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I want to talk to you tonight about the work that makes all other work possible,
今晚我想聊一聊一份让其它工作成为可能的工作，
about the millions of women who go to work in our homes every single day,
让成千上万的女性每天在我们家中工作，
caring for children as nannies, caring for our loved ones with disabilities and our elders, as home care workers,
像专职保姆一样照顾孩子，像家庭护理工人一样照顾我们残疾的爱人、老人，
maintaining sanitary in our homes as cleaners.
像清洁工一样保持我们家中清洁的工作。
It's the work that makes all other work possible.
是这种工作才让其它工作成为可能。
And it's mostly done by women, more than 90 percent women, disproportionately women of color.
而这些基本上都是由女性，由超过90%的女性完成的，有色人种的女性居多。
And the work itself is associated with work that women have historically done,
这项工作本身与女性历史上所做的工作有关，
work that's been made incredibly invisible and taken for granted in our culture.
在我们的文化当中，这种工作不被人关注，并被当成了理所当然。
But it's so fundamental to everything else in our world.
但它对我们世界上的一切是如此重要。
It makes it possible for all of us to go out and do what we do in the world every single day,
它使我们每一天都能出门去做我们在这个世界上做的事情，
knowing that the most precious aspects of our lives are in good hands.
让我们了解到我们生命中最珍贵的方面受到了很好的照料。
But we don't think about it that way. It's almost defined by its invisibility.
但我们不是这么想的。它几乎是由它的不可见性来定义的。
You could go into any neighborhood and not know which homes are also workplaces.
你可以走进任何一个邻居家，根本不知道哪些人家还是办工地点。
There's no sign. There's no list or registry. It's just invisible.
没有标示。没有名录也没有注册信息。就是一些无形的。
And it's this work that is not even referred to as real work. It's referred to as "help."
这种工作不会被认为是真正的工作。我们管它叫“帮忙”。
It's often seen as unskilled, not seen as professional.
人们认为这种工作不需要专业技能，不把它当作职业性的。
And race has played a profound role in how we value this work in our culture.
在我们的文化中，种族是我们如何评价这项工作的一个很重要的因素。
Some of the first domestic workers in the United States were black women who were enslaved,
美国的第一批家政从业人员里有一些是女性黑奴，
and racial exclusion has shaped their conditions for generations.
种族主义影响了好几代的生活。
In the 1930s, when Congress was discussing the labor laws that would be a part of the New Deal, that would protect all workers,
20世纪30年代，国会试图把保护全体工人权益的劳工法作为新经济政策的一部分实施，
Southern members of Congress refused to support those labor laws if they included protections for domestic workers and farmworkers.
南方的议员表示如果把家政从业人员和雇农也包含在内，她们将不会支持这一劳工法。
That history of racial exclusion and our cultural devaluing of work that's associated with women
种族歧视的历史，以及我们文化中贬低关于女性劳动价值，
now means that millions of women go to work every single day, work incredibly hard and still can't make ends meet.
意味着每天都有数百万的女性去工作，尽管工作非常努力，但仍然入不敷出。
They earn poverty wages without a safety net,
她们的薪水低廉且没有生活保障，
so that the women that we're counting on to take care of us and our families can't take care of their own, doing this work.
以至于我们赖以照顾我们和家人生活的女性，靠这份工作其实连自己都养活不了。
But my work over the last 20 years has been about changing precisely that.
但我过去20年的工作内容就是改变这一现状。
It's about making these jobs good jobs that you can take pride in and support your family on.
也就是让这些工作变成好的选择，让人以此为傲，还能靠它养活家人。
At the National Domestic Workers Alliance,
在美国家庭佣工联盟，
we've been working hard in states to pass new laws that will protect domestic workers from discrimination and sexual harassment,
我们努力在各个州推行新的法律，以求保护家政从业人员不会受到歧视或性骚扰，
that will create days of rest, paid time off, even.
甚至帮她们争取休息日和带薪休假。
So far, eight states have passed domestic workers bills of rights. Yes.
目前，已经有8个州通过了家政从业人员权利法案。
And during the Obama administration,
在奥巴马执政时期，
we were successful in bringing two million home care workers under minimum wage and overtime protections for the first time since 1937.
我们成功的给两百万家政从业人员争取了最低工资保障和加班保障，这是1937年以来的第一次。
Most recently, we've been really excited to launch a new portable benefits platform for domestic workers, called "Alia,"
最近，我们很开心的是我们成功的研发了一款便携式家政从业人员平台，名字叫艾丽娅，
which allows for domestic workers with multiple clients to give them access to benefits for the very first time.
它第一次可以让同时服务于多名客户的家政从业人员让用户从中受益。
So really important progress is being made.
我们已经取得了重大的进步。
But I would argue tonight that one of the most important things that domestic workers can provide
但我今晚想说的是，家政从业人员能帮助我们的最重要的一件事，
is actually what they can teach us about humanity itself and about what it will take to create a more humane world for our children.
就是她们能教会我们什么是人性，以及要给孩子们创造一个更加人性化的世界需要做什么。
In the face of extreme immorality, domestic workers can be our moral compass.
在面对道德败坏的行为时，家政从业人员可以做我们的指南针。
And it makes sense, because what they do is so fundamental to the very basics of human need and humanity.
这不难理解，因为她们所做的事就是在满足人类最基本的需要。
They are there when we are born into this world; they shape who we become in this world;
她们在我们刚出生时就存在，她们决定我们变成什么样子，
and they are with us as we prepare to leave this world.
她们也在我们离开这个世界时帮我们做好准备。
And their experiences with families are so varied.
她们在不同家庭中获得的经验是不同的。
They have some relationships with the families that they work for that are incredibly positive
她们与为之工作的家庭有着非常积极向上的关系，
and mutually supportive and last for years and years.
她们互相支持，这种关系可以持续好几年。
And then the opposite also happens.
相反的情况也会发生。
And we've seen cases of sexual violence and assault, of extreme forms of abuse and exploitation.
我们见过性暴力和骚扰的案例，以及极端形式的虐待和剥削。
We've seen cases of human trafficking.
我们也见过贩卖人口的案例。
Domestic workers live in poor neighborhoods, and then they go to work in very wealthy ones.
家政从业人员一般住在破旧的小区，然后去豪华的地方上班。
They cross cultures and generations and borders and boundaries,
她们跨越了文化、世代和各种各样的界限，
and their job, no matter what, is to show up and care
她们的工作就是出现在你身边来照顾，
to nurture, to feed, to clothe, to bathe, to listen, to encourage,
哺育、喂养、洗衣、洗澡、倾听、鼓励，
to ensure safety, to support dignity ... to care no matter what.
确保安全，维护尊严...要照顾一切。
I want to tell you a story of a woman I met early on in this work.
我想跟你们讲一个我早年认识的从事这个行业的女性的故事。
Her name is Lily. Lily and her family lived in Jamaica, and when she was 15 years old,
她叫莉莉。她和家人一起住在牙买加，她15岁的时候，
she was approached by an American couple who were looking for a live-in nanny
被一对美国夫妇看中，她们当时正在找一个住家保姆，
to come live with them in the United States and help them care for their children.
和她们一起居住在美国，并帮她们照顾孩子。
They offered Lily's family that if she came to work as their nanny,
她们跟莉莉的家人说，如果莉莉来做她们的保姆，
she would be able to have access to a US education,
她就可以接受美国的教育，
and she would have a weekly salary sent home to help her family financially.
还会有一份周薪可以寄回家，在经济上帮助家人。
They decided it was a good idea and decided to take the opportunity.
她的父母觉得这个工作不错，于是决定把握机会。
Lily held up her end of the bargain and helped to raise three children.
莉莉没有再讨价还价，帮助抚养三个孩子。
But all communication with her family was severed: no letters, no phone calls.
但她和家人的联系被全部切断：无法写信，打不通电话。
She was never allowed to go to school, and she was never paid -- for 15 years.
没有人让她去上学，也没有人支付给她薪水--整整15年。
One day, she saw an article in a newspaper about another domestic worker with a really similar story to hers,
有一天，她在报纸上看到了一个跟她经历相似的家政从业人员的事，
another case that I was working on at the time, and she found a way to reach me.
那个案例当时也是我在处理，她想办法找到了我。
She also found a way to reach her brother, who was living in the United States at the time as well.
她还找到了当时也正住在美国的她的哥哥。
Between the two of us, we were able to help her escape.
在我们的帮助下，她成功逃跑了。
And she had the help of one of the children.
有一个她一直照顾的孩子也帮了忙。
One of the children was old enough to realize that the way his nanny was being treated was wrong,
他已经足够大，明白自己的保姆遭受的待遇是不应该的，
and he gave her the money that he had been saving through his childhood to help her escape.
他把自己从小时候就攒下的钱给她，来帮助她逃跑。
But here's the thing about this story. She was essentially enslaved for 15 years.
但这个故事是这样的。她被奴役了15年。
Human trafficking and slavery is a criminal offense.
贩卖人口和奴役别人是重罪。
And so her lawyers and I asked Lily, did she want to press criminal charges for what had happened to her.
于是我和莉莉的律师问她，要不要为她的遭遇提起诉讼。
And after thinking about what it would mean, she said no,
莉莉想清楚这意味着什么之后，她拒绝了，
because she didn't want the children to be separated from their parents.
因为她不希望这个孩子跟他的父母分开。
Instead, we filed a civil lawsuit, and we eventually won the case,
于是我们提起了民事诉讼，最后我们告赢了，
and her case became a rallying cry for domestic workers everywhere.
而她的案子成为世界各地家政从业人员振奋战呼。
She was reunited with her family and went on to have a family of her own.
她也得以与家人团聚，后来建立了自己的家庭。
But the thing that's so profound to me about this story is, despite having 15 years stolen from her life,
但这个故事中最让我印象深刻的是，尽管有15年被从她的生命中偷走了，
it did not affect the care and compassion that she felt for the children.
但这并没有影响到她对孩子们的关爱和同情。
And I see this from domestic workers all the time.
我在家政从业人员的身上总是看到这一点。
In the face of indignities and our failure to respect and value this work in our culture, they still show up, and they care.
面对侮辱，以及在我们的文化中不尊重、重视这份工作的同时，她们仍然会出现、会关心。
They're simply too proximate to our shared humanity.
她们就是太接近我们共有的人性了。
They know how your toddler likes to be held as they take their bottle before a nap.
她们知道你的孩子在睡觉前喝奶时喜欢被抱着的感觉。
They know how your mother likes her tea, how to make her smile and tell stories despite her dementia.
她们知道你的母亲喜欢什么样的茶，怎样逗她笑，怎样给痴呆病人讲故事。
They are so proximate to our humanity.
她们是如此接近我们的人性。
They know that at the end of the day, these are people who are part of families
她们知道，终有一天，她们会变成家庭的一部分，
someone's mother, someone's grandmother, someone's best friend and someone's baby;
某人的妈妈，某人的奶奶，某人最好的朋友，以及某人的孩子；
undeniably human, and therefore, not disposable.
是具有人性的，因此，不是用完就被丢弃的。
Domestic workers know that any time a single person becomes disposable, it's a slippery slope.
家政从业人员明白，一旦一个人变成用完就被丢弃的，处境就会危险了。
You see, the cultural devaluing of domestic work is a reflection of a hierarchy of human value that defines everything in our world,
对于家政工作的文化贬低，恰好反映了人类价值的等级制度，它定义了我们世界上的一切，
a hierarchy that values the lives and contributions of some groups of people over others,
这种等级制度，把某些群体的生命和贡献看得比其他人重要，
based on race, gender, class, immigration status -- any number of categories.
根据种族、性别、社会地位、移民身份以及其他一切因素。
And that hierarchy of human value requires stories about those groups of people in order to sustain itself.
这种人类价值等级制度又正好需要这类人来维持。
So these stories have seeped deep into our culture about how some people are less intelligent,
因此这类说法深深的植根于我们的文化当中，告诉我们有的人智商不高，
some people are less intuitive, weaker, by extension, less trustworthy, less valuable and ultimately, less human.
有的人更迟钝、更弱小，延伸一下来说就是她们不值得被信任，她们没有价值，最终就是更没有人性。
And domestic workers know it's a slippery slope when we start to see a worker as less than a real worker,
家政从业人员也明白，当我们开始不把工作者当做工作者，
to a woman as less than a woman, to a mother as less than a mother, to a child as less than a child.
不把女人当做女人，不把母亲当做母亲，不把孩子当做孩子的时候，处境就危险了。
In the spring of 2018, the Trump administration announced a new policy at the US-Mexico border,
2018年春天，特朗普政府在美墨边境宣布了一项新政策，
a zero-tolerance policy, to forcibly separate all children from their parents, who were arriving at the border seeking asylum;
要实施零容忍政策，将所有前来寻求庇护的儿童与其父母强行分开，
children as young as 18 months, separated from their parents after a long and arduous journey to reach the US-Mexico border in search of safety and a new beginning.
在经过漫长而艰辛的旅程，抵达美墨边境，寻求安全和新的开始之后，有些才18个月大的孩子们要与父母分离。
Thousands of children separated. And because they were migrants, they were treated as less than children.
成百上千的孩子们离开了父母。因为他们是移民，还遭受了孩子不应遭受的待遇。
In response, I helped to organize the Families Belong Together Vigil at the Ursula Border Patrol Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, on Father's Day.
为了应对此事，父亲节那天我帮忙在德克萨斯州麦卡伦的乌苏拉边境巡逻处理中心组织了家庭属于彼此守夜活动。
Inside that processing center, there were hundreds of children who were being held, processed
在处理中心里，有数百个孩子被拘留，等待处理，
and then prepared to be shipped all over country to be jailed in facilities hundreds of miles away from their parents.
然后他们要被运往全国各地，在离父母几百英里的地方关押起来。
I saw with my own eyes children not enough for kindergarten in unmarked buses,
我亲眼看见那些年龄还不够上幼儿园的孩子们在没有任何标示的大巴车里，
being shipped off to jails hundreds of miles away.
被送到几百公里外的地方关押。
And as they passed us by, they reached for us through the windows,
在他们经过我们的时候，把手伸出窗户，
as we stood vigil to let them know that they are not alone, and we are fighting for them.
我们守夜是要让他们知道他们并不孤独，我们在为他们奋斗。
Domestic workers came from all over Texas to be a part of the vigil.
一些家政从业人员从德克萨斯的各地赶来加入我们的守夜。
They saw in those families their own family stories.
他们在那些家庭身上看见自己家庭的影子。
They had also come here in search of safety and a new beginning, a better life for their families,
他们来到这里也是为了寻求安全和一个新的开始，为了他们的家庭过上更好的生活，
and they saw in the eyes of those children their own children.
他们在那些孩子的身上看见自己孩子的影子。
And through our tears, we looked at each other and we asked each other,
我们泪眼朦胧的望着对方，互问彼此
"How did we get here, to putting children in cages and separating them from the people who love them the most in the world?"
“怎么会变成这样，为什么要把孩子关进监狱，要把他们从世界上最爱他们的人身边夺走？”
How? And what I thought to myself was: if domestic workers were in charge, this never would have happened.
怎么会这样？我心里想的是：如果让家政从业人员掌权，这种事永远不会发生。
Our humanity would never have been so disposable that we would be treating children in this way.
我们的人性从来没有像现在这样被抛弃，以至于我们用这种方式来对待孩子。
The Dalai Lama once said that love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
达赖喇嘛曾说，爱与怜悯是生活必需品，不是奢侈品。
Without them, humanity cannot survive. In other words, they are fundamental to human existence.
没有爱与怜悯，人性将不复存在。也就是说，这二者是人类生存的基本。
Domestic workers are in charge of the fundamentals.
家政从业人员负责的是最基本的事务。
They love and they care, and they show compassion no matter what.
他们爱别人，关照他人，对任何人都施加怜悯。
We live in a time of moral choices everywhere we turn:
我们生活的时代让我们时刻面临着道德抉择：
at the border, at the ballot box, in our workplaces, right in our homes, full of moral choices.
在国界线，在投票箱边，在工作地点，在家里，到处都是道德抉择。
As you go about your day and you encounter these moral choices, think of Lily. Think like Lily.
当你在日常生活中遇到这些道德选择时，就想想莉莉吧。像莉莉一样去思考吧。
Think like a domestic worker who shows up and cares no matter what. Love and compassion, no matter what.
想象有个家政从业人员在你面前，不管发生什么事情，他都会出现并关心你。不管发生什么事情，展现爱和同情。
Show up like a domestic worker, because our children are counting on us. Thank you.
像一个家政从业人员那样去做吧，因为我们的孩子都指望着我们。谢谢。
