At 7:45 a.m., I open the doors to a building dedicated to building, yet only breaks me down. I march down hallways cleaned up after me every day by regular janitors, but I never have the decency to honor their names. Lockers left open like teenage boys' mouths when teenage girls wear clothes that covers their insecurities but exposes everything else. Masculinity mimicked by men who grew up with no fathers, camouflage worn by bullies who are dangerously armed but need hugs. Teachers paid less than what it costs them to be here. Oceans of adolescents come here to receive lessons but never learn to swim, part like the Red Sea when the bell rings.
早上七時四十五分, 我推開了大樓的數扇門, 那數扇門奉獻給大樓, 卻只打倒了我, 我沿著走廊散步, 每日老校工也會打掃走廊, 我從不懂禮貌去銘記他們的名字。 敞開的儲物櫃,猶如少男的嘴巴, 當少女穿著短衫熱褲時, 掩住了不安,卻暴露其他一切, 成長過程中男孩沒有了父親, 卻模仿著成年人的男子氣概, 穿迷彩服的持械小霸王, 非常危險, 卻渴望擁抱。 教師們不計薪資微薄,到這裡來, 青少年浩浩蕩蕩到來上課, 像一望無際的海洋, 卻從未學習游泳, 下課鐘聲響起來,儼如紅海分開。
This is a training ground. My high school is Chicago, diverse and segregated on purpose. Social lines are barbed wire. Labels like "Regulars" and "Honors" resonate. I am an Honors but go home with Regular students who are soldiers in territory that owns them. This is a training ground to sort out the Regulars from the Honors, a reoccurring cycle built to recycle the trash of this system.
這就是訓練場, 我的高中就是芝加哥, 有著各式各樣的不同、 故意地實施隔離政策, 社會分階如鐵絲網, 迴盪著「普通」和「精英」的標籤, 我是名「精英」, 歸家路上卻伴隨著「普通」學生, 他們是這塊疆土的士兵, 擁有這塊疆土, 這是一個訓練場,區分「普通」 和「精英」,建立了循環週期, 去回收這系統裡的廢物,
Trained at a young age to capitalize, letters taught now that capitalism raises you but you have to step on someone else to get there. This is a training ground where one group is taught to lead and the other is made to follow. No wonder so many of my people spit bars, because the truth is hard to swallow. The need for degrees has left so many people frozen.
自小受教於師長,要知書識禮, 踏入資本主義社會後卻發現, 要到達那裡,只好把別人踩在腳下, 這是一個訓練場,教導了 一群領袖人物,一群隨從者, 無疑我們那麼多人當上饒舌歌手, 因為真相難以接受, 為求一張學位證書, 多少人冷凍兩眼發直,
Homework is stressful, but when you go home every day and your home is work, you don't want to pick up any assignments. Reading textbooks is stressful, but reading does not matter when you feel your story is already written, either dead or getting booked. Taking tests is stressful, but bubbling in a Scantron does not stop bullets from bursting.
功課很大壓力, 當你每天歸家後,還要做功課, 就不再想做任何習作, 讀書壓力很大, 你的人生已成定局, 讀書已不再重要, 當你覺得反正死路一條, 或遲早登記入冊, 考試壓力很大, 但在選答題上再多塗鴉圈圈, 也阻不了子彈爆裂。
I hear education systems are failing, but I believe they're succeeding at what they're built to do -- to train you, to keep you on track, to track down an American dream that has failed so many of us all.
我聽到教育制度正在崩壞, 但大抵達到當初設立的目標— 訓練你,助你步上正軌, 追逐一個美國夢, 儘管它曾讓我們眾人失望。
(Applause)
(掌聲)