美国国家公共电台 NPR 'A People's History Of Chicago' Reflects A Spectrum Of Experiences

 

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

Let's turn to the city of Chicago. It's been a momentous¹ year in Chicago in part because of the continued spike² in violent crime. A poet is trying to change the reasons people talk about his hometown. Kevin Coval has been called Chicago's unofficial poet laureate.

For some 20 years, his poetry has been popular in literary circles and in the hip-hop scene. And he's the author of seven books, many of them poetry. His newest is called "A People's History Of Chicago." In it, Coval tells the story of Chicago's working class in minority communities who built the city in some 77 poems. And he joins us now from New York. Welcome.

KEVIN COVAL: Thanks so much for having me.

SUAREZ: Did you set out to be a poet? How did you find your way to poetry?

COVAL: Yeah. I mean, through hip-hop I was always fascinated with stories, and I grew up having the benefit of listening to my dad and my aunt tell the same stories again and again. And for a long time as a kid, I was kind of annoyed that they wouldn't stop repeating the same stories.

But eventually I kind of figured that that was my own family's oral history. And so I began to listen a little more intently, and it kind of, you know, vibrated with the same kind of working-class narratives⁵ that hip-hop was also telling me simultaneously⁶ in the headphones and boombox that I was listening to. And, you know, I was attracted to some of the, you know, revision-isms of KRS-One and Public Enemy. And they were, of course, countering a lot of the whitewashing⁷ that I was getting both in my public school education as well as my own Hebrew school. And so that really fascinated me, too.

SUAREZ: But a white guy doing this has to be careful, no? I mean, there's all this angry back and forth⁸ about authenticity¹⁰, who gets to say what, who gets to do what. Did you have to not only make clear it was homage¹¹, but that this was an embrace born of real love?

COVAL: Yeah. Well, I think hip-hop gives all people permission to tell their authentic⁹ story. And I think that's part of what it has done for me. And, I mean, we're also talking about now 40 years into the culture. And, you know, from the beginning white people were around and from the beginning, you also had white practitioners¹².

I think the problem is when we kind of continue to tell cultural production in America with the same whitewashed¹³ lens, and we continue to kind of give more praise to the white appropriators or even potentially white innovators in a form that is clearly of the African Diaspora, clearly created by black and brown people in these countries. And the attention that we give sometimes skews, you know, to the whites. And so, you know, part of my work is, one, to interrogate¹⁴ whiteness and hopefully deconstruct it with people around me who are down for the same things.

SUAREZ: Well, starting from the beginning of the city and the name of a skunk¹⁵ - or a stinky onion and the Indian word for that which gives us Chicago, you stop along the way at cultural and political mileposts. And you end with the Cubs¹⁶ winning the World Series and why you love the city. So it's kind of a history book, but it's a very selective telling. How did you pick and choose which parts of these 300 years to tell and what events to cover?

COVAL: One of my colleagues, Nate Marshall, who was a - he was one of my main editors of "A People's History Of Chicago," and, you know, Nate suggested that we come to the number 77 for the amount of area communities that are in the city, and that was a target. And so we kind of, you know, selected poems I think that were most successful as well as really being cognizant of the spectrum¹⁷ of experiences we were hoping to tell with the book.

And, of course, I mean, there are giant gaps in the book. And my hope and plan over the course of these 365 days in the city of Chicago is to do 180 readings in the city, at least one in every neighborhood and have those readings be accompanied by and large from workshops and do a lot of listening over the course of this year.

SUAREZ: I've asked you to pick out some stuff to read. Could you bring us something from the book?

COVAL: Well, it's one of those poems where workers have indeed won, and it's called "The Republic Window Workers Sit-In December 5, 2008." (Reading) Organizing began with whispers in the break room, a tavern¹⁸ after-punch clock. When the company comes to close, the workers will not leave. For six days, capitalism¹⁹ gets its ass³ kicked. The workers united will never be defeated. They refuse to be refuse. Boss man could care less. They sit like Buddhas²⁰, bodies on the line in lawn chairs with coolers and hot aluminum-wrapped tamales. The company thought they slick, opened a non-union odd (ph) shop in Red Oak, Iowa, under the name Echo, and the poems write themselves, echoes of the republic for which it stands. The workers sit. The workers are the best poets - five years from now will take over the whole joint²¹, fire the CEO, rename the company New Era, build a worker-owned co-op. On this day, capitalism lost.

SUAREZ: The book has 77 homes, and you tell stories like that of the Republic Window strike. But if you've never even set foot in the city if you're listening to this radio program in - on an expressway near Phoenix²² in your kitchen in New England, is there going to be something for you in this book?

COVAL: Yes. And I think I hope two things happen - one, that it is part of what this book does - it speaks to the counter-narrative⁴ that, you know, media around the country and even in our own city are trying to perpetuate²³ this notion that Chicago is something that it is not. Chicago is in the midst of a cultural renaissance²⁴ ran by young people 16 to 26 who are changing the way the world gets down. And so I hope people can lean into the book.

And also I hope that wherever folks are listening, they can also begin to investigate and listen to the stories of their own city. You know, this book itself is influenced by the progressive historian Howard Zinn, who I had the occasion to meet. You know, Howard's belief that these stories of the underdog need to be told. We need to constantly counter the dominant²⁵ tropes of the main narrative that is being said about our city and about our country.

And I think it's really in the experience of working people, of people of color, of people who struggle to make the city, I think those are the stories that I'm interested in telling that I hope people wherever they are begin to investigate and listen to and speak themselves.

SUAREZ: That was poet and author Kevin Coval talking to us about his new book "A People's History Of Chicago." Thanks for joining us.

COVAL: Thanks so much for your questions. I appreciate it.

1 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

4 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

5 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

6 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

7 whitewashing   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的现在分词 )； 喷浆

参考例句：

• Tom went on whitewashing the fence, paying no attention to Ben. 汤姆没有理睬本，继续在粉刷着篱笆。
• When whitewashing the wall, he painted with a roller in his hand. 刷墙的时候，他手里拿个辊子，挥舞着胳膊。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

10 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

11 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

12 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

13 whitewashed   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
• The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形，状近葫芦，外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

14 interrogate   

vt.讯问，审问，盘问

参考例句：

• The lawyer took a long time to interrogate the witness fully.律师花了很长时间仔细询问目击者。
• We will interrogate the two suspects separately.我们要对这两个嫌疑人单独进行审讯。

15 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

16 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

18 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

19 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

20 Buddhas   

n.佛，佛陀，佛像( Buddha的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She called on spirits and Buddhas and made innumerable vows, all to no avail. 她把一切的神佛都喊到了，并且许下多少誓愿，都没有用。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Tibetans identification with the political role of Living Buddhas is declining. 藏新政权的政治舞台中活佛的政治角色处于边缘。 来自互联网

21 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

22 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

23 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

24 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

25 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。