奥巴马致“后浪”的演讲：很多在位者都没有假装在负责
好久没听奥巴马演讲了。
近日，奥巴马在线上毕业典礼上发表演讲，寄语2020年毕业生，顺便批评某些人hhh。
演讲全文如下：
Former President Barack Obama addressed a ceremony for graduates of historically black colleges and universities. Here is what he had to say.
And here are Mr. Obama’s remarks in full:
Hi, everybody. Congratulations to H.B.C.U. class of 2020. Michelle and I are so proud of you.
*注：H.B.C.U.：即标题中的Historically black colleges and universities缩写。
Graduating from college is a big achievement under any circumstances. And so many of you overcame a lot to get here. You navigated challenging classes, and challenges outside the classroom. Many of you had to stretch to afford tuition. And some of you are the first in your families to reach this milestone.
So even if half this semester was spent at Zoom University, you’ve earned this moment. You should be very proud. Everybody who supported you along the way is proud of you — parents, grandparents, professors, mentors, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins, cousins who you aren’t even sure are cousins. Show them some gratitude today.
Now look, I know this isn’t the commencement any of you really imagined. Because while our H.B.C.U.s are mostly known for an education rooted in academic rigor, community, higher purpose — they also know how to turn up. Nobody shines quite like a senior on the yard in springtime. Springfest at schools like Howard and Morehouse, that’s the time when you get to strut your stuff a little bit. And I know that in normal times, rivals like Grambling and Southern, Jackson State and Tennessee State, might raise some eyebrows at sharing a graduation ceremony.
rigor
表示“谨慎；缜密；严谨”，英文解释为“the fact of being careful and paying great attention to detail”，如：academic/intellectual/scientific, etc. rigour 学术、思想、科学等方面的严谨。
strut your stuff
表示“（尤指在跳舞或表演时）卖弄自己那一套，露一手”，英文解释为“to proudly show your ability, especially at dancing or performing”。
raise eyebrows
近期多次出现的一个表达，表示“扬起眉毛（表示惊讶、不赞成）”，英文解释为“If something causes you to raise an eyebrow or to raise your eyebrows, it causes you to feel surprised or disapproving.”举个🌰：
An intriguing item on the news pages caused me to raise an eyebrow over my morning coffee.
喝早咖啡时，新闻页面上的一条趣闻让我惊讶。
He raised his eyebrows over some of the suggestions.
他不赞成其中的一些建议。
上个月，在“这是COVID-19，不是COVID-1啊，朋友们！”文中，我们就提到赫芬顿邮报（HUFFPOST）用了raise (a few) eyebrows这个表达来表示美国白宫高级顾问凯莉安妮·康韦（Kellyanne Conway）愚蠢的言论「使人吃惊，令人震惊」（to cause surprise or shock）。
But these aren’t normal times. You’re being asked to find your way in a world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and a terrible recession. The timing is not ideal. And let’s be honest — a disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country. We see it in the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their questioning.
spotlight
1）作名词，除了聚光灯，还可以表示“媒体和公众的注意”，英文解释为“attention from newspapers, television and the public”举个🌰：
Unemployment is once again in the spotlight.
失业问题再次受到人们的关注。
2）作动词，表示“特别关注，突出报道（以使公众注意）”，英文解释为“to give special attention to a problem, situation, etc. so that people notice it”举个🌰：
The programme spotlights problems in the health service.
节目突出报道了公共医疗机构的问题。
disproportionate
表示“不成比例的；不相称的；太大（或太小）的”，英文解释为“too large or too small when compared with sth else”举个🌰：
The area contains a disproportionate number of young middle-class families.
此地年轻的中产阶级家庭特别多。
Injustice like this isn’t new. What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; and that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; that our society and democracy only works when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
the status quo
表示“现状”，英文解释为“the state of a situation as it is”，如： 维持/保持现状maintain/preserve/defend the status quo (=not make any changes)。
More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.
If the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you. With everything suddenly feeling like it’s up for grabs, this is your time to seize the initiative. Nobody can tell you anymore that you should be waiting your turn. Nobody can tell you anymore “this is how it’s always been done.” More than ever, this is your moment — your generation’s world to shape.
In taking on this responsibility, I hope you are bold. I hope you have a vision that isn’t clouded by cynicism or fear. As young African Americans, you’ve been exposed, earlier than some, to the world as it is. But as young H.B.C.U. grads, your education has also shown you the world as it ought to be.
cynicism
表示“人皆自私论；愤世嫉俗论；玩世不恭”，英文解释为“Cynicism is the belief that people always act selfishly.”举个🌰：
I found Ben's cynicism wearing at times.
我觉得本的愤世嫉俗论有时让人烦。
Many of you could have attended any school in this country. But you chose an H.B.CU. — specifically because it would help you sow seeds of change. You chose to follow in the fearless footsteps of people who shook the system to its core — civil rights icons like Thurgood Marshall and Dr. King, storytellers like Toni Morrison and Spike Lee. You chose to study medicine at Meharry, and engineering at NC A&T, because you want to lead and serve.
And I’m here to tell you, you made a great choice. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve got more road maps, more role models, more resources than the civil rights generation did. You’ve got more tools, technology, and talents than my generation did. No generation has been better positioned to be warriors for justice and remake the world.
Now, I’m not going to tell you what to do with all that power that’s in your hands. Many of you are already using it so well to create change. But let me offer three pieces of advice as you continue on your journey.
First, make sure you ground yourself in actual communities with real people — working whenever you can at the grass-roots level. The fight for equality and justice begins with awareness, empathy, passion, even righteous anger. Don’t just activate yourself online. Change requires strategy, action, organizing, marching, and voting in the real world like never before. No one is better positioned than this class of graduates to take that activism to the next level. And from tackling health disparities to fighting for criminal justice and voting rights, so many of you are already doing this. Keep on going.
righteous
1）表示“公正的；正直的；正当的”，英文解释为“morally right and good”，如：a righteous God 公正的上帝。
2）表示“正当的；公平合理的；正义的”，英文解释为“that you think is morally acceptable or fair”，如：righteous anger/indignation, etc. 义愤等。
Second, you can’t do it alone. Meaningful change requires allies in common cause. As African Americans, we are particularly attuned to injustice, inequality, and struggle. But that also should make us more alive to the experiences of others who’ve been left out and discriminated against.
attuned
表示“熟悉；适应；习惯”，英文解释为“familiar with sb/sth so that you can understand or recognize them or it and act in an appropriate way”举个🌰：
She wasn't yet attuned to her baby's needs.
她还没有熟悉她宝宝的需要。
So rather than say, “What’s in it for me?” or “What’s in it for my community? And to heck with everyone else,” stand up for and join up with everyone who’s struggling — whether immigrants, refugees, the rural poor, the L.G.B.T. community, low-income workers of every background, women who so often are subject to their own discrimination and burdens and not getting equal pay for equal work; look out for folks whether they are white or black or Asian or Latino or Native American. As Fannie Lou Hamer once said, “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
And on the big unfinished goals in this country, like economic and environmental justice and health care for everybody, broad majorities agree on the ends. That’s why folks with power will keep trying to divide you over the means. That’s how nothing changes. You get a system that looks out for the rich and powerful and nobody else. So expand your moral imaginations, build bridges, and grow your allies in the process of bringing about a better world.
And finally, as H.B.C.U. graduates, you have to remember that you are inheritors of one of America’s proudest traditions. Which means you’re all role models now — whether you like it or not. Your participation in this democracy, your courage to stand up for what’s right, your willingness to forge coalitions — these actions will speak volumes. And if you are inactive, that will also speak volumes. Not just to the young folks coming up behind you — but to your parents, your peers, and the rest of the country. They need to see your leadership — you’re the folks we’ve been waiting for to come along.
inheritor
表示“继承者；后继者”，英文解释为“The inheritors of something such as a tradition are the people who live or arrive after it has been established and are able to benefit from it.”
That’s the power you hold. The power to shine brightly for justice, and for equality, and for joy. You’ve earned your degree. And it’s up to you to use it. So many of us believe in you. I’m so proud of you. And as you set out to change the world, we’ll be the wind at your back.
Congratulations Class of 2020, and God bless all of you.
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