never discuss their period with their husbands,
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koje nikada sa svojim muževima nisu razgovarale o svojim menstruacijama,
03:52
and here I am telling them, "Well, how often do you get your period?"
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i ja koji im govorim: "Pa, koliko često dobijate menstruaciju?"
03:56
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
03:57
And, "Do you notice any discharges?"
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I da li je nekada izostala?
03:59
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
04:00
And, "How swollen is your vulva?"
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I koliko je otečena vaša vulva?
04:02
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
04:07
She never would have thought of herself as a feminist,
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Nikada ne bi o sebi razmišljala kao o feministkinji,
04:10
my mother, but she always used to say,
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moja majka, ali je uvek govorila,
04:13
"Anything a man can do, I can fix."
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"Sve što muškarac može da uradi, ja mogu da popravim."
04:16
(Applause)
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(aplauz)
04:23
And when my father complained about this situation,
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I kada se moj otac žalio na ovu situaciju,
04:28
where she's taking a seven-year-old boy
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gde ona vodi svog sedmogodišnjeg sina
04:30
to teach this birth control, you know,
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da podučava o kontracepciji, znate,
04:32
he used to say, "Oh, you're turning him into --
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imao je običaj da kaže: "Pa ti ga pretvaraš u,
04:34
you're teaching him how to be a woman."
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učiš ga kako da bude žena."
04:36
My mother said, "Someone has to."
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Moja majka reče: "Neko mora."
04:38
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
04:39
This woman -- during the Biafran war,
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Ova žena - za vreme rata u Bijafri,
04:43
we were caught in the war.
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bili smo u sred rata.
04:45
It was my mother with five little children.
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Moja majka sa petoro male dece.
04:48
It takes her one year, through refugee camp after refugee camp,
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Bila joj je potrebna godina provlačenja kroz izbegličke kampove,
04:51
to make her way to an airstrip where we can fly out of the country.
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da dođe do neke piste sa koje možemo da poletimo izvan zemlje.
04:53
At every single refugee camp, she has to face off soldiers
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U svakom od tih izbegličkih kampova, morala je da se suoči sa vojnicima
04:59
who want to take my elder brother Mark, who was nine,
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koji su hteli da odvedu mog starijeg brata Marka, koji je imao devet godina,
05:01
and make him a boy soldier.
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i da naprave od njega dečaka vojnika.
05:03
Can you imagine this five-foot-two woman,
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Možete li da zamislite ovu metar i po visoku ženu,
05:05
standing up to men with guns who want to kill us?
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kako se suprotstavlja muškarcima sa puškama koji hoće da nas ubiju?
05:09
All through that one year,
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Kroz čitavu tu godinu,
05:11
my mother never cried one time, not once.
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moja majka nijednom nije zaplakala, nijednom.
05:14
But when we were in Lisbon, in the airport,
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Ali kada smo bili u Lisabonu, na aerodromu,
05:16
about to fly to England,
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pred poletanje za Englesku,
05:18
this woman saw my mother wearing this dress,
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neka žena je primetila haljinu koju je nosila moja majka,
05:21
which had been washed so many times it was basically see through,
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koja je toliko puta bila oprana da je praktično bila providna,
05:25
with five really hungry-looking kids,
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sa petoro izgladnele dece,
05:28
came over and asked her what had happened.
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došla je i upitala šta se dogodilo.
05:30
And she told this woman.
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I ispričala je toj ženi.
05:31
And so this woman emptied out her suitcase
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I onda je ta žena ispraznila svoj kofer
05:33
and gave all of her clothes to my mother, and to us,
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i svu odeću poklonila mojoj majci i nama,
05:36
and the toys of her kids, who didn't like that very much, but --
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i igračke svoje dece, kojima se to nije baš dopalo, ali -
05:39
(Laughter) --
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(smeh)
05:40
that was the only time she cried.
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To je bio jedini put kada je plakala.
05:43
And I remember years later, I was writing about my mother,
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I setio sam se godinama kasnije, kada sam pisao o svojoj majci,
05:45
and I asked her, "Why did you cry then?"
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i upitao je: "Zašto si plakala tada?"
05:47
And she said, "You know, you can steel your heart
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Odgovorila je: "Znaš, možeš da zamrzneš svoje srce
05:50
against any kind of trouble, any kind of horror.
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protiv svake nevolje, bilo kog terora.
05:53
But the simple act of kindness from a complete stranger
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Ali jednostavan čin dobrote od potpunog stranca
05:58
will unstitch you."
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će ga odlediti."
06:04
The old women in my father's village, after this war had happened,
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Stare žene iz očevog sela, nakog ovog rata,
06:08
memorized the names of every dead person,
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zapamtile su imena svake osobe koja je poginula,
06:11
and they would sing these dirges, made up of these names.
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i pevale bi žalopojke sastavljene od ovih imena.
06:18
Dirges so melancholic that they would scorch you.
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Žalopojke toliko melanholične da bi vas opekle.
06:20
And they would sing them only when they planted the rice,
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I pevale bi ih samo dok su sejale rižu,
06:24
as though they were seeding the hearts of the dead
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kao da tako seju srca umrlih
06:26
into the rice.
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u nju.
06:28
But when it came for harvest time,
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Ali kada je došlo vreme žetve,
06:30
they would sing these joyful songs,
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pevale bi te živahne pesme,
06:32
that were made up of the names of every child
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sastavljene od imena svakog deteta
06:34
who had been born that year.
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rođenog te godine.
06:37
And then the next planting season, when they sang the dirge,
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I onda sledeće sejne sezone, kada bi pevale žalopojke,
06:41
they would remove as many names of the dead
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uklonile bi toliko imena mrtvih,
06:44
that equaled as many people that were born.
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koliko je dece rođeno.
06:46
And in this way, these women enacted a lot of transformation,
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I na ovaj način, ove bi žene napravile mnogo promena,
06:52
beautiful transformation.
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prelepih promena.
06:54
Did you know, that before the genocide in Rwanda,
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Da li ste znali, da je pre genocida u Ruandi
06:58
the word for rape and the word for marriage
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reč za silovanje i reč za brak
07:01
was the same one?
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zapravo bila jedna te ista?
07:04
But today, women are rebuilding Rwanda.
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Ali danas žene ponovo izgrađuju Ruandu.
07:08
Did you also know that after apartheid,
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Da li ste isto tako znali da nakon aparthejda,
07:11
when the new government went into the parliament houses,
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kada je nova vlada prešla u parlament,
07:13
there were no female toilets in the building?
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nije bilo toaleta za žene u zgradi?
07:17
Which would seem to suggest that apartheid
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Što bi sugerisalo da je aparthejd
07:19
was entirely the business of men.
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u potpunosti bio muški posao.
07:22
All of this to say, that despite the horror, and despite the death,
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To je sve da istaknem kako uprkos hororu i smrti,
07:26
women are never really counted.
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žene zapravo nikada nisu ubrajane.
07:29
Their humanity never seems to matter very much to us.
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Njihova humanost izgleda nam nikada ne znači mnogo.
07:34
When I was growing up in Nigeria --
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Dok sam odrastao u Nigeriji -
07:37
and I shouldn't say Nigeria, because that's too general,
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i ne bi trebalo da kažem Nigerija, jer je to suviše opširno,
07:39
but in Afikpo, the Igbo part of the country where I'm from --
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veću Urhobu, Igbo deo zemlje, odakle potičem,
07:42
there were always rites of passage for young men.
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postojali su ti ritualni obredi za mlade momke.
07:45
Men were taught to be men in the ways in which we are not women,
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Muškarci su učeni kako budu muškarci na načine na koje nismo žene
07:49
that's essentially what it is.
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i to je u suštini to.
07:51
And a lot of rituals involved killing, killing little animals,
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I mnogi rituali su uključivali ubijanje, ubijanje malih životinja,
07:55
progressing along, so when I turned 13 --
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pa sve većih, tako kada sam napunio 13 -
07:57
and, I mean, it made sense, it was an agrarian community,
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i mislim, imalo je smisla, bila je to zemljoradnička zajednica,
08:00
somebody had to kill the animals,
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neko je morao da ubije životinje,
08:02
there was no Whole Foods you could go and get kangaroo steak at --
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nije postojao "Whole Foods" gde ste mogli da kupite šniclu od kengura -
08:05
so when I turned 13, it was my turn now to kill a goat.
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tako da kada sam napunio 13, bio je red na mene da ubijem kozu.
08:10
And I was this weird, sensitive kid, who couldn't really do it,
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A ja sam bio to čudno, osetljivo dete, koje to nije moglo da učini,
08:14
but I had to do it.
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ali sam morao.
08:16
And I was supposed to do this alone.
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I trebalo je da to uradim sam.
08:18
But a friend of mine, called Emmanuel,
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Međutim, moj prijatelj, Emauel,
08:20
who was significantly older than me,
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koji je bio znatno stariji od mene,
08:22
who'd been a boy soldier during the Biafran war,
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i bio je dečak vojnik za vreme rata u Bijafri,
08:24
decided to come with me.
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odlučio je da krene sa mnom.
08:27
Which sort of made me feel good,
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Što je na neki način učinilo da se osećam dobro,
08:30
because he'd seen a lot of things.
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jer je on video mnoge stvari.
08:32
Now, when I was growing up, he used to tell me
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Sad, dok sam odrastao, imao bi običaj da mi priča
08:34
stories about how he used to bayonet people,
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priče o tome kako bi rasporio ljude bajonetom,
08:36
and their intestines would fall out, but they would keep running.
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i njihova creva bi ispala, ali bi nastavljali da trče.
08:39
So, this guy comes with me.
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Dakle, taj momak krene sa mnom,
08:42
And I don't know if you've ever heard a goat, or seen one --
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i ne znam da li ste ikada čuli kozu ili je videli -
08:45
they sound like human beings,
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zvuče poput ljudi,
08:47
that's why we call tragedies "a song of a goat."
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zato tragedije zovemo "kozja pesma".
08:50
My friend Brad Kessler says that we didn't become human
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Moj prijatelj Bred Kesler kaže da nismo postali ljudi
08:55
until we started keeping goats.
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dok nismo počeli da čuvamo koze.
08:57
Anyway, a goat's eyes are like a child's eyes.
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Kako god, kozije oči su poput očiju deteta.
09:02
So when I tried to kill this goat and I couldn't,
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Tako da kada sam probao da ubijem ovu kozu, i nisam mogao,
09:04
Emmanuel bent down, he puts his hand over the mouth of the goat,
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Emanuel se nagnuo prema dole, stavio ruke preko kozjih usta,
09:09
covers its eyes, so I don't have to look into them,
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prekrio oči, kako ne bih morao u njih da gledam,
09:12
while I kill the goat.
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dok ubijam kozu.
09:15
It didn't seem like a lot, for this guy who'd seen so much,
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Nije izgledalo previše zahtevno, za ovog momka koji je toliko toga video,
09:19
and to whom the killing of a goat must have seemed
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i koji - kojem je ubijanje koze sigurno izgledalo
09:21
such a quotidian experience,
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kao sasvim obično iskustvo,
09:23
still found it in himself to try to protect me.
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ipak je probao da me zaštiti.
09:29
I was a wimp.
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Bio sam slabić.
09:31
I cried for a very long time.
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Plakao sam još dugo vremena.
09:33
And afterwards, he didn't say a word.
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Nije rekao ni reč nakon toga,
09:35
He just sat there watching me cry for an hour.
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samo je sedeo i gledao me kako plačem čitav sat.
09:37
And then afterwards he said to me,
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Nakon toga mi je rekao,
09:39
"It will always be difficult, but if you cry like this every time,
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da će uvek biti teško, ali ako budem uvek ovoliko plakao,
09:44
you will die of heartbreak.
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umreću od infarkta.
09:46
Just know that it is enough sometimes
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Samo biti svestan da je ponekad
09:49
to know that it is difficult."
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dovoljno znati da je teško.
09:54
Of course, talking about goats makes me think of sheep,
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Naravno, razgovor o kozama me tera da razmišljam o ovcama,
09:57
and not in good ways.
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i to ne na dobar način.
09:59
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
10:01
So, I was born two days after Christmas.
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Dakle, rođen sam dva dana nakon Božića.
10:05
So growing up, you know, I had a cake and everything,
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I dok sam odrastao, znate, imao sam tortu i sve ostalo,
10:08
but I never got any presents, because, born two days after Christmas.
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ali nikada nisam dobijao poklone, jer - rođen sam dva dana nakon Božića.
10:13
So, I was about nine, and my uncle had just come back from Germany,
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Dakle, imao sam oko 9, a moj ujak se tek vratio iz Nemačke,
10:16
and we had the Catholic priest over,
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i došao je i katolički sveštenik,
10:19
my mother was entertaining him with tea.
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moja majka ga je zabavljala sa čajem,
10:21
And my uncle suddenly says, "Where are Chris' presents?"
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a moj ujak je iznenada rekao: "Gde su Krisovi pokloni?"
10:25
And my mother said, "Don't talk about that in front of guests."
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Majka je odgovorila: "Ne spominji to pred gostima."
10:29
But he was desperate to show that he'd just come back,
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Ali bio je očajan da pokaže da se tek vratio,
10:32
so he summoned me up, and he said,
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pozvao me je i rekao:
10:34
"Go into the bedroom, my bedroom.
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"Idi u spavaću sobu, moju spavaću sobu.
10:36
Take anything you want out of the suitcase.
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Uzmi šta god poželiš iz mog kofera.
10:38
It's your birthday present."
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To je tvoj rođendanski poklon."
10:40
I'm sure he thought I'd take a book or a shirt,
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Siguran sam da je pomislio da ću uzeti knjigu ili košulju,
10:42
but I found an inflatable sheep.
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ali sam našao ovcu na naduvavanje.
10:45
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
10:51
So, I blew it up and ran into the living room,
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Pa sam je naduvao i otrčao u dnevnu sobu,
10:53
my finger where it shouldn't have been,
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sa prstom gde mu nije mesto,
10:55
I was waving this buzzing sheep around,
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i mahao sam tom zviždućom ovcom naokolo,
10:58
and my mother looked like she was going to die of shock.
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a moja majka je izgledala kao da će da umre od šoka.
11:01
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
11:04
And Father McGetrick was completely unflustered,
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A otac MecGetrik je bio potpuno neuzbuđen,
11:07
just stirred his tea and looked at my mother and said,
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mešao svoj čaj i pogledao moju majku i rekao:
11:09
"It's all right Daphne, I'm Scottish."
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"U redu je Dafne, ja sam Škot."
11:12
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
11:14
(Applause)
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(aplauz)
11:28
My last days in prison, the last 18 months,
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Moji poslednji dani u zatvoru, poslednjih 18 meseci,
11:34
my cellmate -- for the last year, the first year of the last 18 months --
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moj cimer - tokom poslednje godine, prve godine poslednjih 18 meseci -
11:38
my cellmate was 14 years old.
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Moj cimer je imao 14 godina.
11:41
The name was John James,
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Zvao se Džon Džejms,
11:44
and in those days, if a family member committed a crime,
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i u to vreme, ukoliko je član porodice počinio zločin,
11:48
the military would hold you as ransom
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vojska bi vas držala kao otkup
11:51
till your family turned themselves in.
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sve dok se vaša porodica ne preda.
11:53
So, here was this 14-year-old kid on death row.
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I tu je bilo to dete od 14 godina, osuđeno na smrt.
11:56
And not everybody on death row was a political prisoner.
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I nisu svi smrtno osuđeni bili politički zatvorenici -
11:58
There were some really bad people there.
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bili su tu i neki zaista loši ljudi.
12:01
And he had smuggled in two comics, two comic books --
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I on je prokrijumčario dva stripa -
12:04
"Spiderman" and "X-Men."
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"Spajdermena" i "X -mena".
12:06
He was obsessed.
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Bio je opsednut.
12:07
And when he got tired of reading them,
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I kada se umorio od njihovog čitanja,
12:09
he started to teach the men in death row how to read,
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počeo je da uči ljude na smrtnoj kazni da čitaju,
12:13
with these comic books.
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uz pomoć ovih stripova.
12:15
And so, I remember night after night,
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I tako, sećam se da bi svake noći,
12:19
you'd hear all these men, these really hardened criminals,
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čuli te muškarce, ove tvrdokorne kriminalce,
12:21
huddled around John James, reciting, "Take that, Spidey!"
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skupljene oko Džona Džejmsa, kako recituju, "Tako treba, Spajdi!"
12:26
(Laughter)
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(smeh)
12:28
It's incredible.
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Neverovatno je.
12:31
I was really worried.
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Zaista sam bio zabrinut.
12:33
He didn't know what death row meant.
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Nije znao šta smrtna kazna znači.
12:35
I'd been there twice,
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Ja sam bio tu dva puta,
12:37
and I was terribly afraid that I was going to die.
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i užasno sam se bojao smrti.
12:39
And he would always laugh, and say,
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I uvek bi se nasmejao i rekao:
12:41
"Come on, man, we'll make it out."
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"Ma daj čoveče, izvući ćemo se."
12:43
Then I'd say, "How do you know?"
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Onda bih ja rekao: "Kako znaš?"
12:45
And he said, "Oh, I heard it on the grapevine."
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A on je rekao: " E, pa saznao sam."
12:49
They killed him.
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Pogubili su ga.
12:51
They handcuffed him to a chair,
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Zavezali su ga za stolicu
12:54
and they tacked his penis to a table with a six-inch nail,
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i zakucali njegov penis za sto ekserom dugim 15 centimetara.
13:00
then left him there to bleed to death.
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A onda su ga ostavili da tu iskrvari na smrt.
13:03
That's how I ended up in solitary, because I let my feelings be known.
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Tako sam završio u samoći, jer sam dozvolio mojim osećanjima da se vide.
13:12
All around us, everywhere, there are people like this.
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Svuda oko nas, svuda, postoje ljudi poput ovih.
13:17
The Igbo used to say that they built their own gods.
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Igbo narod je imao običaj da kaže da su sagradili sopstvene bogove.
13:23
They would come together as a community,
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Došli bi skupa, kao zajednica,
13:25
and they would express a wish.
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i izrazili želju.
13:28
And their wish would then be brought to a priest,
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A onda bi njihova želja bila doneta pred sveštenika
13:30
who would find a ritual object,
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koji bi pronašao ritualni objekat,
13:33
and the appropriate sacrifices would be made,
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i odgovarajuće žrtve bi bile prinete,
13:35
and the shrine would be built for the god.
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i hram za boga bi bio izgrađen.
13:38
But if the god became unruly and began to ask for human sacrifice,
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Ali ako bi bog postao neposlušan i tražio ljudsku žrtvu,
13:43
the Igbos would destroy the god.
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Igboi bi ga uništili.
13:45
They would knock down the shrine,
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Srušili bi hram,
13:48
and they would stop saying the god's name.
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i prestali da izgovaraju božje ime.
13:50
This is how they came to reclaim their humanity.
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Ovako bi povratili svoju ljudskost.
13:55
Every day, all of us here,
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Svakoga dana, svi mi ovde,
13:57
we're building gods that have gone rampant,
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gradimo bogove koji se osile,
14:00
and it's time we started knocking them down
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i vreme je da počnemo da ih rušimo
14:03
and forgetting their names.
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i zaboravljamo njihova imena.
14:06
It doesn't require a tremendous thing.
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To ne zahteva neverovatnu stvar.
14:09
All it requires is to recognize among us, every day --
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Sve što zahteva jeste da prepoznamo među sobom, svakoga dana,
14:13
the few of us that can see -- are surrounded by people
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nekoliko nas koji to možemo da vidimo, okruženi smo ljudima
14:16
like the ones I've told you.
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poput onih o kojima sam vam pričao.
14:19
There are some of you in this room, amazing people,
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Neki od vas u ovoj sobi, neverovatni ljudi,
14:22
who offer all of us the mirror to our own humanity.
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nude nam svima ogledalo da prepoznamo svoju humanost.
14:28
I want to end with a poem by an American poet called Lucille Clifton.
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Želim da završim sa pesmom američke pesnikinje, Lusile Klifton.
14:33
The poem is called "Libation," and it's for my friend Vusi
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Pesma se zove "Libation" (žrtva livenica) i to je za mog prijatelja Vusija
14:38
who is in the audience here somewhere.
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koji se nalazi negde u publici.
14:42
"Libation,
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"Libation",
14:44
North Carolina, 1999.
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Severna Karolina, 1999.
14:47
I offer to this ground, this gin.
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"Nudim ovoj zemlji, ovaj džin.
14:54
I imagine an old man crying here,
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Zamišljam starca kako ovde plače,
14:57
out of the sight of the overseer.
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izvan pogleda čuvara.
15:01
He pushes his tongue through a hole
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Gura svoj jezik kroz rupu
15:04
where his tooth would be, if he were whole.
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gde bi zub njegov trebalo biti, da je on ceo.
15:09
It aches in that space where his tooth would be,
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Boli, tamo gde bi zub trebalo biti,
15:13
where his land would be,
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gde bi njegova zemlja bila,
15:16
his house, his wife, his son, his beautiful daughter.
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njegova kuća, žena, sin, prelepa kći.
15:22
He wipes sorrow from his face,
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On briše tugu sa svog lica,
15:27
and puts his thirsty finger to his thirsty tongue,
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stavlja svoj žedni prst na svoj žedni jezik,
15:31
and tastes the salt.
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i oseća so.
15:37
I call a name that could be his.
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Zovem ime koje bi moglo biti njegovo,
15:39
This is for you, old man.
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ovo je za tebe, stari čoveče.
15:44
This gin, this salty earth."
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Ovaj džin, ova slana zemlja."
15:48
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
15:50
(Applause)
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(aplauz)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Abani - Novelist, poetImprisoned three times by the Nigerian government, Chris Abani turned his experience into poems that Harold Pinter called "the most naked, harrowing expression of prison life and political torture imaginable." His novels include GraceLand (2004) and The Virgin of Flames (2007).
Why you should listen
Chris Abani's first novel, published when he was 16, was Masters of the Board, a political thriller about a foiled Nigerian coup. The story was convincing enough that the Nigerian government threw him in jail for inciting a coincidentally timed real-life coup. Imprisoned and tortured twice more, he channeled the experience into searing poetry.
Abani's best-selling 2004 novel GraceLand is a searing and funny tale of a young Nigerian boy, an Elvis impersonator who moves through the wide, wild world of Lagos, slipping between pop and traditional cultures, art and crime. It's a perennial book-club pick, a story that brings the postcolonial African experience to vivid life.
Now based in Los Angeles, Abani published The Virgin of Flames in 2007. He is also a publisher, running the poetry imprint Black Goat Press.
Chris Abani | Speaker | TED.com