(via youtu.be)
“Speak red”
by Catherine Côté-Ostiguy
translated by Amy Mm @sciencemasmagic for Translating the printemps érable.
Speak red
it is so beautiful to hear you
speak of equality
and of an educated and involved youth who will one day
set out from our universities
They would prefer to keep us uncultivated and docile
but we are not mute and our voice carries
We are not idiots nor criminals, neither inconsiderate nor cowardly
Speak red
and do not accept as a response
only reductionist—economic—statistics
and the obstinate silence of our government
Speak red
We speak of education and social justice
We speak of le rapport Parent
and of la Révolution tranquille (the Quiet Revolution)
the struggles of our predecessors
for the achievements now being swept away
We speak of the failures of our government
we are a generation sacrificed
but hungry for knowledge
and a more just society
where education is no luxury
and when you really speak red
when you get down in the streets
To speak of your ideals
and speak of equity of opportunity
and the Québec you would like to be yours
a little louder then, speak red
raise your second-class citizen’s voice
They’re a little hard of hearing
and live a little too close to the management
and hear nothing but our breath from their ivory tower
Speak red and loud
to be heard
from Montreal to the Côte-Nord
use your extraordinary language
to claim
to demand the final tally
to refuse to be ignored
in favor of stories about numbers
and broken glasses
Speak red
Tell them that we will do our “just part”
when, graduated, we will contribute to a better Québec
speak red
in front of those who believe that school benches are not made
to teach us
but to sell us
but to sell us at the price of our souls
but to sell us
Ah! speak red
with all that you are
to tell them of the eternity
of one day on strike
to tell them
what we wish for tomorrow
and so that they’ll return home at night
when the sun comes to die below their towers
and so that they’ll say yes the sun is setting yes
every day of their lives to the east of their empires
but that perhaps, perhaps
some wheel is out of true
in their merchant’s logic
Speak red
be at ease in your words
we may be idealists
but we will not accept anyone
who comes to threaten
the foundation of our society
In the sweet language of Molière
but with the accent of Miron
we speak the language of our generation
as in England as in Colombia
We express our anger clearly
a red square bared in our teeth
you you speak loudly you speak return to order you speak repression
Speak red
it’s a universal language
we are born to understand it
in spite of your tear gas
and in spite of your clubs
Speak red
remind them what Liberty is, what Democracy is
We know that liberty is a red word
just as the student debt is red
and just as all those who, in Québec and elsewhere, fight for their
rights
Speak red
from Montréal to Québec send the relay
speak red like in Trois-Rivières
red like in Rimouski
we will be strong
and we will continue to valiantly defend our values
before those who ask us again
why
and reply firmly
we believe in tomorrow
we will not abandon it
We
We are Québec
and we know
that we are not alone.
—-
based on the poem ‘Speak White’ by Michèle Lalonde.
*Translating the printemps érable is a volunteer collective attempting to balance the English media’s extremely poor coverage of the student conflict in Québec by translating media that has been published in French into English. These are amateur translations; we have done our best to translate these pieces fairly and coherently, but the final texts may still leave something to be desired. If you find any important errors in any of these texts, we would be very grateful if you would share them with us at translatingtheprintempsderable@gmail.com. Please read and distribute these texts in the spirit in which they were intended; that of solidarity and the sharing of information.
_
this whole thing is amazing (admittedly i think the red square should’ve been used in the states also.)
