I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and I didn't know very many white people, but I was raised in a Southern Black church that was under the shadow of white supremacy and run by Black people who in many ways were taught to hate themselves. The generation that raised me was still familiar with lynchings. So in order to not be murdered by racists, some of the Black people in the generation before me learned to make themselves smaller. We couldn't be too loud, too smart, too attractive, too bold. On some level, they felt like anything that we did that made us stand out might get us murdered.
Aku tumbuh di Atlanta, Georgia, dan aku tak tahu banyak orang kulit putih. tetapi aku besar di gereja kulit hitam di Selatan yang dibayang-bayangi oleh supremasi kulit putih dan dikelola oleh kulit hitam yang banyak diajari untuk membenci dirinya sendiri. Generasi yang membesarkanku masih paham dengan hukuman mati tanpa proses. Jadi supaya tidak dibunuh oleh orang rasis, beberapa orang kulit hitam di generasi sebelumku belajar membuat diri mereka lebih kecil. Kita tak bisa banyak ribut, terlalu pintar, menarik, atau tajam. Hingga, mereka pikir apa yang kita lakukan yang dapat membuat kita unggul bisa membuat kita dibunuh.
In the midst of that, I emerged, this straight-A student who rapped, loved "Weird Al" Yankovic and read comic books. So much for not standing out. So the grownups around me regularly discouraged my artistry. To them, comic books were the pursuit of a kid who didn't really understand the world. They told me that art was silly and I was in for some hard lessons about the real world.
Di tengah-tengah itu, aku muncul, anak pintar di kelas yang suka nge-rap, penyuka “Weird Al” Yankovic dan baca buku komik. Tidak terlalu unggul, sih. Jadi, orang dewasa di sekitarku tidak suka aku terlalu kreatif. Baginya, buku komik hanya untuk anak kecil yang belum memahami dunia. Mereka bilang padaku bahwa seni itu konyol dan hidupku akan sulit di dunia nyata.
Back then, I only had one other friend who was into comic books and he went to a different school. So when I was around 11, he and I went to our very first comic book convention. They were so unused to seeing Black kids there, that one grown white man mistook me for security and showed me his convention badge in order to get in. Remember, I was 11. But me and my friend loved these conventions. Finally, we had other people to talk to about the important questions, like, why does the Hulk always wear purple pants? About a year or so later with every free moment that we had me and that same friend were actively drawing comic books. His father took notice of this and he sat us down in the living room. He loved us both, and he decided it was time to set us straight. He said, "It's great that you two love these comic books, but you need to pick a serious profession, something that's going to take care of you and your families. And you’re not going to be able to do that with comic books.” My friend's father wasn't trying to hurt us. He was trying to prepare us for the world and underneath that was this fear that was shared by my own parents. That being a Black artist would make me stand out and that I might be murdered by racists.
Saat itu, hanya aku dan seorang kawan yang suka buku komik dan dia pindah sekolah. Saat kira-kira aku 11 tahun, kami pergi ke pameran komik pertama kami. Mereka tidak biasa melihat anak kulit hitam di sana, sampai satu lelaki dewasa mengira aku satpam dan menunjukkan aku tanda pamerannya untuk masuk. Ingat, aku baru 11 tahun. Tapi, aku dan kawanku suka pameran seperti itu. Akhirnya, ada orang lain yang mau bicara pertanyaan penting, seperti, kenapa Hulk selalu pakai celana ungu? Sekitar setahun setelahnya dengan waktu luang kami, aku dan kawanku yang tadi mulai aktif menggambar buku komik. Ayahnya memperhatikan dan menyuruh kami duduk di ruang tengah. Ia sayang kita berdua, dan dia putuskan saatnya jujur ke kita berdua. Katanya, “Bagus sekali kalian berdua suka buku komik, tapi carilah profesi yang serius, sesuatu yang bisa menghidupimu dan keluargamu nanti. Dan, kamu tak bisa melakukannya dengan buku komik.” Ayah kawanku tidak berusaha menyakiti kami. Ia hanya mempersiapkan kami ke dunia dan dibawah itu ada ketakutan yang dimiliki tiap orang tua. Sebagai seniman kulit hitam takkan membuatku unggul dan aku bisa dibunuh oleh orang rasis.
And it's not like that was a far jump. My parents were born in the early 50s. In 1955, a white woman accused a 14-year-old boy of whistling at her. He was Black and two grown white men brutally murdered him just for her accusation. These men never went to prison. The boy's name was Emmett Till. So my parents grew up in a time where just the accusation of whistling at a white woman could get a Black boy brutally murdered. So why wouldn't they be concerned about me standing out as some bohemian artsy dude? So as a Black artist, I've had to ask myself: when the world seems like it's burning, is art really worth it?
Ini bukan seperti kelewatan. Orang tuaku lahir di awal 50-an. Pada 1955, wanita kulit putih menuduh anak 14 tahun bersiul kepadanya. Anak itu kulit hitam dan dua lelaki kulit putih membunuh anak itu dengan kejam hanya karena tuduhan itu. Para lelaki itu tidak pernah dipenjara. Anak itu bernama Emmett Till. Jadi, orang tuaku lahir di era saat tuduhan bersiul ke wanita kulit putih bisa membuat kulit hitam dibunuh kejam. Jadi, kenapa mereka tidak peduli kalau aku unggulnya sebagai seniman boho? Jadi, sebagai seniman kulit hitam, aku harus tanya ke diri sendiri: saat dunia seperti terbakar, apakah seni berharga?
I grew up and I worked serious jobs and did art on the side. Let me tell you about the most serious job that I ever worked. I ran an insurance agency and I know everything that you've learned about me so far screams insurance agent. Predictably, I hated that job. So after a few years and against all the wise advice I heard in my life, I decided to close my insurance agency and try my hand at writing graphic novels. I wanted to address the social issues that I was passionate about. Police brutality, sexism, racism, that kind of thing. But to make it clear, I was leaving the serious insurance job in order to pursue writing comic books. You know, art, which is silly, especially in the face of a world that seemed dedicated to murdering me.
Aku besar dan bekerja serius dan berkesenian sebagai sampingan. Izinkan aku ceritakan pekerjaan serius apa saja yang pernah kulakukan. Aku mengelola agensi asuransi dan aku tahu semua yang kau pelajari dari aku sejauh ini pasti kelihatan aku agen asuransi. Sesuai dugaan, aku benci kerjaan itu. Setelah beberapa tahun dan tak mengindahkan nasihat bijak yang kudengar seumur hidup, Aku memutuskan tutup agensi asuransi itu dan mencoba menulis novel grafis. Aku ingin menyampaikan isu sosial yang sangat kusukai. Brutalitas polisi, seksisme, rasisme, dan hal-hal seperti itu. Tapi untuk memperjelas, Aku meninggalkan kerjaan serius asuransi untuk mengejar menulis buku komik. Kau tahu, seni, yang konyol itu, terutama di dunia ini, yang sepertinya didedikasikan untuk membunuhku.
This was 2016 and there was this reality show host running for president. You guys probably never heard of him, but there were all these disturbing things arising in the world. Nazis were feeling bolder. People were feeling less shame about their racism, hate crimes arising. In response, my Black and Brown friends organize public protest and boycotts. A lot of my liberal white friends were marching on the Capitol every weekend. And I wanted to write a comic book. Was I being silly? Vain? I never made a living off of art before and now I just quit my job when it seemed like the world was falling apart. Art is silly, right?
Saat itu adalah 2016 dan ada pembawa acara reality show yang mencalonkan diri sebagai presiden. Kalian mungkin pernah dengar namanya, Tetapi, hal-hal yang menggelisahkan dunia pun muncul. Pengikut Nazi merasa lebih berani. Orang-orang jadi tak tahu malu pada rasisme mereka, seruan kebencian muncul. Sebagai jawaban, kawan-kawan kulit hitam dan cokelatku menyerukan protes dan boikot publik. Banyak kawan liberal kulit putihku berbaris di Capitol tiap akhir pekan. Dan, aku tadinya ingin menulis buku komik. Apa aku bertindak konyol? Sakit? Aku tidak pernah hidup dari seni sebelumnya dan kini aku baru lepas dari kerjaanku saat rasanya dunia ini runtuh. Seni itu konyol, kan?
I struggled with this for a while. So I took a month to travel in the UK for the first time. I was nervous about this trip because I was traveling alone. And I didn't know how people in these countries felt about Black people, but I went to Berlin, Prague, Budapest, and this tiny British town called Melksham.
Aku berjuang dengan ini untuk sesaat. Jadi, aku mengambil libur pergi ke Inggris untuk pertama kali. Aku gugup di liburan ini karena aku pergi sendiri. Dan aku tak tahu pandangan orang di negara itu tentang orang kulit hitam, tapi aku juga ke Berlin, Praha, Budapest, dan kota kecil di Inggris bernama Melksham.
In Berlin, I sat down with the owner of the biggest comic book store chain there. And we talked about how as a kid, his favorite hero was Captain America, but certain issues of that comic book he never got to read as a kid because Captain America was fighting Nazis in those books. And nothing with Nazis was allowed in Germany, even if they were getting beat up. So let's think about that for a moment. In Germany, Nazis were banished from everything while here in the States, we've erected statues to Confederates who betrayed our country. Anyway, I thought about this man, this comic book fan who grew up in Germany, but fell in love with the story of an American icon. And I realized a well-written comic book or graphic novel could reach someone all the way across the world.
Di Berlin, aku duduk bersama pemilik gerai buku komik terbesar di sana. Dan kita bicara bahawa saat kecil, tokoh kesukaannya adalah Captain America, tapi ada beberapa isu di buku komik yang tidak bisa ia baca saat kecil karena Captain America berperang lawan Nazi di buku itu. Dan apa pun yang berbau Nazi dilarang di Jerman, meskipun mereka dikalahkan. Jadi, coba pikir sejenak. Di Jerman, Nazi diberantas dari apa pun sementara di Amerika Serikat sendiri, kita menaikkan patung pendiri Konfederasi yang mengkhianati bangsa ini. Karena itu, aku memikirkannya, pecinta buku komik yang besar di Jerman, tapi cinta dengan cerita dari seorang ikon Amerika. Aku sadar bahwa buku komik atau novel grafis yang ditulis dengan baik, bisa mencapai siapa pun yang ada di dunia ini.
And I thought about revolution, how whenever society needs to change, that change is inspired at least in part by the artist. I thought about how dictators and despots regularly murder and discredit artists. Hitler's people came up with a term specifically to discredit artists: degenerate art. They were burning books and paintings. But why, why were the leaders of the Nazi party dedicating their attention to destroying art? If art really has no power, if it's really a silly waste of time, then why are dictators afraid of it? Why were Nazis burning books and paintings? Why was McCarthy so dedicated to blacklisting artists in the 1950s? Why was Stalin's government so focused on censoring artists in Russia? Because art scares dictators. Because they understood something that I've been struggling to understand my entire life. Art is powerful. Art is important. Art can change hearts and minds all the way across the world.
Dan aku berpikir tentang revolusi, bagaimana rakyat butuh perubahan, dan perubahan ini terinspirasi setidaknya sebagian oleh seniman. Aku berpikir para diktator dan orang lalim yang suka membunuh dan mencemooh seniman. Orang-orang Hitler punya istilah untuk merendahkan seniman: Seni tidak berderajat. Mereka bakar buku dan lukisan. Tapi kenapa, kenapa para pemimpin partai Nazi memutuskan untuk merusak karya seni? Jika seni tidak punya kekuatan, benar-benar buang waktu secara konyol, lalu kenapa para diktator takut? Kenapa para Nazi membakar buku dan lukisan? Kenapa McCarthy sangat peka memblokir seniman di tahun 1950-an? Kenapa pemerintahan Stalin sangat fokus menyensor seniman di Rusia? Karena seni membuat takut para diktator. Karena mereka paham sesuatu yang gagal kupahami seumur hidupku. Seni itu memiliki kekuatan. Seni itu penting. Seni bisa merubah hati dan pikiran ke seluruh dunia.
In 1894, Russian author, Leo Tolstoy wrote "The Kingdom of God Is Within You". It's a book that advocates for nonviolence. In the 1920s, Mahatma Gandhi listed Tolstoy's book as one of the three most important influences in his life. So Tolstoy inspired Gandhi. And you know who Gandhi inspired? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So how would the civil rights movement in America have changed if Tolstoy had never written his book? Would I even be here talking to you now? Tolstoy's book made real changes in the world by inspiring people. During the civil rights struggle, Black people would stand hand in hand as police and dogs attacked us and we'd sing gospel songs. Those songs, that art inspired these people and it helped them make it through. Activism is how we change the world. And there are different ways to engage in activism. And for me, that way is art.
Di 1984, pengarang Rusia, Leo Tolstoy, menulis “The Kingdom of God is Within You” Itu adalah buku yang mengajarkan kedamaian. Di tahun 1920-an, Mahatma Gandhi menyatakan bahwa buku Tolstoy sebagai satu dari tiga buku yang paling berpengaruh di hidupnya. Jadi, Tolstoy menginspirasi Gandhi. Dan Gandhi menginspirasi siapa? Dr. Martin Luter King, Jr. Lalu, apakah gerakan hak warga sipil Amerika akan berubah jika Tolstoy tak pernah tulis buku? Apa aku akan berbicara sekarang? Buku Tolstoy membawa perubahan nyata di dunia dengan menginspirasi orang. Saat perjuangan hak warga sipil, orang kulit hitam akan berdiri bersama meski diserang anjing dan polisi dan kita bernyanyi lagu gereja. Lagu-lagu itu, adalah seni yang menginspirasi orang dan membantu mereka melewatinya. Aktivisme adalah bagaimana kita merubah dunia. Dan ada berbagai cara untuk berperan di aktivisme. Untukku, caranya adalah seni.
So I came back to the States and I wrote about all those issues that I mentioned before: the police brutality, the sexism, the racism. Honestly, I didn't know how the world was going to receive it from me. I just knew that I was tired of giving my life to things that I didn't care about. So I hired a comic book artist, I ran a Kickstarter campaign and my graphic novel became "The Burning Metronome." It's a supernatural murder mystery about otherworldly creatures who absorb magical power from human cruelty. They watch human beings and they give us the chance to choose between compassion and cruelty. In one of the stories a police officer has an opportunity to go back and undo a time when he was unnecessarily violent to someone.
Karenanya, aku kembali ke Amerika dan aku tulis segala isu yang kusebutkan tadi: brutalitas polisi, seksisme, rasisme. Sejujurnya, aku tak tahu apa tanggapan dunia atas karyaku. Aku cuma tahu aku sudah capek memberikan hidupku ke hal-hal yang tak kupedulikan. Lalu, aku mempekerjakan seniman komik, aku kelola kampanye Kickstarter, dan novel grafisku menjadi “The Burning Metronome.” Itu adalah misteri pembunuhan supranatural tentang makhluk gaib yang menarik kekuatan magisnya dari kekejaman manusia. Mereka melihat manusia dan memberikan kesempatan kita untuk memilih antara kasih sayang dan kekejaman. Di salah satu cerita, seorang polisi punya kesempatan kembali dan mengembalikkan waktu saat ia tak sengaja kejam ke orang lain.
So what happened as a result of me writing this book? I was interviewed on TV news, newspapers. The university invited me to teach writing in their master's program. I'm a professor now. But more importantly, I was able to reach into my heart, pull out the truest parts of my soul and see it have a positive impact on other people's lives.
Jadi, apa hasilnya aku menulis buku ini? Aku diwawancara berita TV, masuk koran. Sebuah kampus mengajakku mengajar menulis di program S2nya. Aku seorang profesor sekarang. Tapi lebih penting lagi, aku bisa mencapai hatiku, menarik bagian terjujur di hidupku dan melihat dampak positif di hidup orang lain.
I was signing books in this comic book store and this man made small talk with me for about 20 minutes. Eventually he said that my book made him think about how he does his job. So of course I asked, what do you do for a living? He was a police officer. So my book made a police officer think about how he does his job. That never happened when I sold insurance.
Aku sedang menanda tangani buku di toko buku komik ini dan pria ini berbicara denganku selama 20 menit. Lalu katanya, bukuku membuatnya berpikir tentang pekerjaannya sekarang. Tentu aku tanya balik, memang kamu kerja apa? Ia adalah seorang polisi. Jadi bukuku membuat polisi jadi bertanya bagaimana ia bekerja. Ini tak pernah terjadi saat aku menjual asuransi.
I write comic books and graphic novels for a living. Now I'm a full-time artist. If I hadn't written that book, none of you would be listening to me right now. And listen, my parents weren't wrong to warn me about the lethal tendencies of this country. Just last year, a white supremacist sent me death threats over a book that I hadn't even finished writing yet. But obviously the only reason he was threatened is because he recognized the power of art to change hearts and minds all the way across the world. So I say to you now, if there's any art you want to create, if there's something in your heart, if you have something to say, we need you now. Your art can be activism. It can inspire people and change the world. If you're afraid, that's OK. Just don't let it stop you. Go make art and scare a dictator. Is art worth it? Hell yeah.
Aku menulis buku komik dan novel grafis untuk hidup. Kini aku seniman seratus persen. Jika aku tak menulis buku itu, tak ada dari kamu yang mendengarkan aku kini. Dan dengar, orang tuaku tidak salah saat mengingatkanku tentang bahaya mematikan di negara ini. Baru tahun lalu, seorang supremasi putih mengirimiku ancaman mati karena buku yang bahkan belum rampung kutulis. Tapi sudah jelas alasan ia merasa terancam adalah karena ia paham kekuatan seni untuk mengubah hati dan pikiran di seluruh dunia. Jadi kukatakan kepadamu sekarang, jika ada seni yang ingin kau buat, jika ada sesuatu di hatimu, jika ada yang ingin kau katakan, kami membutuhkanmu sekarang. Senimu bisa berupa aktivisme. Itu bisa menginspirasi orang dan mengubah dunia. Jika kau takut, tidak apa-apa. Asal jangan menghentikanmu. Buatlah seni dan takut-takuti para diktator. Apa seni berharga? Tentunya.
Thank you.
Terima kasih.