Today, a baffled lady observed the shell where my soul dwells
Danas, jedna zbunjena gospođa je promatrala oklop u kojem moja duša boravi
And announced that I'm "articulate"
i objavila da sam ja "rječita"
Which means that when it comes to enunciation and diction
Što znači da kad pričamo o izgovoru i dikciji
I don't even think of it
ja o tome ni ne razmišljam
‘Cause I’m "articulate"
zato što sam "rječita"
So when my professor asks a question
tako da kad mi profesor postavi pitanje
And my answer is tainted with a connotation of urbanized suggestion
a moj odgovor dolazi obilježen prizvukom urbanog govora
There’s no misdirected intention
tu se ne radi o pogrešnoj namjeri
Pay attention
Obratite pozornost
‘Cause I’m “articulate”
jer ja sam " rječita"
So when my father asks, “Wha’ kinda ting is dis?”
tako kad me otac upita, "A šta je ovo?"
My “articulate” answer never goes amiss
Moj "riječiti" odgovor uvijek pogodi u sridu
I say “father, this is the impending problem at hand”
ja kažem "oče, ovo je neminovni problem koji nas trenutno muči"
And when I’m on the block I switch it up just because I can
A kad se nalazim u kvartu prešaltam se jer mogu
So when my boy says, “What’s good with you son?”
pa kad me frend upita, 'Šta ima dobroga kod tebe sinko?'
I just say, “I jus’ fall out wit dem people but I done!”
odgovaram "Ja se samo svađam s ljudima ali sad sam gotova s tim!"
And sometimes in class
A ponekad u razredu
I might pause the intellectual sounding flow to ask
zaustavim intelektualni ton sata samo kako bih upitala
“Yo! Why dese books neva be about my peoples”
"Ej! Zašto ove knjige nikada ne spikaju o mojim ljudovima"
Yes, I have decided to treat all three of my languages as equals
Da, odlučila sam tretirati sva tri moja jezika kao jednake
Because I’m “articulate”
upravo zato jer sam "rječita"
But who controls articulation?
Ali tko je onaj koji kontrolira govor?
Because the English language is a multifaceted oration
Engleski jezik je oracija koja ima više vidova
Subject to indefinite transformation
a koja je podložna neograničenom broju transformacija
Now you may think that it is ignorant to speak broken English
Mogli biste misliti da je uporaba lošeg engleskog znak neznanja
But I’m here to tell you that even “articulate” Americans sound foolish to the British
Ali reći ću vam da čak i "rječiti" Amerikanci zvuče glupo Britancima
So when my Professor comes on the block and says, “Hello”
I kad se moj Profesor nađe u kvartu i kaže "Zdravo"
I stop him and say “Noooo …
Ja ga zaustavim i kažem "Neeee....
You’re being inarticulate … the proper way is to say ‘what’s good’”
Vi se ne znate izražavati... pravilno je reći "šta ima"
Now you may think that’s too hood, that’s not cool
Možda ćete pomisliti da je to previše šatrovački, da to nije kul
But I’m here to tell you that even our language has rules
Ali ja ću vam reći da i naš jezik ima svoja pravila
So when Mommy mocks me and says “ya’ll-be-madd-going-to-the-store”
tako da kad mi se Mamica ruga i kaže "svi-ste-vi-ludi-idući-u-dućane"
I say “Mommy, no, that sentence is not following the law
Ja odgovaram "Mamice, ne, ta rečenica ne slijedi pravila
Never does the word "madd" go before a present participle
nikada riječ 'lud' ne ide prije participa prezenta
That’s simply the principle of this English”
To je jednostavno pravilo engleskog jezika.
If I had the vocal capacity I would sing this from every mountaintop,
Kad bih imala takve glasovne sposobnosti pjevala bih to sa svakog planinskog vrha
From every suburbia, and every hood
iz svakog predgrađa, iz svakog kvarta
‘Cause the only God of language is the one recorded in the Genesis
Jer je jedini Bog jezika onaj koji je zabilježen u vrijeme Postanka
Of this world saying “it is good"
ovog svijeta govoreći "dobro je"
So I may not always come before you with excellency of speech
Zato možda neću uvijek stati pred vas koristeći vrsnu oraciju
But do not judge me by my language and assume
Ali nemojte me prosuđivati na temelju mog govora i pretpostavljati
That I’m too ignorant to teach
da sam previše neuka da bih poučavala
‘Cause I speak three tongues
jer ja govorim tri jezika
One for each:
jedan za svakoga:
Home, school and friends
za kuću, za školu i za prijatelje
I’m a tri-lingual orator
Ja sam trilingvalan orator
Sometimes I’m consistent with my language now
Ponekad sam dosljedna u svom jeziku
Then switch it up so I don’t bore later
a onda se prebacim kako ne bih počela dosađivati poslije
Sometimes I fight back two tongues
Nekada se borim protiv dva jezika
While I use the other one in the classroom
dok treći koristim u učionici
And when I mistakenly mix them up
a kada ih greškom pomiješam
I feel crazy like … I’m cooking in the bathroom
osjećam se ludo... kao da kuham u kupaonici
I know that I had to borrow your language because mines was stolen
Znam da sam morala posuditi vaš jezik jer je moj ukraden
But you can’t expect me to speak your history wholly while mines is broken
Ali ne možete očekivati da cjelovito govorim o vašoj povijesti dok je moja slomljena
These words are spoken
Ove riječi govori
By someone who is simply fed up with the Eurocentric ideals of this season
netko kome je dosta eurocentričnih ideala ovog doba
And the reason I speak a composite version of your language
A razlog zašto govorim mješovitu verziju vašeg jezika
Is because mines was raped away along with my history
jest taj što je moj jezik otet zajedno s mojom poviješću
I speak broken English so the profusing gashes can remind us
Govorim loš engleski kako bi nas mnogobrojne rane podsjećale
That our current state is not a mystery
da naše trenutno stanje nije nikakva misterija
I’m so tired of the negative images that are driving my people mad
Umorna sam od negativnih slika koje dovode moje ljude do ludila
So unless you’ve seen it rob a bank stop calling my hair bad
Pa ako je niste vidjeli da pljačka banku, prestanite zvati moju kosu lošom
I’m so sick of this nonsensical racial disparity
dosta mi je ove besmislene rasne nejednakosti
So don’t call it good unless your hair is known for donating to charity
Pa nemojte je zvati dobrom osim ako vaša kosa nije poznata po davanju priloga u humanitarne svrhe
As much as has been raped away from our people
S obzirom na to koliko je toga oteto našim ljudima
How can you expect me to treat their imprint on your language
Kako možete očekivati od mene da tretiram trag koji su oni ostavili na vaš jezik
As anything less than equal
kao nešto manje vrijedno
Let there be no confusion
Da ne bude zabune
Let there be no hesitation
Da ne bude oklijevanja
This is not a promotion of ignorance
Ovo nije podupiranje neznanja
This is a linguistic celebration
Ovo je proslava jezika
That’s why I put "tri-lingual" on my last job application
Zato sam stavila 'tri-lingvalna' u svoju zadnju molbu za posao
I can help to diversify your consumer market is all I wanted them to know
mogu pomoći proširiti vaše tržište potrošača i to je sve što sam im htjela dati na znanje
And when they call me for the interview I’ll be more than happy to show that
I kad me pozovu na intervju rado ću im pokazati kako
I can say:
znam reći:
“What’s good”
"Šta ima novoga?"
“Whatagwan”
"Šta ima"
And of course …“Hello”
i naravno ... "Zdravo"
Because I’m “articulate”
jer sam "rječita"
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)