奧巴馬對話有志青年：“你內心充滿力量”

David Greene（Host）： Friday means it is time again for StoryCorps， and today， a teenager with an unlikely interview partner.

Noah McQueen： My name is Noah McQueen. I am the age of 18. And my relationship to the partner is he’s the president of the United States.

President Barack Obama： My name’s Barack Obama. I’m 53 years old， and I’m talking to Noah， who is a White House 1）mentee.

Greene： Noah McQueen is part of “My Brother’s Keeper”， a White House program aimed at young men of color. His teen years have been rough and include several arrests and time in jail. But last week he was at the White House and sat down for StoryCorps with President Obama who wanted to know more about Noah’s life.

McQueen： Growing up I didn’t have a stable household. So I believe I attended eight or nine middle schools throughout the course of， you know， two or three years.

Obama： Did you know your dad？

McQueen： I do know my dad. You know， he’s down the street but...

Obama： You didn’t really have a relationship with him. Well， that’s one of the things we have in common. As I get older， I start reflecting on how that affected me. How do you think that affected you？

McQueen： You kind of learn right and wrong on your own terms. I got into fights and fighting or getting put out of school was， you know， normal. So that’s how really the trouble started for me being in the 2）juvenile system. I was on the run.

Obama： You were on the run how so？

McQueen： From the law.

Obama： Yeah？ What had you done？

McQueen： I believe it was—what’s it called...

Obama： What you mean， you believe？ It was something. You know what it was.

McQueen： It was 3）violation of house arrest.

Obama： So you had gotten in repeated trouble. And what happened？

McQueen： I went to a Christian retreat.

Obama： Did you say to yourself， man， I need to find something different and go to a Christian retreat？

McQueen： Oh， no， sir， I didn’t want to go at all. My mom forced me.

Obama： Oh， OK. So Mama 4）intervened. Said， Lord.

McQueen： （Laughter）

Obama： Please help my 5）knucklehead son， Noah， straighten out. Are you skeptical when you get there？

McQueen： Our problems were totally different. Like， their problems were a guy complaining about his mom not buying him the chips he want or...

Obama： （Laughter）

McQueen： Or different things like that. And then I’m talking about my friend was killed the week before， so...

Obama： Right， what happened that softened you up a little bit？

McQueen： It wasn’t until I decided to do better for myself that， you know， I had to be held 6）accountable for my actions. So I’m not the same person. I’m not the same creature. Everything about me and my being is different.

Obama： Obviously you’ve straightened yourself out. You’re sitting here in the White House hanging out with the president. So when people are seeing you in this new light， did you feel pressure to revert back to the way you had acted before？

McQueen： Definitely， there’s always pressure， even now. I’m sure you can relate. I feel like as a black man， just me coming on the train over here， I know how we’re perceived. I know how people look at us. Every time we step into the room， we have to be on top of your game. People are going to say you are the success story. And it’s hard to always make the right decision. And it’s hard to always be the leader.

Obama： Well， look—listen， at the age of 18， I didn’t know what I was going to be doing with my life. And you shouldn’t feel like you can’t make mistakes at this point. You’re 18 years old. I promise you， you’re gonna make some more as you go along. But one of the things you’ve discovered is you’ve got this strength inside yourself. And if you stay true to that voice， that clearly knows what’s right and what’s wrong， sometimes you’re gonna mess up， but you can steer back and keep going. And so when you think about 10 years， 15 years from now， what would you like to be doing？

McQueen： I just decided recently I want to do education because I do want to work with kids. You know， to see the beginnings and to see where I was， see the exact same kid doing the exact same thing. And it’s like， we owe it to everyone and ourselves to come back and change that. And that’s， like， our civic duty， I believe.

Obama： Yeah. Now， Noah， I just want to say how proud I am of you， man. It’s not an easy thing to do what you’ve done. And I think you give others a lot of confidence and a sense of what’s possible for them. And that makes me real proud. I know you’re gonna do great things.

McQueen： Thank you， I appreciate it.

大衛·格林尼（主持人）：又到了周五的故事團時間，今天，來做客的是一位青少年和一位令人難料的訪談同伴。

諾亞·麥奎因：我叫諾亞·麥奎因。我今年十八歲。與我一起相伴做客的嘉賓是，他是美國的總統。

巴拉克·奧巴馬總統：我叫巴拉克·奧巴馬。我今年五十三歲，我正和諾亞對話，他是一名白宮的學員。

格林尼：諾亞·麥奎因是“我的同胞的守護人”計劃的一員，這是由白宮倡議的一個針對黑人青年的計劃。他的少年時期很崎嶇并有過好幾次被捕入獄的經歷。然而上周，他出現在白宮并和奧巴馬總統參與故事團的訪談，總統想對諾亞的人生多一些了解。

麥奎因：在成長過程中我沒有一個穩定的家庭。因此，你知道嗎，兩三年間我想我在八九所中學就讀過。

奧巴馬：你知道你的父親嗎？

麥奎因：我知道我父親的。你知道，他就在街那頭，但是……

奧巴馬：你并沒有真正和他建立起一種聯系。其實，這是我們的共同點之一。當我長大一點的時候，我開始思考這對我產生了什么影響。你認為這給了你什么影響呢？

麥奎因：我得自己學會判斷是非黑白。我經常打架。你知道，對我來說，打架或被學校開除已經是常事。所以那就是在青少年時期，麻煩如何真正開始找上我的。我總是在逃跑。

奧巴馬：你總是在逃跑，這是為什么？

麥奎因：從法律上來講。

奧巴馬：哦？你都做了什么啊？

麥奎因：我認為是——怎么說呢……

奧巴馬：你說什么，你認為？肯定是什么事情。你肯定知道是因為什么事情。

麥奎因：是違反軟禁令。

奧巴馬：所以你總是陷入反復再三的麻煩中。后來發生了什么？

麥奎因：我參加了一個基督教的靜修。

奧巴馬：你是不是跟你自己說，男子漢，我得去干點不同的事情，然后就去了一個基督教靜修？

麥奎因：噢，沒有的，先生。我根本就不想去。我媽媽強迫我去的。奧巴馬：哦，好吧。原來是媽媽出手了。媽媽說，主啊……

麥奎因：（笑）

奧巴馬：請幫助我愚蠢的兒子，諾亞，重回正軌吧。你到達那里的時候有沒有很疑惑？

麥奎因：我和他們的問題是截然不同的。比方說，他們的問題是一個家伙在抱怨他媽媽沒有給他買他想要的薯條或……

奧巴馬：（笑）

麥奎因：或諸如此類不同的事情。而我說的是我朋友在之前一周被殺害的事情，所以……

奧巴馬：是，那后來是發生了什么而稍微軟化了你的心？

麥奎因：你知道，直到我下決心要成為更好的自己，我不得不為我的所作所為負責。所以我變成了不一樣的我。我不是原來的我了。所有關于我的一切和我的存在都變得不同。

奧巴馬：明顯你已經重回正軌了。你現在正坐在白宮里跟總統聊天呢。那么當人們看到全新的你，再跟你重提過往是否讓你感覺到有壓力了呢？

麥奎因：那是肯定的，壓力永遠相隨，即便是現在。我肯定你有共鳴。我覺得我作為一個黑人，在我坐火車過來這里的時候，我知道人們是怎么想的。我知道人們怎么看我們的。每次我們進入這大廳的時候，我們必須是游戲的佼佼者。人們會說你是成功的例子。永遠做出正確決定是艱難的。永遠當領導者也是艱難的。

奧巴馬：好吧，看——聽，在我十八歲的時候，我也不知道我接下來的人生會干什么。你不應該覺得這時候不能犯錯誤。你現在十八歲。我跟你保證，一路走下去，你肯定還會犯更多錯誤。不過你已經領悟的事情之一就是你內心充滿力量。倘若你能忠實于內心那個清醒告知你什么是對什么是錯的聲音，雖然有時候你仍可能會搞砸，但你能掌舵重來并繼續前進。那么，試想一下從現在起十年后，十五年后，你會在做什么？

麥奎因：我最近才決定我想從事教育方面的工作，因為我確實想和孩子們一起共同成長。你知道，看看生命之初，看看我的過去，看看同樣是孩子做同樣的事情。而這就好像，我們欠每一個人和我們自己一個回到過去重新改變的機會。這就是，我們的公民義務，我相信。

奧巴馬：很好。諾亞，小伙子，現在我想說我有多為你感到驕傲。做你已做到的事并不是一件容易的事。我覺得你給了其他人很多的信心，讓他們感到自己能做到的可能性。這可真讓我引以為傲。我知道你將會大有作為。

麥奎因：謝謝，我很感激。