查看原文
First lady Michelle Obama embraced her family’s African roots in a speech on Wednesday, telling a group of young Africans that the “blood of Africa” runs through her veins as she urged changing traditional beliefs on the worth of educating women.
Her husband had shied away from discussing his African heritage in his own remarks to the 500 Africans finishing a six-week Washington leadership fellowship on Monday, referencing his Kenyan father only once and in the question-and-answer session. But Michelle Obama said as an African American woman, her discussion with the African youth was “deeply personal.”
“The roots of my family tree are in Africa,” the first lady told the cheering crowd. “My husband’s father was born and raised in Kenya. Members of our extended family still live there. I have had the pleasure of traveling to Africa many times over the years, including four trips as first lady, and I have brought my mother and my daughters along whenever I can.”
“The blood of Africa runs through my veins, and I care deeply,” Obama said, addressing her listeners as her “brothers” and “sisters.”
Three months before congressional elections that could determine the fate of much of President Obama’s platform, Michelle Obama’s popularity remains high while her husband’s has sunk.
The White House is making women’s empowerment a theme in a Washington African leaders summit next week. Michelle Obama said problems with girls’ education often stemmed from traditional “attitudes and beliefs” that exist even in the United States and lead to issues such as the gender pay gap and an underrepresentation of women in leadership.
She said men worldwide needed to “l(fā)ook into their hearts and souls and ask if they truly view women as their equals.”
“I am who I am today because of the people in my family, particularly the men in my family, who valued me and invested in me from the day I was born,” Obama said.
“And as I grew up, the men who raised me set a high bar for the type of men I’d allow into my life - which is why I went on to marry a man who had the good sense to fall in love with a woman who was his equal, to treat me as such - a man who supports and reveres me, and who supports and reveres our daughters as well,” Obama said.
|
查看譯文
7月30日,美國(guó)第一夫人米歇爾?奧巴馬對(duì)非洲青年領(lǐng)袖發(fā)表演講,她與非洲“血脈相連”,當(dāng)年她的祖先帶著鎖鏈來(lái)到美國(guó)。
7月28日,米歇爾的丈夫,美國(guó)總統(tǒng)貝拉克?奧巴馬在華盛頓與500名非洲青年才俊的對(duì)話(huà)中,對(duì)其非洲血統(tǒng)避而不談,僅是在問(wèn)答環(huán)節(jié)中談到他的肯尼亞父親一次。但是米歇爾?奧巴馬大方表示,作為一名非洲裔美國(guó)女性,她與非洲青年的對(duì)話(huà)源自“個(gè)人內(nèi)心深處情感”。
這位美國(guó)第一夫人說(shuō),“我的家庭的根在非洲,我丈夫的父親生于肯尼亞,長(zhǎng)于肯尼亞。我們的大家庭里還有人住在肯尼亞。多年來(lái),我有幸多次回到非洲,其中以第一夫人身份就有四次。只要條件允許,我總會(huì)帶上我的母親和女兒們?!?/p>
米歇爾說(shuō)“我與非洲血脈相連,我非常關(guān)心非洲”。演講中,米歇爾將聽(tīng)眾稱(chēng)作自己的“兄弟姐妹”。
“我的祖先身披鎖鏈來(lái)到這里,”米歇爾說(shuō),“我的父母和祖父母深知種族隔離和歧視的痛苦。但我就讀于這個(gè)國(guó)家最好的大學(xué)。我的職業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)超出我最狂野的夢(mèng)想。今天,我生活在白宮……我的故事和我的國(guó)家的故事就是實(shí)現(xiàn)不可能的故事。我知道,這也能成為你們的故事,成為非洲的故事。”
距離美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)中期選舉還有三個(gè)月的時(shí)間,這次中期選舉將很大程度上決定奧巴馬政府施政計(jì)劃的命運(yùn)。目前奧巴馬總統(tǒng)的受歡迎程度不斷下滑,而米歇爾?奧巴馬卻依然廣受歡迎。
白宮方面將婦女賦權(quán)作為下周開(kāi)幕的美非峰會(huì)的一個(gè)主題。米歇爾?奧巴馬表示,女性教育常常因傳統(tǒng)“態(tài)度與觀(guān)念”而受阻,這種“態(tài)度與觀(guān)念”甚至在美國(guó)也依然存在。而女性教育受阻則會(huì)造成性別收入差異以及女性在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)階層代表不足。
米歇爾稱(chēng),全世界的男性都要“審視自己的內(nèi)心與靈魂,問(wèn)問(wèn)自己是否真正平等看待女性”。
米歇爾說(shuō),“我之所以成為今天的我,全都因?yàn)橛H人們的支持,尤其是男人們,他們重視我,并從我出生的那天起,對(duì)我教育的投資便毫不吝嗇?!?/p>
米歇爾說(shuō),“當(dāng)我長(zhǎng)大后,我的父親對(duì)我擇偶的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)要求很高,這就是我為什么會(huì)嫁給貝拉克,他能夠愛(ài)上一個(gè)同自己一樣優(yōu)秀的女性,支持我,尊敬我,對(duì)我們的女兒也是一樣”。
(譯者 陳迪BFSUMTI 編輯 丹妮)
掃一掃,關(guān)注微博微信
|