公众人物毕业演讲 第81期:米歇尔奥巴马迪拉德大学(7)(在线收听

   He said and these are his words he said

  我引用他的原话 他说
  For twenty years I was a slave on these streets
  我在这些街道上当了二十年奴隶
  It was a penitentiary offense to educate a Negro
  为黑人提供教育曾是应处监禁的罪行
  I have seen my fellow-servants whipped for trying to learn
  我亲眼见到过尝试学习的奴隶同胞受到鞭刑
  but today here I am
  而今天我站在这里
  speaking where a building is to be erected for the education of the children of my people
  为一座黑人儿童教育建筑的奠基发表讲话
  He goes on to say, I wonder
  他继续说道 我想知道
  if this is the world I was born in
  这个世界是否不同于我所生在的世界
  See, in the course of his short lifetime
  在他短暂的一生中
  Emperor saw education go from being a crime for black folks
  皇帝见证了黑人教育从不被允许的犯罪行为
  to being a real possibility for his kids and grandkids
  转变为了能够为其子孙提供的正当行为
  So no wonder he
  毫不奇怪
  was asking whether this was the same world he'd been born into
  他会问 这个世界是否不同于他所生在的世界
  See, for a man like Emperor getting an education
  对于皇帝这样的人 获得教育
  could open up a whole new world of opportunity
  让充满机会的全新世界得以开启
  An education meant having real power
  教育意味着真正的力量
  It meant you could manage your own money
  意味着你可以掌控自己的钱
  It meant you couldn't get swindled out of land or possessions
  意味着别人不能再忽悠你在虚线上签名
  when somebody told you to just sign on the dotted line
  借此骗取你的土地或财产
  sometimes even determined whether or not you could vote
  教育甚至决定了你能否投票
  So most folks back then saw education as the key to real and lasting freedom
  当时 很多人都将教育看成是真正持久自由的关键
  That's why
  正是因为这些
  when New Orleans University
  新奥尔良大学
  and the other African American college in town
  和镇上另一所非裔美国人大学
  Straight University, first opened their doors
  正直大学 首次开启大门时
  one of the biggest problems they faced was too many students
  它们碰到的最大问题之一便是学生太多
  That's right too many students
  真的 学生太多
  Many of these students barely spoke English
  很多学生英语都说不好
  they'd grown up speaking Creole or French
  很多人说克里奥尔语或法语
  Few had ever seen the inside of a classroom or even been taught their ABCs
  有些人甚至没见过教室 连ABC都没人教过他们
  But let me tell you, those students were hungry
  不过我可以告诉你们 这些学生非常渴望
  you hear me Hungry
  他们非常渴望
  They studied like their lives depended on it
  他们拼了命地学习
  They blazed through their lessons
  激昂奋进
  And that hunger for education
  这种学习的渴望
  lasted for generations in the African American community here in New Orleans
  在新奥尔良非裔美国人群体中持续了好多代人
  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/gzrwyj/302403.html