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我們的榮譽學位得主、校友、校董會委員、全體教職員、家長、家屬和朋友,尤其是我們的畢業生,歡迎參加約翰.霍普金斯大學2015年畢業典禮。演講正式開始前,我想先談談Cherington幾分鐘前提到的事。當他介紹他今天畢業的女兒Nicole時,提到去年一件我家人仍津津樂道的事。Andrew畢業時大概坐在那個位置,我請他站起來讓我認識一下,我後來才知道,當他坐下後,坐在Andrew旁邊一位不認識的人說:「老兄,這太殘酷了。」你或許得治療好幾年。所以Nicole,你在哪裡,Nicole?Nicole,你可以站起來讓我看一下嗎?Nicole?Nicole?那裡嗎?Nicole,永遠記住這一點,這樣對待你的不是你父親。Nicole,你可以坐下了。
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To our honorary degree recipients, alumni, and trustees … to our faculty and staff, to our parents, family members and friends … and most especially to our graduates … welcome to the Johns Hopkins University Commencement for the great Class of 2015!
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今天我想談談你們和我們的故事。不令人意外地,我們每個人都將自己視為故事的主角,因此很自然地假設你們的故事始於你們、終於你們。在霍普金斯,你們確實經歷了一些災難性劇變。你們入學時遭遇颶風襲擊,後來發生地震,然後是展現典型霍普金斯創造性與主動性的定期活動-我敢說是強制性的-在沙灘上弄得滿身泥濘的迎新活動。接下來四年中,布洛迪學習共用空間取代了A level創投基金,新生宿舍裝了空調,一個難以想像、了不起的先進工程,最重要的是甘藍葉輕易就將多力多滋趕下CharMar市場的貨架。
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Today, I want to talk about stories—yours and ours.Each of us sees ourselves—not surprisingly—as the protagonist of our story. So it's natural to assume your stories begin and end with you.At Hopkins, you experienced some seismic shifts.Literally.You entered the university during a hurricane … and then an earthquake, and showed typical Hopkins inventiveness and initiative by substituting regularly scheduled—mandatory, I daresay—orientation activities with mudslides on the beach. In your ensuing four years, Brody Atrium replaced the A level, air conditioning came to the AMRs—a truly remarkable feat of advanced engineering that one could not even have dreamed of—and kale chips briefly bumped Doritos off the CharMar shelves…
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顯然這些都是偉大的時刻,現在,更重要的是你們的大學生涯即將結束,在世道再次變得動盪的時刻,在巴爾的摩學習、工作、生活的每一個人都在某種程度上感受到擾亂我們城市的動盪,就在你們期末考開始之前。最近,在擠滿聽眾的史瑞佛廳裡,記者和西巴爾的摩當地居民Ta-Nehisi Coate談到美國的種族問題以及歧視問題,這是建國時期暴力奴役制度所遺留的缺陷。他指出我們正處於這個架構宏大的故事當中,故事並非從我們開始,塑造故事的是在我們之前的其他人物。架構早已決定,劇情早已上演,思想、文化和制度早已根深蒂固。Coates提醒我們,那天晚上我們看到的憤怒根源並非始於現在,也不會在短期內改變。複雜而弊端叢生的制度,例如歧視性住房政策、教育機會不平等以及大規模監禁已持續數十年,如果沒有持續而堅定的努力,我們無法徹底解決這些問題。
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These were times of great moment. Clearly.Now, more seriously, your college years are ending—at a time that is once again seismic.Each of us who learns, works and lives here in Baltimore has been touched in some way by the unrest that roiled our city just before your final exams began.Recently, in a jam-packed Shriver Hall here on the campus, journalist and West Baltimore native Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke about race in America, and the legacy of generations of discrimination that has emanated from our country's founding flaw of violent enslavement.
He observed that we enter the grand narratives of our time midstream.The stories don't start with us. Other characters were there before. Decisions were made. Dynamics unleashed. Ideas, cultures, and systems are already deeply entrenched.Coates reminded us that the root causes of the rage we saw that night are not only of this moment, and will not be changed quickly. The complex and pernicious matrix of discriminatory housing policy, disparate educational opportunity, and mass incarceration has lasted decades and will not be undone without sustained and determined effort.
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巴爾的摩動亂後幾天,我向住在加拿大的摯友兼導師傾訴我對巴爾的摩局勢的擔憂,他專注地聆聽我詳細列舉巴爾的摩面臨的各種挑戰,當我說完後,他吐出四個字:「關鍵時刻」。好,也許這句話的意義並非顯而易見,我瞭解它的意義也很難表達,因此容我解釋一下。這個詞源於社會科學家的「路徑依賴理論」,這是社會科學中已獲得廣泛應用的理論。這個理論是:政策、制度和習俗源於對特定起始條件的反應,即使這些起始條件不再具有原本的作用和關聯性,因它們所衍生、早已過時且不公正的政策、制度和習俗仍繼續存在,有時持續數十年、甚至數百年。這是因為人們傾向於堅持熟悉的路徑,而非忍受改變所帶來的混亂、代價和變動。他們將選擇遵循熟知的路徑,他們將選擇保持現狀。
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A few days after Baltimore's unrest, I confided my concerns about the situation in our city to my dearest friend and mentor who lives back in Canada.He listened attentively as I enumerated, in painstaking and vivid detail, the various challenges buffeting Baltimore. And then, when I finished, he uttered two simple words: "critical junctures."Now, perhaps the import of that phrase is not self-evident. Nor is the sense of radical possibility it conveys. So let me explain.It starts with the social scientist's idea of path dependency.The idea is that policies, institutions, and customs arise in response to a certain set of starting conditions. And even when those starting conditions recede and are no longer relevant, the policies, institutions and customs that were created in their shadow, and which were long ago outdated and unjust, tend to persist—sometimes over decades, sometimes even over centuries. This is so because people become rooted in these familiar paths. Rather than endure the disruptions, the costs of, and adjustments to what is desirable change, they will opt to stick with what they know. They will opt for the status quo.
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然而,很多時候我們將遭遇痛苦不堪、極度不安的時刻,使現狀無法維持,這就是真實而深刻之改革的序幕,即使沉重的歷史也無法阻止改革的腳步,這就是所謂的「關鍵時刻」。當關鍵時刻來臨,一切限制都不復存在,突然間看似不可改變的故事節奏戛然而止,我們有機會打破過去的限制、改變敘事的進程,我們可以偏離既定的路徑。巴爾的摩四月末的動盪引發了一個「關鍵時刻」,我們在巴爾的摩目睹的反應揭示、且將進一步揭示我們社會的特質。是的,我們城市面臨的挑戰如同我們國家面臨的挑戰,是艱鉅、複雜、持久的,但現在有個明顯的可能性,情況可能、且必定會發生改變。因此-因此在過去幾星期當中,我已看見行動的曙光、天性的曙光,我已聽見改變的號角。各行各業的巴爾的摩人正在討論、召集、組織、夢想,帶著堅定的決心和旺盛的鬥志,接受許多不同領域的必要改革,為本市年輕人提供更多夏季工作、更好的學校和技能發展計畫以及刑事司法改革等等。
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And yet, every so often, we arrive at a moment that is so wrenching, so deeply unsettling that it makes the status quo untenable, and there is an opening for real and profound reform.Not even the heavy weight of history can thwart its logic.These are "critical junctures."And when they happen, all bets are off.Suddenly, the seemingly inexorable flow and rhythm of the story halts, and we have the chance to break with the past and change the course of the narrative. We can get off the path.The unrest of late April sparked a critical juncture here in Baltimore, and the response we see in our city reveals and will reveal much about the character of our community.
Yes, our city's challenges—like our nation's—are daunting, complex, and persistent. But there is now a sense of palpable possibility. Things can—things must—change.Over the last several weeks, I have seen glimmers of the movement, of the instinct, of the yearning for change. Baltimoreans, of all stripes, are talking, they're convening, they're organizing, they're dreaming—with fierce determination and a can-do scrappiness—to embrace the imperative for reform in so many different contexts: more summer jobs for our city's youth, better schools and skills development programs, and criminal justice reforms, to name a few.
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我相信持續的改變是可能的,只要我們齊心協力、保持樂觀態度,只要我們不動搖地堅持改革的道路。想像一下我們能在一年內取得的進步,想像一下我們能帶來的鼓舞和希望。如果我們在巴爾的摩證明我們開始為生活條件最艱苦的地區帶來更好的醫療、教育和工作機會,這將成為能流芳千古的國家事件。那些將繼續留在巴爾的摩的人,讓我們一起把握這個時刻,這座城市需要你們的想法、你們的能量、你們的樂觀;那些即將前往他處的人應該瞭解儘管「關鍵時刻」不會經常發生,它隨時隨地都可能發生。各位畢業生,你們的角色-擁有霍普金斯教育的你們-就是在「關鍵時刻」敞開胸懷,掌握它所給予的機會。無論你在何時何地參與這個故事,你的批判性思維將使你建立更好的制度和政策,你們的研究將為脆弱的人類帶來更健康的生活,你們的藝術將驅使人們深入瞭解我們共同的人性。因此當那個時刻來臨,你面臨「關鍵時刻」,我們需要你們以充滿活力、大膽、機智的態度捍衛你所發現和珍視的真理,你們令我們深感驕傲。祝你們成功,恭喜2015年畢業生。
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And I believe that sustained change is possible so long as our collective resolve and shared optimism holds firm—that we are unshakeable in our commitment to change. In one year's time, imagine the progress we could make. Imagine the excitement and hope we could unleash if we were to show that here in Baltimore we began to bring better health, better education, and more jobs to our most challenged neighborhoods. That would truly be a national news story of note. For those of you who are staying in Baltimore, let's seize this moment together. Your city needs your ideas, your energy, and your optimism.For those of you who are going elsewhere know this: Though critical junctures don't happen often, they can happen anywhere and anytime.Graduates, your role—Hopkins education in hand—is to be open to that moment and embrace the radical possibility it entails.No matter where or when you enter a story, your critical thinking will allow you to build better institutions and policies. Your research will bring better health to vulnerable populations. And your artistry will compel us to more deeply understand our common humanity.When the moment arrives, and you face a critical juncture, we need you to be vigorous, bold, and smart in championing the truths you have discovered and which you hold dear.We are so, so proud of you all.Godspeed—and congratulations to the great Class of 2015!