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
