As a little girl, I always imagined I would one day run away. From the age of six on, I kept a packed bag with some clothes and cans of food tucked away in the back of a closet. There was a deep restlessness in me, a primal fear that I would fall prey to a life of routine and boredom. And so, many of my early memories involved intricate daydreams where I would walk across borders, forage for berries, and meet all kinds of strange people living unconventional lives on the road.
Kur isha e vogel, gjithmone imagjinoja se nje dite do te merrja rruget. Nga mosha 6 vjecare dhe me vone, mbaja gati nje cante me disa rroba dhe kanace me ushqime qe i fshihja pas nje rafti. Ishte nje shqetesim i thelle per mua, nje frike primare qe une do te bija pre e nje jete rutine dhe te merzitshme. Dhe keshtu, shume nga kujtimet e mia te hershme perfshijne enderra me syhapur, te nderlikuara ku mund te ecja pertej kufijve, te ushqehesha me manaferra, dhe te takoja te gjithe llojet e njerezve te cuditshem te cilet jetonin nje jete pa kushtezime ne rrugetim.
Years have passed, but many of the adventures I fantasized about as a child -- traveling and weaving my way between worlds other than my own — have become realities through my work as a documentary photographer. But no other experience has felt as true to my childhood dreams as living amongst and documenting the lives of fellow wanderers across the United States. This is the nomadic dream, a different kind of American dream lived by young hobos, travelers, hitchhikers, vagrants and tramps.
Vitet kane kaluar, por shume nga aventurat qe kam fantazuar ne femijeri -- duke udhetuar dhe u endur ne menyren time ndermjet boteve te ndryshme nga ajo e imja -- jane bere realitet nepermjet punes sime si fotografe dokumentare. Por asnje eksperience tjeter nuk e kam ndjere kaq shume te vertete sesa enderrat e mia te femijerise duke jetuar ne mes tyre dhe dokumentuar jetet e endacakeve permes Shteteve te Bashkuara. Kjo eshte endrra nomade, nje lloj ndryshe e endrres amerikane e cila jetohet nga endacaket, udhetaret, autostopistet dhe vagabondet.
In most of our minds, the vagabond is a creature from the past. The word "hobo" conjures up an old black and white image of a weathered old man covered in coal, legs dangling out of a boxcar, but these photographs are in color, and they portray a community swirling across the country, fiercely alive and creatively free, seeing sides of America that no one else gets to see.
Ne mendjen tone, vagabondet jane krijesa nga e shkuara. Fjala "endacak" zgjon nje imazh te vjeter bardhe e zi te nje plaku te mbuluar me qymyr, kembet qe i varen nga nje vagon, por keto fotografi jane me ngjyra, dhe ato potretizojne nje komunitet qe vertitet permes vendit, gjallerisht dhe me krijimtari te lire, qe shikojne ane te Amerikes qe askush tjeter nuk mundet ti shikoje.
Like their predecessors, today's nomads travel the steel and asphalt arteries of the United States. By day, they hop freight trains, stick out their thumbs, and ride the highways with anyone from truckers to soccer moms. By night, they sleep beneath the stars, huddled together with their packs of dogs, cats and pet rats between their bodies.
Ashtu si paraardhesit e tyre, nomadet e sotem udhetojne ne rruget e celikta dhe te asfaltuara te Shteteve te Bashkuara. Diten, ata hipin ne trenat e mallrave, ngrejne gishtin e madh, dhe udhetojne ne autostrada me ke t'i dale qe nga shofere kamionesh deri te nena femijesh. Naten, ata flejne poshte yjeve, kruspull, sebashku me qente e tyre, macet apo mijte shtepiake mes tyre.
Some travelers take to the road by choice, renouncing materialism, traditional jobs and university degrees in exchange for a glimmer of adventure. Others come from the underbelly of society, never given a chance to mobilize upwards: foster care dropouts, teenage runaways escaping abuse and unforgiving homes.
Disa udhetare e zgjedhin vete kete rruge, heqin dore nga materializmi, punet tradicionale dhe diplomat universitare ne shkembim te nje dritez aventure. Te tjere vine nga kerthiza e shoqerise, asnjehere nuk i eshte dhene nje shans te permiresojne jeten e tyre: braktises te jetimoreve, adoleshente qe arratisen nga shtepi ku abuzohen.
Where others see stories of privation and economic failure, travelers view their own existence through the prism of liberation and freedom. They'd rather live off of the excess of what they view as a wasteful consumer society than slave away at an unrealistic chance at the traditional American dream. They take advantage of the fact that in the United States, up to 40 percent of all food ends up in the garbage by scavenging for perfectly good produce in dumpsters and trash cans. They sacrifice material comforts in exchange for the space and the time to explore a creative interior, to dream, to read, to work on music, art and writing.
Aty ku te tjeret shohin histori te humbjeve dhe te deshtimit ekonomik udhetaret shohin ekzistencen e tyre nepermjet veshtrimit te lirise dhe pavaresise. Ata me mire te jetojne ne mungese te asaj qe ata e shohin si nje humbje te shoqerise konsumeriste sesa te jene skllav i nje mundesie jo reale ne endrren tradicionale amerikane. Ata shfrytezojne faktin qe ne Shtetet e Bashkuara, rreth 40% e te gjithe ushqimit perfundon ne plehra dhe germojne per ushqime ne gjendje te mire ne koshet e plehrave. Ata sakrifikojne te mirat materiale ne shkembim per hapesire dhe kohe per te zbuluar nje ane te brendshme kreative, per te enderruar, lexuar, per te punuar mbi muziken, artin dhe te shkruarit.
But there are many aspects to this life that are far from idyllic. No one loses their inner demons by taking to the road. Addiction is real, the elements are real, freight trains maim and kill, and anyone who has lived on the streets can attest to the exhaustive list of laws that criminalize homeless existence. Who here knows that in many cities across the United States it is now illegal to sit on the sidewalk, to wrap oneself in a blanket, to sleep in your own car, to offer food to a stranger? I know about these laws because I've watched as friends and other travelers were hauled off to jail or received citations for committing these so-called crimes.
Por ka shume aspekte ne kete jete qe jane shume larg ideales. Askush nuk i humbet demonet e tyre te brendshem duke marret rruget. Varesia eshte reale, elementet jane reale, trenat e mallrave gjymtojne dhe vrasin, dhe kushdo qe ka jetuar ne rruge mund te vertetoje me nje liste gjitheperfshirese te ligjeve se kriminaliteti i te pastreheve ekziston. Kush e di ketu se ne shume qytete perrreth Shteteve te Bashkuara eshte tani ilegale te ulesh ne trotuare, te mbledhesh veten me nje batanije, te flesh ne makinen tende, ti ofrosh ushqim nje te panjohuri? Une di per keto ligje sepse kam pare sesi shoke dhe udhetare te tjere jane futur ne burg ose kane marre paralajmerime qe kane kryer keto krime.
Many of you might be wondering why anyone would choose a life like this, under the thumb of discriminatory laws, eating out of trash cans, sleeping under bridges, picking up seasonal jobs here and there. The answer to such a question is as varied as the people that take to the road, but travelers often respond with a single word: freedom. Until we live in a society where every human is assured dignity in their labor so that they can work to live well, not only work to survive, there will always be an element of those who seek the open road as a means of escape, of liberation and, of course, of rebellion.
Shume prej jush do jeni duke pyetur veten se pse ndonjeri do te zgjidhte nje jete te tille, nen gishtin e ligjeve diskriminuese, duke ngrene ne kazana plehrash, duke fjetur nen ura, duke bere pune sezonale ketu dhe atje. Pergjigja e ketyre pyetjeve varion nga njerezit qe takon ne rruge, por udhetaret shpesh pergjigjen me nje fjale te vetme: liri. Per aq kohe sa ne jetojme ne nje shoqei ku cdo njeri i sigurohet dinjiteti ne punen e tyre keshtu qe ata mund te vazhdojne te punojne per te jetuar mire, jo vetem te punojne per te jetuar, gjithmone do te kete nje element te tyre qe kerkojne rrugen si nje menyre per te shpetuar, nje liri, dhe sigurisht nje rebelim,
Thank you.
Falemnderit.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)