"I've got people in me." So sang the late Abbey Lincoln. I take that lyric as mantra. "I've got people in me." Jomama Jones is the person in me I turn to as a guide. She's my alter ego. I've been embodying her in performance since 1995, and she comes around when she has some insight to offer folks. At this time of radical change, I'm glad to be the vessel for her message to you.
"Nina watu ndani yangu" Aliimba marehemu Abbey Lincoln. Nachukulia maandiko hayo kama mwito "Nina watu ndani yangu" Jomama Jones ndiye aliye ndani yangu namtazama kama mwongozo. Ndiye nafsi mbadala wangu. Nimemjumuisha kwa uigizaji tangu mwaka 1995, na huja pale ambapo ana dondoo za kuwapa majamaa. Wakati huu wa mabadiliko makuu, Nafurahia kuwa chombo cha ujumbe wake kwenu.
Jomama Jones: What if I told you it's going to be alright ... but what if I told you not yet? What if I told you there are trials ahead beyond your deepest fears? What if I told you will you fall ... down, down, down? But what if I told you you will surprise yourself? What if I told you will be brave enough? What if I told you we won't all make it through? But what if I told you that is as it must be? What if I told you I've seen the future?
Jomama Jones: Ni vipi nikikwambia itakua sawa........ lakini itakuaje nkikwambia bado? Je, nikikwambia kuna majaribu mbeleni kuzidi hofu yako ya kina ? Je, nikikwambia utaanguka ..... chini chini chini ? Lakini nikkiwambia utajishangaza? Je, nikikwambia utakua jasiri kutosha ? Je, nikikwambia si sote tutafaulu? Lakini itakuaje nikikwambia ipo inavyobidi iwe? Je nikikwambia nayaona yajayo?
Do you like my hands? They're expressive, yeah? Now look at your hands -- now go on. There's so much history recorded through their touches and marks of the future sketched on their palms. Sometimes hands grip tight, sometimes hands let go. What if I told you it's all going to come undone? Hm.
Unapenda mikono yangu? Inajieleza, ndiyo? Sasa tazama mikono yako -- tazama. Kuna historia kubwa iliyorekodiwa kupitia miguso yake. na alama za siku za baadaye kuchorwa katika viganja. Kuna wakati mikono hushikilia kwa nguvu, wakati mwingine kuachilia. Je nikikwambia, yote itasambaratika ? Mmm
Ladies and gentlemen and otherwise described, I am Jomama Jones. Some call me a soul sonic superstar, and I agree, though even in my past that was from the future.
Mabibi na mabwana na wengineo, Mimi ni Jomama Jones Kwa wengine mimi nyota wa soniki na nakubaliana, japokua hata mwanzoni, ilitokana na yale yajayo.
Let me take you back to girlhood. Picture this: it was Planting Day, which was a holiday I invented for the Black youth community group I founded. I dashed home to put on my gardening ensemble when I caught my uncle Freeman red-handed. He was standing over my piggy bank with his hammer raised high. He was fixing to steal my coins.
Kidogo nikupeleke utotoni, Wazia hili: ni siku ya kupanda, ambayo ni likizo nimebuni kwa vijana weusi kikundi cha jamii nilichoanzisha Nilikimbia nyumbani kuvalia mavazi ya bustani nikamfumania mjomba wangu aitwaye Freeman Kasimama mbele ya kibubu akiwa amenyanyua nyundo hewani. Alikuwa anajiandaa kuiba pesa zangu
And you see, my uncle Freeman was a handyman. He could fix anything -- a broken chair, a shattered pot -- even bring grandmother's plants back to life. He had that magic touch with broken things ... and broken people. He would take me with him on his jobs and say, "C'mon Jo, let's go do something to make this world a better place." His hands were wide and calloused, and they always reminded me of displaced tree roots.
Unajua, mjomba wangu Freeman alikuwa mtu anayefahamu fani nyingi. Angerekebisha kitu yoyote- kiti kilichovinjika, chungu imepasuka- hata kurudisha uhai kwa mimea za nyanya Alikua na sihiri na vitu vilivyovunjika na watu wenye kasoro Angenichukua akienda kazini na kusema, "Kuja Jo, tukafanye kitu kuibadili huu ulimwengu kua bora." Mikono yake mipana na migumu, kila wakati zikinikumbusha mizizi iliohamishwa
As we worked he would talk with folks about the change he was sure was just around the corner. I saw him mend flagging hopes and leave folks with their heads held high. His hands stirred the sunshine.
Tukifanya kazi angeongea na watu kuhusu mabadiliko aliyoamini yangetokea karibuni. Nilitazama akiunda tena matumaini yaliyovunjika na kuacha watu wamefurahi. Mikono yake iliwasha miale ya jua
And now he was about to break my piggy bank. I said "Step back, man, and show me your hands." You know the irony was he used to give me all the old coins he'd find under floorboards while working. And I put them in the piggy bank along with the money I earned through my childhood side hustles.
Na hapa alikuwa akikaribia kuvunja kibubu mbele yangu. Nikasema"Piga hatua nyuma, na unionyeshe mikono yako." Unajua cha ajabu kilichotokea kilikuwa alikua akinipatia sarafu kuu kuu zote alizopata kwenye sakafu wakati akiwa anafanya kazi. Nami niliziweka katika kibubu pamoja na mapato yangu kutokana na vibarua
But by the spring of 1970, Uncle Freeman had lost his touch ... along with most of his jobs. He saw a heavy future of civil wrongs and Black power outages in his palms. The last straw had come the previous winter when they had gunned down Fred Hampton. Overwhelmed with fear and rage and grief, Uncle Freeman tried to game his future. He gripped too tight, and he started playing the numbers.
Lakini kufika msimu wa masika 1970, mjomba Freeman aliacha ufanisi wake ... na kupoteza kazi zake nyingi. Alitabiria mbeleni wenye dhuluma na uwezeshaji kwa raia weusi kiganjani mwake. Pigo la mwisho lilikuja majira ya baridi iliyopita wakati walipomuua Fred Hampton. Alipozidiwa na hofu na ghadhabu na majonzi, Mjomba Freeman alijaribu kupambana na yaliyo mbeleni. Akashikilia kwa mkazo, na kuanza kucheza na nambari.
"Well, one of these numbers is gonna hit, little girl. You got a quarter for your uncle Free -- " Now some of y'all have that relative. But I knew right then and there I had to do something. I jumped up and I grabbed that hammer and I brought it crashing down on that pig. And Uncle Freeman started to weep as I gathered up all the coins. "We're not buying no lottery ticket, Uncle Freeman. C'mon."
"Sikia, moja ya hizi nambari zitashinda, binti. Una robo kwa ajili ya uncle wako Free --" Wengine wenu mnaye ndugu kama huyu. Lakini nilijua papo hapo lazima ningechukua hatua. Nikaruka na kunyaka nyundo na nikaileta chini kuvunja kibubu. Mjomba akaanza kulia huku mimi nikiokota sarafu. "Hatununui tikiti za bahati nasibu mjomba, C'mon."
We spent every last cent at the seed store. You know, the kids in my gardening group? They didn't bat an eye when I had Uncle Freeman get down and put his hands in the earth again and start breaking up that soil for our seeds. And my little friend Taesha even came over and started slapping him on the back saying, "Cry it out, Uncle Freeman. Cry it out."
Tulitumia hadi centi ya mwisho kwenye duka la mbegu Unakumbuka wale watoto wakulima ? Hawakushtuka nilipomlazimisha mjomba Freeman kufanya kazi bustanini tena na kutayarisha udongo kwa ajili ya mbegu Na rafiki yangu mdogo akaja na kuanza kumpiga kofi mgongoni akisema,"Lia mjomba Freeman, Lia
"I can't fix this," he sobbed. It's an ancient-future truism, that. He wasn't the first to feel that way, and he wouldn't be the last. Right now, it feels as though everything is breaking beyond repair. It is. But that breaking apart can be a breaking open, no matter how violent and uncertain and fearsome it seems. The thing is ... we can't do it alone.
"Siwezi rekebisha",alisema Ni yakini ya kale-mbeleni. Hakua wa kwanza kuionelea hivyo na hatakua wa mwisho Kwa sasa, ineonekana kila kitu kinavuja kuzidi marekebisho Ni kweli Lakini kuvunja kwa kutenganisha kunaweza kuwa kuvunja kwa kuacha wazi, hata iwe dhalimu na isiyofahamika na kuogofya inaonyesha Jambo kuu ni ... hatuwezi sisi wenyewe.
Uncle Freeman cried so much that day as we planted our seeds, he was our very own irrigation system. "I don't know who I am anymore, little girl," he said to me at sundown. "Good, Uncle Freeman. Good. You're new again, and that's just how we need you."
Mjomba Freeman alilia sana hiyo siku wakati wa upandaji mbegu zetu, akawa mfumo wa kunyunyiza maji "Sijui mimi ni nani tena, msichana mdogo", aliniambia wakati wa machweo. "Vyema, mjomba Freeman Vyema. Umekua mpya tena, ni hivyo ndivyo tunakuhitaji uwe."