So sang the late Abbey Lincoln.

已故的艾比-林肯也是這麼唱的。

I take that lyric as mantra.

我把這句歌詞當作口頭禪。

"I've got people in me."

"我的身上有人。"

Jomama Jones is the person in me I turn to as a guide.

喬瑪-瓊斯是我心中的引路人。

She's my alter ego.

她是我的另一個自我。

I've been embodying her in performance since 1995,

從1995年開始，我就在表演中體現她。

and she comes around when she has some insight to offer folks.

當她有一些見解可以提供給大家的時候，她就會出現。

At this time of radical change,

在這個劇烈變革的時刻。

I'm glad to be the vessel for her message to you.

我很高興能成為她向你傳達資訊的容器。

Jomama Jones: What if I told you

Jomama Jones:如果我告訴你

it's going to be alright ...

會好起來的...

but what if I told you not yet?

但如果我告訴你還沒有呢？

What if I told you there are trials ahead

如果我告訴你前面還有考驗呢

beyond your deepest fears?

超越你最深的恐懼？

What if I told you will you fall ...

如果我告訴你，你會不會摔倒... ...

down, down, down?

跌，跌，跌？

But what if I told you you will surprise yourself?

但如果我告訴你，你會給自己一個驚喜呢？

What if I told you will be brave enough?

如果我告訴你會有足夠的勇氣呢？

What if I told you

如果我告訴你

we won't all make it through?

我們不會都通過？

But what if I told you

但如果我告訴你

that is as it must be?

那是必須的嗎？

What if I told you I've seen the future?

如果我告訴你我看到了未來呢？

Do you like my hands?

你喜歡我的手嗎？

They're expressive, yeah?

他們很有表現力，是嗎？

Now look at your hands -- now go on.

現在看看你的手 -- 現在繼續。

There's so much history recorded through their touches

有很多歷史都是通過他們的接觸記錄下來的。

and marks of the future sketched on their palms.

並在手掌上勾勒出未來的印記。

Sometimes hands grip tight,

有時手抓得很緊。

sometimes hands let go.

有時手會鬆開。

What if I told you

如果我告訴你

it's all going to come undone?

這一切都將被取消？

Hm.

Hm.

Ladies and gentlemen

女士們，先生們

and otherwise described,

和其他描述。

I am Jomama Jones.

我是Jomama Jones。

Some call me a soul sonic superstar,

有人稱我為靈魂音速巨星。

and I agree,

我同意。

though even in my past that was from the future.

雖然即使在我的過去那也是來自未來。

Let me take you back to girlhood.

讓我帶你回到少女時代。

Picture this:

想象一下

it was Planting Day,

今天是植樹節。

which was a holiday I invented

這是我發明的一個節日

for the Black youth community group I founded.

為我創立的黑人青年社區團體。

I dashed home to put on my gardening ensemble

我飛奔回家，穿上我的園藝服。

when I caught my uncle Freeman red-handed.

當我抓到我叔叔弗里曼的時候，我就被抓了個正著。

He was standing over my piggy bank with his hammer raised high.

他站在我的豬圈上，高高舉起錘子。

He was fixing to steal my coins.

他準備偷我的硬幣。

And you see,

你看

my uncle Freeman was a handyman.

我叔叔弗里曼是個雜役。

He could fix anything --

他什麼都能修...

a broken chair, a shattered pot --

一把破椅子，一個碎鍋 --

even bring grandmother's plants back to life.

甚至讓奶奶的植物起死回生。

He had that magic touch with broken things ...

他有那種神奇的觸覺，對破碎的東西... ...

and broken people.

和破碎的人。

He would take me with him on his jobs

他會帶著我一起去工作

and say, "C'mon Jo,

並說："來吧喬。

let's go do something to make this world a better place."

讓我們去做一些事情，讓這個世界變得更好。"

His hands were wide and calloused,

他的手寬大而佈滿老繭。

and they always reminded me of displaced tree roots.

它們總是讓我想起流離失所的樹根。

As we worked he would talk with folks

我們工作的時候，他就會和大家哈拉

about the change he was sure was just around the corner.

他確信變化就在眼前。

I saw him mend flagging hopes

我看到他在修補著脆弱的希望

and leave folks with their heads held high.

並讓鄉親們昂首挺胸。

His hands stirred the sunshine.

他的雙手攪動著陽光。

And now he was about to break my piggy bank.

而現在他就要打破我的豬圈了。

I said "Step back, man, and show me your hands."

我說："退後，夥計，讓我看看你的手。"

You know the irony was

你知道諷刺的是

he used to give me all the old coins he'd find under floorboards while working.

他曾經給我所有的舊硬幣 他發現在地板下，而工作。

And I put them in the piggy bank

我把它們放進了儲蓄罐

along with the money I earned through my childhood side hustles.

連同我童年兼職賺的錢一起。

But by the spring of 1970,

但到了1970年春天。

Uncle Freeman had lost his touch ...

弗里曼叔叔已經失去了聯繫... ...

along with most of his jobs.

以及他的大部分工作。

He saw a heavy future

他看到了一個沉重的未來

of civil wrongs and Black power outages in his palms.

民間冤假錯案和黑電停電的掌中寶。

The last straw had come the previous winter

最後一根稻草在去年冬天出現了

when they had gunned down Fred Hampton.

當他們槍殺了弗雷德-漢普頓時，

Overwhelmed with fear

因恐懼而不堪重負

and rage

憤怒

and grief,

和悲痛。

Uncle Freeman tried to game his future.

弗里曼叔叔試圖遊戲他的未來。

He gripped too tight,

他抓得太緊了。

and he started playing the numbers.

他開始玩數字。

"Well, one of these numbers is gonna hit, little girl.

"好吧，這些數字中的一個要命，小姑娘。

You got a quarter for your uncle Free -- "

你有25美分給你的弗裡德叔叔 --"

Now some of y'all have that relative.

現在，你們中的一些人都有這樣的相對。

But I knew right then and there I had to do something.

但我當時就知道，我必須做點什麼。

I jumped up and I grabbed that hammer

我一躍而起，抓住了那把錘子。

and I brought it crashing down on that pig.

而我卻把它帶到了那頭豬的身上。

And Uncle Freeman started to weep as I gathered up all the coins.

當我收拾好所有的硬幣時，自由人叔叔開始哭泣。

"We're not buying no lottery ticket, Uncle Freeman.

"我們不買什麼彩票，弗里曼叔叔。

C'mon."

來吧。"

We spent every last cent at the seed store.

我們在種子店花光了最後一分錢。

You know, the kids in my gardening group?

你知道，我的園藝小組的孩子們？

They didn't bat an eye when I had Uncle Freeman get down

我讓弗里曼叔叔下樓的時候，他們連眼睛都不眨一下。

and put his hands in the earth again

再把手伸進土裡

and start breaking up that soil for our seeds.

並開始為我們的種子破土而出。

And my little friend Taesha even came over and started slapping him on the back

而我的小朋友泰莎甚至過來開始拍他的背

saying, "Cry it out, Uncle Freeman.

說："哭出來吧，自由人叔叔。

Cry it out."

哭出來吧。"

"I can't fix this," he sobbed.

"我無法解決這個問題。"他啜泣著說。

It's an ancient-future truism, that.

這是一個古往今來的道理，那。

He wasn't the first to feel that way, and he wouldn't be the last.

他不是第一個有這種感覺的人，也不會是最後一個。

Right now, it feels as though everything is breaking beyond repair.

現在，感覺一切都已經破碎得無法修復。

It is.

它是。

But that breaking apart can be a breaking open,

但是，這種斷裂可以是一種突破性的開放。

no matter how violent and uncertain

風雨無阻

and fearsome it seems.

和可怕的它似乎。

The thing is ...

事情是...

we can't do it alone.

我們不能單獨做它。

Uncle Freeman cried so much that day as we planted our seeds,

那天我們播種的時候，自由人叔叔哭得很傷心。

he was our very own irrigation system.

他是我們自己的灌溉系統。

"I don't know who I am anymore, little girl,"

"我已經不知道自己是誰了，小姑娘"。

he said to me at sundown.

他在日落時分對我說。

"Good, Uncle Freeman.

"好，弗里曼叔叔。

Good.

很好啊

You're new again,

你又是新來的。

and that's just how we need you."

而這正是我們需要你的原因。"