以自由之名——致瑪雅·安杰洛

Maya Angelou是美國文壇最耀眼的黑人女作家和詩人。1993年她在美國前總統(tǒng)Bill Clinton的就職儀式上特邀朗誦獻詩《On the Pulse of the Morning》，從而成為美國歷史上繼Robert Frost之后的官方詩人。《Still I Rise》是她的詩歌代表作，是繼Martin Luther King的《I Have a Dream》之后美國黑人爭取民權的又一紀念碑式的作品。她出版過10部暢銷書，同時是美國知名的演員、導演、制片人和影視劇作家，是好萊塢第一位黑人女導演。

Maya Angelou曾在回憶錄中提到自己不為人知的往事，生于長于種族隔離深重的年代，她沒有被困境壓倒，而是自立自強自勉，她是非裔美國人社區(qū)的明星，激勵和鼓舞了成千上萬的人們。2014年5月28日，多年飽受疾病折磨的Maya Angelou逝世，但她的經(jīng)歷和作品將永留人世，成為敬愛她的人們手中寶貴的財富。

David Greene （Host）： Some sad news this morning， Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86. She was a poet， a performer and a political activist. She was born in St. Louis in 1928， and grew up in a 1）segregated society that she worked so passionately to change during the civil rights era. The book that put Angelou on the literary stage was “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings，”which revealed scars from her past. It was the first of a series of memoirs.

Maya Angelou went on to become an iconic figure in American culture. NPR’s Lynn Neary looks back on her life. Lynn Neary （Byline）： Growing up in St. Louis， Mo.， and Stamps， Ark.， she was Marguerite Johnson. It was her brother who first called her Maya， and the name stuck. Later she added the Angelou， a version of her first husband’s name.

Maya Angelou left a troubled childhood and the segregated world of Arkansas behind and began a career as a dancer and singer. She toured Europe in the1950s with a production of “Porgy and Bess，” studied dance with Martha Graham and performed with Alvin Ailey on television. In 1957 she recorded an album called “Calypso Lady.”

（Soundbite of song， “Peas and Rice”）

Neary： Angelou recalled those days in an interview with NPR.

（Soundbite of archived broadcast）

Maya Angelo： See， I was known as Miss Calypso. And when I’d forget the lyric， I’d just tell the audience—I seem to have forgotten the lyric. I will now dance—and I would move around a bit.

Patrik Henry Bass： You just， you just sort of imagine her in Paris， you know， in any era—like in the ’20s or the ’40s. I mean， she really believed that life was a 2）banquet.

Neary： Patrik Henry Bass is an editor at Essence Magazine. When he first read Angelou’s memoir， “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings，” he saw 3）parallels in his own life in a small town in North Carolina.

Everyone in the African-American community looked up to her， he says. She was a 4）celebrity， but she was one of them. He remembers seeing her on television and hearing her speak.

Bass： When we think of her， we often think about her books， of course， and her poems. But in the African-American community， certainly， we heard so much of her work recited， so you…I think about her voice. You would hear that voice， and that voice would capture a humanity， and it would—that voice would calm you in so many ways through some of the most significant challenges.

Angelou： You may write me down in history with your bitter， twisted lies. You may 5）tread me in the very dirt but still， like dust， I’ll rise. Does my 6）sassiness upset you？ Why are you 7）beset with 8）gloom？ Just ’cause I walk as if I have oil wells pumping in my living room. Just like suns and like moons， with the certainty of tides， just like hopes springing high， still I rise.

Neary： Film director John Singleton grew up in a very different part of the country. But he remembers the effect that poem had on him as a kid.

John Singleton： I come from South Central Los Angeles， a place where we learn to puff up our chests to make ourselves bigger than we are because we have so many forces knocking us down—including some of our own. And so that poem， “I Still Rise，”[sic] it pumps me up. You know， it’s like， it’s something that just makes me feel better about myself， or at least made me feel better about myself when I was young.

Neary： Singleton used the poems of Maya Angelou in his 1993 film， “Poetic Justice.” Angelou also had a small part in the movie. Singleton says he thinks of Angelou as a 9）griot—a traditional African storyteller.

Singleton： And we all have that one or two people in our， in our families that just can spin a yarn， that， you know， that has a whole lot to say， and holds a lot of wisdom from walking through the world and experiencing different things. And that’s the way I see Dr. Maya Angelou. I mean， she was a 10）contemporary of Martin Luther King， a contemporary of Malcolm X and Oprah Winfrey. So she 11）transcends so many different generations of African-American culture that have， have affected all of us.

Joanne Braxton： She changed our culture.

Neary： Joanne Braxton is a professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Braxton says Angelou’s willingness to reveal the sexual abuse she suffered as a child in her memoir， “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” was 12）unprecedented at the time. The critical acclaim and popularity of the book opened doors for both African-American and women writers.

Braxton： Maya Angelou brought about a 13）paradigm shift in American literature and culture so that the works， and the gifts， the talents of women writers， including women writers of color， could be brought to the 14）foreground and appreciated. She created an audience by her 15）stunning example.

Neary： For Braxton， the world will never be quite the same without Maya Angelou.

Braxton： I love her. She’s beloved by many， including many， many people who have never met her in person and who will never meet her in person. But she has extended herself that way so that her touch extends beyond her physical embrace. That is truly a gift， and we are truly blessed to have known her through her presence and her work.

Neary： Angelou once said she believed that life loves the liver of it， and she did live it， to the fullest.

大衛(wèi)·格林（主持人）：今早（譯者注：這里指2014年5月28日）傳來噩耗，瑪雅·安杰洛去世，享年86歲。她是一名詩人、表演家和政治活動家。1928年出生于圣路易斯，在種族隔離深重的社會里成長，在民權運動時期激昂致力于改變這一狀況。使安杰洛登上文學舞臺的著作《我知道籠中之鳥為何歌唱》，將她過往傷痕一展無遺。這是她一系列回憶錄的第一部。

瑪雅·安杰洛緊接著成為了美國文化偶像式的人物。全國公共廣播電臺（記者）林恩·尼瑞（將引領我們）回顧她的一生。

林恩·尼瑞（記者）：在密蘇里州的圣路易斯和阿肯色州的斯坦普斯長大，她叫瑪格麗特·約翰遜。她的哥哥首先稱她為瑪雅，這一名字也流傳至今。后來她加上了安杰洛，這是她第一任丈夫的姓。

瑪雅·安杰洛的童年困境重重，又經(jīng)歷了阿肯色州嚴重的種族隔離，之后她開始了舞者和歌手的職業(yè)生涯。20世紀50年代，她在歐洲巡演（歌劇）《波吉與貝絲》，師從（舞蹈家）瑪莎·葛蘭姆學習舞蹈，跟隨埃爾文·艾利（黑人舞蹈團）在電視節(jié)目上表演。1957年，她錄制了一張名為《卡利普索女郎》的專輯。

（歌曲《豌豆與大米》片段）

尼瑞：安杰洛曾在全國公共廣播電臺的一次采訪中回憶了那段時光。（廣播片段）

瑪雅·安杰洛：看吧，我因卡利普索小姐而成名，當我忘記歌詞的時候，我就告訴觀眾們——似乎我忘記歌詞了，我現(xiàn)在要跳舞了——然后我就跳上一段。

帕特里克·亨利·巴斯：你只是想象在巴黎的她，你知道的，在任何時代，比如20世紀20年代或40年代。我是說，她真的相信生活就是一場宴會。

尼瑞：帕特里克·亨利·巴斯是《本質(zhì)》雜志的編輯。當他第一次讀安杰洛的回憶錄《我知道籠中之鳥為何歌唱》時，他就看到自己在北卡羅來納州一個小鎮(zhèn)生活的縮影。

在非裔美國人社區(qū)，人人都尊敬她，巴斯說。她是一位名人，但是也是他們普羅大眾中的一員。他回憶起在電視上看到她，并聽她說話。

巴斯：當我們想起她時，通常會想起她的書，當然，還有她的詩。但在非裔美國人社區(qū)，我們當然聽得更多的是朗誦她的作品，所以你……我會想念她的聲音。你可以聽聽她的聲音，那是能夠俘獲人心的聲音，也能——那聲音能使你在面對一些意義重大的挑戰(zhàn)時靜下來。

安杰洛：你可以把我寫進歷史，用你那尖刻的、撒謊的文字，你可以把我踩進泥地，但就像塵土般，我仍將奮起。我的精神抖擻可讓你煩惱？為什么你要皺著眉頭？因為我步履矯健，像在自家挖出了石油。像太陽，像月亮，浪潮退卻亦復漲，揚得高高像希望，我仍將奮起。（譯者注：這是安杰洛在朗誦所著詩歌《我仍將奮起》）

尼瑞：電影導演約翰·辛格頓成長在這個國家很不一樣的一個地區(qū)，但是他記得孩童時那首詩對他產(chǎn)生的影響。

約翰·辛格頓：我來自洛杉磯中南部，在那兒我們學會挺起胸膛使自己變得更加強大，因為有很多勢力想要將我們擊垮，也包括我們自身的一些因素。而那首詩《我仍將奮起》，使我勇氣倍增。你知道的，它讓我自我感覺更好，至少讓年輕時的我自我感覺更好。

尼瑞：辛格頓在他1993年的電影《因果循環(huán)》中引用了瑪雅·安杰洛的詩。安杰洛也在電影中有小部分演出。辛格頓說他覺得安杰洛是一個格里奧——非洲傳統(tǒng)中的講故事者。

辛格頓：在我們家族里還有一兩個人能夠講故事，你知道的，講各種各樣的故事，從周游世界和經(jīng)歷不同奇遇中積累智慧。那就是我看到的瑪雅·安杰洛博士所做的事。她是與（美國黑人運動領袖）馬丁·路德·金同時代的人，也是與（黑人運動領袖）馬爾科姆·利特爾還有（著名脫口秀主持人）奧普拉·溫弗瑞同時代的人。因此她跨越了非裔美國文化不同的一代又一代，影響了我們所有的人。

瓊安娜·布萊斯頓：她改變了我們的文化。

尼瑞：瓊安娜·布萊斯頓是弗吉尼亞州威廉瑪麗學院的教授。布萊斯頓說，安杰洛在她的回憶錄《我知道籠中之鳥為何歌唱》中自愿揭露了童年時期遭受過性虐待，這在當時是空前的。此書好評如潮和強大的讀者群同時為非裔美國作家和女性作家打開了一扇門。

布萊斯頓：瑪雅·安杰洛引發(fā)了美國文學和文化界的典范轉(zhuǎn)移，使得女性作家包括有色人種女性作家的作品、天賦和才華能受到關注，獲得欣賞。她以其極富魅力的典范贏得了一眾追隨者。

尼瑞：對布萊斯頓來說，沒有了瑪雅·安杰洛的世界變得不一樣了。

布萊斯頓：我愛她。許多人都愛她，包括許許多多從未見過她本人的和永遠不會再見到她本人的人們。但是她以那樣的方式伸出雙臂擁抱我們，這超越了身體上的接觸。那真是一份禮物，我們真心有幸通過她和她的作品認識了她。

尼瑞：安杰洛曾說過她相信生活喜歡熱愛它的人們，她熱愛生活，全身心地去愛。