奥巴马在巴纳德学院毕业典礼上的讲话
然而，你们的主动性能使这个国家走多远、能使这个世界走多远，还要取决于你们自己。你们必须有这种愿望。进步不可能由别人拱手奉上。作为一个希望你们、玛莉娅和萨夏拥有这一前途及更美好前途的人，作为一个有幸成为几位坚强杰出的女性的丈夫、父亲和儿子的人，请允许我贡献几条建议。这是义不容辞的。（笑声） 容我慢慢道来。
My first piece of advice is this: Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table. (Applause.)
我的第一条建议是，仅仅参与还不够，要为在决策中赢得一席之地而奋斗。能为坐上首席而奋斗就更好了。（掌声）
It’s been said that the most important role in our democracy is the role of citizen. And indeed, it was 225 years ago today that the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia, and our founders, citizens all, began crafting an extraordinary document. Yes, it had its flaws -- flaws that this nation has strived to perfect over time. Questions of race and gender were unresolved. No woman’s signature graced the original document -- although we can assume that there were founding mothers whispering smarter things in the ears of the founding fathers. (Applause.) I mean, that's almost certain.
有人说，我们民主中最重要的角色是公民角色。的确如此，225年前的今天，费城召开了制宪大会，我们的开国元勋，我们所有的公民，开始起草一项伟大的纲领。是的，该文件有缺陷，这个国家后来为了完善它而作出了努力。种族和性别问题当时没有得到解决。最初的文件上没有妇女的签名来为之增添光彩，但是我们可以想象，一些开国之母在开国之父的耳旁轻声细语地指点一些高招。（掌声）我是说，几乎肯定如此。
What made this document special was that it provided the space -- the possibility -- for those who had been left out of our charter to fight their way in. It provided people the language to appeal to principles and ideals that broadened democracy’s reach. It allowed for protest, and movements, and the dissemination of new ideas that would repeatedly, decade after decade, change the world -- a constant forward movement that continues to this day.
这份文件之所以特别，是因为它为那些没有被纳入我们的宪法的人们提供了争取权利的空间和可能性。它为人民提供了借助于一些原则和理想拓展民主范围的语言。它允许发起抗议和运动，允许传播新思想，一代又一代地改变着世界，形成了一股永不休止的潮流，一直延续到今天。
Our founders understood that America does not stand still; we are dynamic, not static. We look forward, not back. And now that new doors have been opened for you, you’ve got an obligation to seize those opportunities.
我们的开国元勋认识到，美国并非一成不变；我们充满活力，不会停滞不前。我们向前看，不回头。既然新的大门已为你们敞开，你们就有义务把握这些机会。
You need to do this not just for yourself but for those who don’t yet enjoy the choices that you’ve had, the choices you will have. And one reason many workplaces still have outdated policies is because women only account for 3 percent of the CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. One reason we’re actually refighting long-settled battles over women’s rights is because women occupy fewer than one in five seats in Congress.
你们需要这么做，不仅是为了你们自己，也是为了那些没有得到你们已经有过以及还将拥有的种种选择的人。许多工作场所仍在实行过时的政策，原因之一就是妇女只占财富500强公司首席行政官的3%。我们仍在为争取妇女权利而再次进行早已完成的抗争，原因之一就是妇女在国会所占的席位还不到五分之一。
Now, I’m not saying that the only way to achieve success is by climbing to the top of the corporate ladder or running for office -- although, let’s face it, Congress would get a lot more done if you did. (Laughter and applause.) That I think we’re sure about. But if you decide not to sit yourself at the table, at the very least you’ve got to make sure you have a say in who does. It matters.
我不是说取得成功的唯一途径是晋升到公司的最高层，或是竞选公职，不过，请让我们面对这个事实：如果你们竞选公职，国会将能大有作为。（笑声和掌声） 我想大家对此是深信无疑的。但如果你们决定不亲身参政，至少也应该确保自己有权选择议员。这很重要。
Before women like Barbara Mikulski and Olympia Snowe and others got to Congress, just to take one example, much of federally-funded research on diseases focused solely on their effects on men. It wasn’t until women like Patsy Mink and Edith Green got to Congress and passed Title IX, 40 years ago this year, that we declared women, too, should be allowed to compete and win on America’s playing fields. (Applause.) Until a woman named Lilly Ledbetter showed up at her office and had the courage to step up and say, you know what, this isn’t right, women weren’t being treated fairly -- we lacked some of the tools we needed to uphold the basic principle of equal pay for equal work.
例如，在像芭芭拉·米库尔斯基和奥林匹娅·斯诺及其他女性进入国会前，联邦资助的大部分疾病研究主要侧重于疾病对男性的影响。40年前的今天，帕齐·明克和伊迪丝·格林等女性进入国会并通过[教育法修正案]《第九条》，从而宣布女性也有资格在美国的运动场上参与竞赛并取胜。（掌声）一个名叫莉莉·莱德贝特的女性来到她的办公室，勇敢地而明确地说：你们知道吗，这不对，女性没有得到公正待遇——我们缺乏一些必要的手段捍卫同工同酬的基本原则。
So don’t accept somebody else’s construction of the way things ought to be. It’s up to you to right wrongs. It’s up to you to point out injustice. It’s up to you to hold the system accountable and sometimes upend it entirely. It’s up to you to stand up and to be heard, to write and to lobby, to march, to organize, to vote. Don’t be content to just sit back and watch.
所以不要接受别人对于事情理当如何的看法。你应当来纠正错误做法。你应当来指出不公不义。你应当来督促社会体制负起责任，有时需要全盘改变。你应当挺身而出，发表意见，撰文游说，游行示威，组织民众，投票表决。不要满足于袖手旁观。
Those who oppose change, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, have always bet on the public’s cynicism or the public's complacency. Throughout American history, though, they have lost that bet, and I believe they will this time as well. (Applause.) But ultimately, Class of 2012, that will depend on you. Don’t wait for the person next to you to be the first to speak up for what’s right. Because maybe, just maybe, they’re waiting on you.
那些反对变革、受益于不公平现状的人，总是赌定公众要不是愤世嫉俗就是洋洋自得。可是纵观美国历史，他们一再下错赌注，我相信这一次也不例外。（掌声）可是说到底，2012届的同学们，这将取决于你们。不要等待你身旁的人第一个为正义发言。因为有可能，只是有此可能，他们正在等你带头。
Which brings me to my second piece of advice: Never underestimate the power of your example. The very fact that you are graduating, let alone that more women now graduate from college than men, is only possible because earlier generations of women -- your mothers, your grandmothers, your aunts -- shattered the myth that you couldn’t or shouldn’t be where you are. (Applause.)
这就涉及我的第二条建议：切勿低估以身作则的力量。你们即将毕业的事实，且不说目前大学毕业的女生人数超过男生，都是因为前辈女性－－你们的母亲、祖母、姨婶－－打破了你不能或者不应当身在此处的神话。（掌声）
I think of a friend of mine who’s the daughter of immigrants. When she was in high school, her guidance counselor told her, you know what, you’re just not college material. You should think about becoming a secretary. Well, she was stubborn, so she went to college anyway. She got her master’s. She ran for local office, won. She ran for state office, she won. She ran for Congress, she won. And lo and behold, Hilda Solis did end up becoming a secretary -- (laughter) -- she is America’s Secretary of Labor. (Applause.)
我想起一位朋友，她是移民的女儿。念中学时，她的指导老师告诉她，你不是念大学的材料，你应当考虑去当秘书。她很固执，所以还是念了大学，进而拿到硕士学位。她竞选地方公职，结果胜选。她竞选州政府公职，再度胜选。她竞选国会议员，又是胜选。请听好了，希尔达·索利斯最终的确成为一名秘书－－（笑声）－－她成为美国劳工部的秘书[译者注：“秘书”和“部长”在英文中是同一个单词]。（掌声）
So think about what that means to a young Latina girl when she sees a Cabinet secretary that looks like her. (Applause.) Think about what it means to a young girl in Iowa when she sees a presidential candidate who looks like her. Think about what it means to a young girl walking in Harlem right down the street when she sees a U.N. ambassador who looks like her. Do not underestimate the power of your example.
所以想想看，当一名拉丁裔的小女孩看到一名长得像她的内阁部长，会作何感想。（掌声） 当一名艾奥瓦州的小女孩看到一名长得像她的总统候选人，会作何感想。当一名小女孩走在哈莱姆区的街上，看到一名长得像她的驻联合国大使，她会作何感想。不要低估了你们以身作则的力量。
This diploma opens up new possibilities, so reach back, convince a young girl to earn one, too. If you earned your degree in areas where we need more women -- like computer science or engineering -- (applause) -- reach back and persuade another student to study it, too. If you're going into fields where we need more women, like construction or computer engineering -- reach back, hire someone new. Be a mentor. Be a role model.
这张文凭将会开辟新的可能性，因此，回过头去，说服另一个小女孩也去追求文凭。如果你们学习的专业是需要更多女性投入的领域－－比如计算机科学或者工程学－－（掌声）－－也要说服另一名学生加入你们的学习行列。如果你们进入的是需要更多女性加入的领域，如建筑施工或者计算机工程－－那就回头聘一位新人。做一个指导者。做一个好榜样。
Until a girl can imagine herself, can picture herself as a computer programmer, or a combatant commander, she won’t become one. Until there are women who tell her, ignore our pop culture obsession over beauty and fashion -- (applause) -- and focus instead on studying and inventing and competing and leading, she’ll think those are the only things that girls are supposed to care about. Now, Michelle will say, nothing wrong with caring about it a little bit. (Laughter.) You can be stylish and powerful, too. (Applause.) That's Michelle’s advice. (Applause.)
一名女孩要成为计算机程序员或者军事指挥官，她必须首先具备这样的理想。如果没有别的女性告诉她，不要在意我们的流行文化对于美丽和时尚的迷恋－－（掌声）－－而是专注学习，发明创新，与人竞争，发挥领导作用，她就会一直在意那些事情。好，米歇尔会说，在意一点又何妨。（笑声）你可以既时髦又有力量。（掌声） 那是米歇尔的建议。（掌声）
And never forget that the most important example a young girl will ever follow is that of a parent. Malia and Sasha are going to be outstanding women because Michelle and Marian Robinson are outstanding women. So understand your power, and use it wisely.
千万不要忘记一个女孩仿效的最重要榜样就是她的父母。玛莉娅和莎夏将会成为杰出的女性，因为米歇尔和玛丽安·鲁宾逊都是杰出的女性。所以，要认识到你们的力量，并且明智地加以运用。
My last piece of advice -- this is simple, but perhaps most important: Persevere. Persevere. Nothing worthwhile is easy. No one of achievement has avoided failure -- sometimes catastrophic failures. But they keep at it. They learn from mistakes. They don’t quit.
我的最后一点建议－－这很简单，但可能是最重要的一点：坚持不懈。坚持不懈。有价值的事物得之不易。没有一个有成就的人能够避免失败－－有时甚至是一败涂地。可是他们坚持不懈，从错误中学习。他们绝不放弃。
You know, when I first arrived on this campus, it was with little money, fewer options. But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but it was vague how in fact I’d go about it. (Laughter.) But I wanted to do my part to do my part to shape a better world.
你们知道，我刚到这个校园时，没多少钱，更没多少选择。但正是在这里，我试图寻找我在这个世界上的立足之地。我知道我想有所作为，但却不清楚如何去做。(笑声）可我想尽自己的力量去建设一个更美好的世界。
So even as I worked after graduation in a few unfulfilling jobs here in New York -- I will not list them all -- (laughter) -- even as I went from motley apartment to motley apartment, I reached out. I started to write letters to community organizations all across the country. And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago answered, offering me work with people in neighborhoods hit hard by steel mills that were shutting down and communities where jobs were dying away.
因此，即使当我毕业后在纽约从事几份没有成就感的工作的时候——我不会一 一列举——（笑声）——即使在我搬出一间杂乱的公寓又搬到另一间同样杂乱的公寓的时候，我也在努力求索。我开始给全国各地的社区组织写信。有一天，芝加哥南区的一个小型教会组织回了信，给了我一份为当地居民服务的工作，他们那里的钢厂停业使他们受到沉重打击，那里的就业机会也一天天消失。
The community had been plagued by gang violence, so once I arrived, one of the first things we tried to do was to mobilize a meeting with community leaders to deal with gangs. And I’d worked for weeks on this project. We invited the police; we made phone calls; we went to churches; we passed out flyers. The night of the meeting we arranged rows and rows of chairs in anticipation of this crowd. And we waited, and we waited. And finally, a group of older folks walked in to the hall and they sat down. And this little old lady raised her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo game is?” (Laughter.) It was a disaster. Nobody showed up. My first big community meeting -- nobody showed up.
当地社区一直被帮派暴力所扰，所以我一到那里，我们争取做的第一件事情就是与社区领袖开会商量应对帮派的对策。我为这项工作忙了好几个星期。我们邀请了警察；我们打了电话，我们去了教堂；我们散发了传单。要开会的那天晚上，我们排好了一排排椅子，以为会有一大群人到会。我们等啊等。最后，一群老人走进大厅，然后坐下来。有一位瘦小的老太太举起了手，问道：“宾果游戏是在这里吗？”(笑声)真是糟糕透了。没有人来。我的第一个社区大会——没有人到场。
And later, the volunteers I worked with told me, that's it; we’re quitting. They'd been doing this for two years even before I had arrived. They had nothing to show for it. And I’ll be honest, I felt pretty discouraged as well. I didn't know what I was doing. I thought about quitting. And as we were talking, I looked outside and saw some young boys playing in a vacant lot across the street. And they were just throwing rocks up at a boarded building. They had nothing better to do -- late at night, just throwing rocks. And I said to the volunteers, “Before you quit, answer one question. What will happen to those boys if you quit? Who will fight for them if we don’t? Who will give them a fair shot if we leave?
后来，和我一起工作的志愿人员对我说，够了，我们不干了。他们在我来之前已经干了两年之久。他们觉得没有任何成就可言。说实话，我也感到相当气馁。我不知道我在做什么。我想过不干了。当我们交谈的时候，我往外边看了看，看到一群年轻的男孩在马路对面的空地上玩耍。他们正对着一座用板子钉起来的建筑物投掷石块。他们百无聊赖——在深夜，扔石头玩。我对那些志愿人员说：“在你们退出之前，先回答一个问题。如果你们不干了那些男孩会怎么样？如果我们不为他们着想，还有谁会为他们奋斗呢？如果我们走了，还有谁会给他们一个公平的机会呢？
And one by one, the volunteers decided not to quit. We went back to those neighborhoods and we kept at it. We registered new voters, and we set up after-school programs, and we fought for new jobs, and helped people live lives with some measure of dignity. And we sustained ourselves with those small victories. We didn’t set the world on fire. Some of those communities are still very poor. There are still a lot of gangs out there. But I believe that it was those small victories that helped me win the bigger victories of my last three and a half years as President.
志愿者们一个接一个地决定不放弃。我们回到那些街区，继续坚持工作。我们给新选民登记，我们安排课后活动，我们争取新的就业机会，并帮助人们活得更有尊严。我们用那些小小的胜利鼓励自己。我们并没有做什么惊天动地的事。这些社区中有一些仍然很贫穷。那里仍然有很多的帮派出没。但我相信，就是这些小小的胜利帮助我在这三年半里作为总统赢得了更大的胜利。
And I wish I could say that this perseverance came from some innate toughness in me. But the truth is, it was learned. I got it from watching the people who raised me. More specifically, I got it from watching the women who shaped my life.
我希望我能说这种执着源于我与生俱来的某种毅力。但事实是，这是后天学到的。我是从养育我的人身上学到的。更具体地说，我是从影响了我的生活的那些女性身上学到的。
I grew up as the son of a single mom who struggled to put herself through school and make ends meet. She had marriages that fell apart; even went on food stamps at one point to help us get by. But she didn’t quit. And she earned her degree, and made sure that through scholarships and hard work, my sister and I earned ours. She used to wake me up when we were living overseas -- wake me up before dawn to study my English lessons. And when I’d complain, she’d just look at me and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” (Laughter.)
我是一个单身母亲的儿子，她含辛茹苦，在努力维持家庭生计的同时完成学业。她有过破碎的婚姻，甚至一度靠领取食品劵勉强养家度日。但她没有放弃。她获得了学位，并确保我和我妹妹能依靠奖学金和辛勤努力来获得我们的学位。当我们在海外生活时，她常常叫我起床——天不亮就起床，学习英语课程。当我抱怨时，她就会看着我说：“小子，这对我也并不轻松。”(笑声)
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