“给这个男孩取个最黑的名字吧！
"Get this boy the blackest name possible.
书上是怎么说的？”
What does the book say?"
（笑声）
(Laughter)
拉菲克是阿拉伯名字，但我们不是阿拉伯人。
Rafiq is an Arabic name, but we are not Arabs.
我妈就是不想让我在21世纪好好坐飞机。
My mom just wanted me to have difficulty boarding planes in the 21st century.
瑟斯顿是英国姓氏，但我们不是英国人。
Thurston is a British name, but we are not British.
而瑟斯顿这个姓隔空致敬了美国奴隶制中世代延续的、没人性的经济制度。
Shoutout to the multigenerational, dehumanizing economic institution of American chattel slavery, though.
此外，瑟斯顿很适合星巴克员工。
Also, Thurston makes for a great Starbucks name.
这真的推动了历史进程。
Really expedites the process.
我母亲是一位多才多艺的女性。
My mother was a renaissance woman.
她叫阿尼塔·罗琳·瑟斯顿，她曾是一位电脑程序员、一位家政人员、一位性侵幸存者、一位艺术家、一位活动家。
Arnita Lorraine Thurston was a computer programmer, former domestic worker, survivor of sexual assault, an artist and an activist.
为了让我适应这个世界，她教我黑人历史、武术、城市农业，七年级时，她又送我去私立学校西德威尔友谊中学就读，美国总统的女儿们也在这里上学，而她把我送进去时，我是这样子的。
She prepared me for this world with lessons in black history, in martial arts, in urban farming, and then she sent me in the seventh grade to the private Sidwell Friends School, where US presidents send their daughters, and where she sent me looking like this.
我在这里上学有两个主要任务：黑皮肤不能丢、眼镜不能丢。
I had two key tasks going to that school: don't lose your blackness and don't lose your glasses.
两个任务都圆满完成。
This accomplished both.
因为你有大把的时间去读这本书。
you've had plenty of time to read the book.
但是美国一次又一次地提醒我、教会我：在美国做一名黑人意味着什么。
But America insists on reminding me and teaching me what it means to be black in America.
因为她喝了点酒，所以我负责开她父母的车，警察示意我们靠边停车。
She's had some drinks, so I drive us in her parents' car, and we get pulled over by the police.
我好害怕。
I'm scared.
我打开双闪，表示服从指令。
I turn on the flashing lights to indicate compliance.
我慢慢地靠边停车，停在我所能找到的最亮的街灯下，以防我需要目击证人或者要看行车记录仪里的视频。
I pull over slowly under the brightest streetlight I can find in case I need witnesses or dashcam footage.
我们拿出了我的身份证和车辆登记表，我把文件都摊开，并摇下了车窗，把双手放在方向盘上，一直到这位警官离开。
We get out my identification, the car registration, lay it out in the open, roll down the windows, my hands are placed on the steering wheel, all before the officer exits the vehicle.
这样才能保命。
This is how to stay alive.
等待的过程中，我想起一些新闻标题：“警察又射杀了一名手无寸铁的黑人”，我可不想成为下一个。
As we wait, I think about these headlines — "Police shoot another unarmed black person" — and I don't want to join them.
还好这位警官很友善。
The good news is, our officer was friendly.