So my story starts on July 4, 1992, the day my mother followed her college sweetheart to New York City from Egypt. As fireworks exploded behind the skyline, my father looked at my mother jokingly and said, "Look, habibti, Americans are celebrating your arrival."
我的故事從1992年7月4號開始，那一天我的媽媽跟著她大學戀人，從埃及到了紐約。煙花在他們身後的天際線上綻開，爸爸看著媽媽，開玩笑說道：「看，Habibti，美國在慶祝你的到來。」
Unfortunately, it didn't feel much like a celebration when, growing up, my mother and I would wander past Queens into New York City streets, and my mother with her hijab and long flowy dresses would tighten her hand around my small fingers as she stood up against weathered comments like "Go back to where you came from," "Learn English," "Stupid immigrant."
不幸的是，實際的感覺並不像是慶祝。在我長大的時候，我的媽媽和我會經過皇后區進入紐約城的街道。我的媽媽戴著頭巾，穿著長長的裙子，用手緊緊地牽著我的手指，面對著那些」老生常談「般的侮辱話語：「從哪兒來回哪兒去」，「去學英語」，「愚蠢的移民」。
These words were meant to make us feel unsafe, insecure in our own neighborhoods, in our own skin. But it was these same streets that made me fall in love with New York. Queens is one of the most diverse places in the world, with immigrant parents holding stories that always start with something between three and 15 dollars in a pocket,
這些話語，讓我們在自己的社區深深地感到不安。但是也正是這些同樣的街道讓我愛上了紐約。皇后區是世界上最多元的地方之一，在這裡移民家長們的故事往往這麼開頭，比如口袋裡只有三到十五美元，
a voyage across a vast sea, and a cash-only hustle sheltering families in jam-packed, busted apartments. And it was these same families that worked so hard to make sure that we had safe microcommunities, we, as immigrant children, to feel affirmed and loved in our identities. But it was mostly the women.
比如一段長長的跨洋航行和一份只有現金的零工，可以讓家庭住在擁擠不堪的公寓裡。同樣是這些家庭，他們非常努力地工作以確保我們——移民的下一代可以有安全的小社區，可以對自己的身份確信並熱愛。但是這大部分是女性。
And these women are the reason why, regardless of these statements, that my mom faced, she remained unapologetic. And these women were some of the most powerful women I have ever met in my entire life. I mean, they had networks for everything.
正是因為這些女性，當我的媽媽面對那樣的言論時，她沒有道歉。這些女性是我整個人生中遇到的最有力量的女性之一。我的意思是，任何事情，她們都有關係網。
They had rotations for who watched whose kids when, for saving extra cash, for throwing belly dance parties, and memorizing Koran and learning English. And they would collect small gold tokens to fundraise for the local mosque. And it was these same women, when I decided to wear my hijab, who supported me through it.
她們有輪換制，要求誰什麼時候照看誰的孩子，她們會存下額外的現金，會舉辦肚皮舞派對，會記憶古蘭經並學習英語。她們也會收集小金幣為當地清真寺募捐。當我決定戴上我的頭巾時，同樣是這些女性，一直支持著我。
And when I was bullied for being Muslim, I always felt like I had an army who had my back. And so every morning at 15, I would wake up and stand in front of a mirror and wrap beautiful bright silk around my head the way my mother does and my grandmother did.
當我因穆斯林身份遭到欺凌時，我一直感覺身後有一隻軍隊在支持我，一隻由不低頭的北非阿姨組成的軍隊。所以15歲的每個早晨，我會醒來站在鏡子面前，把美麗光澤的絲巾繞在我的頭上，就像我媽媽和祖母做的一樣。
And one day that summer 2009, I stepped out into the streets of New York City on my way to volunteer at a domestic violence organization that a woman in my neighborhood had started. And I remember at that moment I felt a yank at the back of my head. Then someone pulled and grabbed me trying to remove my hijab from off of my head.
2009年夏天的某一天我在紐約街上，準備作為志願者參加反家庭暴力組織的活動，這個組織是由我鄰居中的一位女性開辦的。我記得那時我感覺後腦勺一陣猛拉。然後一個人又拉又拽，想要把我的頭巾拉扯下來。
I turned around to a tall, broad-shouldered man, pure hate in his eyes. I struggled and fought back and finally was able to get away, hid myself in the bathroom of that organization and cried and cried. I kept thinking to myself "Why does he hate me? He doesn't even know me."
我轉身，看到一個高高的寬肩男人，眼睛裡全是仇恨。我掙扎著反擊，終於逃脫。我躲在那個組織場所的衛生間裡，一直在哭。我不停地問自己，「為什麼他恨我？他甚至不認識我。」
Hate crimes against Muslims in the US increased by 1,600 percent post-9/11, and one in every four women in the US will suffer some form of gender violence. And it may not seem like it but Islamophobia and anti-Muslim violence is a form of gender violence, given the visibility of Muslim women in our hijabs.
在美國，911之後，針對穆斯林的仇恨犯罪上漲了1600%。並且在美國四分之一的女性會遭受性別暴力。也許看上去不像那麼回事，但是伊斯蘭恐懼症和反穆斯林暴力是性別暴力的一種形式，因為穆斯林女性穿戴頭巾十分顯眼。
And so I was not alone and that horrified me. It made me want to do something. It made me want to go out there and make sure that no one I loved, that no woman would have to feel this insecure in her own skin. So I started to think about how the women in my own neighborhood were able to build community for themselves and how they were able to use the very little resources they had to actually offer something.
我不是個例，這讓我害怕。這讓我想做一些事，這讓我想做些事確保我所愛的人，所有女性都能感到真正的安全。所以我開始想，自己街區的女性如何能夠為她們自己建造社區，以及她們如何能利用僅有的資源做出實事。
And I began to think about what I could potentially offer to build safety and power for women. And through this journey, I learned a couple of things and this is what I want to share with you today some of these lessons. So lesson number one: start with what you know.
然後我開始想我可以提供些什麼來為女性提供安全和力量。通過這次經歷，我學到了一些事情，而今天我想分享這些心得。第一點：從你知道的部分開始。
At the time, I had been doing Shotokan karate for as long as I could remember, and so I had a black belt. Yeah. And so, I thought, surprise. I thought that maybe I should go out into my neighborhood and teach self-defense to young girls. And so I actually went out and knocked on doors, spoke to community leaders, to parents, to young women,
當時，我記得我在打松濤館跆拳道，並且有個黑帶。是吧，我覺得，哈哈沒想到吧。我想也許我應該深入街區教年輕女性自衛技巧，所以我的確走出去了，挨家挨戶地敲門，和社區領導、家長、年輕女性對話，
and finally was able to secure a free community center basement and convince enough young women that they should come to my class. And it actually all worked out because when I pitched the idea, most of the responses were, like, "All right, cute, this 5'1" hijabi girl who knows karate.
最終得到了一個免費的社區中心地下室，並確保有足夠多的年輕女性到我的班級來。這麼做的確有用，因為當我推出這個想法的時候，大多數的回應是，「行，挺可愛，這個一米五、戴著頭巾的女孩知道怎麼打跆拳道。
How nice." But in reality, I became the Queens, New York version of Mr Miyagi at 16 years old, and I started teaching 13 young women in that community center basement self-defense. And with every single self-defense move for eight sessions over the course of that summer, we began to understand the power of our bodies, and we began to share our experiences about our identities.
有意思。「但事實上，我在16歲，成為了紐約皇后區的Miyagi先生，並且開始在那個地下室教13個年輕女孩自衛術。那個夏天八節課，通過防衛術練習的一招一式，我們開始理解自己身體的力量，開始分享關於自身身份個性的經驗。
And sometimes there were shocking realizations, and other times there were tears, but mostly it was laughs. And I ended that summer with this incredible sisterhood, and I began to feel much safer in my own skin. And it was because of these women that we just kept teaching. I never thought that I would continue but we just kept teaching.
有的時候有驚人的認識，有的時候有淚水，但大部分是歡笑。那個夏天之後，我收穫了珍貴的姐妹情，並發自內心感覺更加安全。正因為這些女性，我們可以一直開班教授。我從沒想過我可以繼續，但我們確實一直在教。
And today, nine years, 17 cities, 12 countries, 760 courses and thousands of women and girls later, I'm still teaching. And what started as a self-defense course in the basement of a community center is now an international grassroots organization focused on building safety and power for women around the world: Malikah.
今天，經歷了9年、17個城市、12個國家、760堂課程以及上千名女性，我依舊在教。而一開始社區中心地下室的自衛防身課程，現在已經成為國際性民間組織，聚焦於為全世界的女性建構安全和力量：Malikah。
Now, for lesson number two: start with who you know. Oftentimes, it could be quite exciting, especially if you're an expert in something and you want to have impact to swoop into a community and think you have the magic recipe. But very early on I learned that as esteemed philosopher Kendrick Lamar once said it's really important to be humble and to sit down.
現在，講講我學到的第二點：從你知道的人開始。經常，這可以很有意思，尤其當你是某個領域的專家，想要發揮影響，猛地進入一個社區，覺得自己有魔法配方。但是我很早之前就知道，備受推崇的「哲學家」肯德拉克·拉馬爾曾說過，謙卑並坐下來是十分重要的。
So, basically, at 15 years old, the only community that I had any business doing work with were the 14-year-old girls in my neighborhood, and that's because I was friends with them. Other than that, I didn't know what it meant to be a child of Bengali immigrants in Brooklyn or to be Senegalese in the Bronx.
因此，15歲的時候我基本有來往合作的團體只有附近14歲的女孩們，因為我和她們是朋友。除此之外，我並不了解在布魯克林作為孟加拉移民孩子或在布朗克斯作為塞內加爾移民的孩子意味著什麼。
But I did know young women who were connected to those communities, and it was quite remarkable how they already had these layers of trust and awareness and relationship with their communities. So like my mother and the women in her neighborhood, they had these really strong social networks, and it was about providing capacity and believing in other women's definition of safety.
但我認識和這些社區有聯繫的年輕女性，而且了不起的是她們已經和社區建立起信任、意識和聯繫。所以就像我母親和她鄰近區域的女性那樣，這些年輕女性擁有十分強大的社交網絡，並能提供能力，相信其他女性對於安全的定義。
Even though I was a self-defense instructor, I couldn't come into a community and define safety for any other woman who was not part of my own community. And it was because, as our network expanded, I learned that self-defense is not just physical. It's actually really emotional work.
儘管我是一個自衛訓練師，我不能進入一個社區，為不是自己社區的女性定義安全。因為，隨著我們網絡的擴張，我學到自衛不僅是身體上的。而是心理上的。
I mean, we would do a 60-minute self-defense class and then we'd have 30 minutes reserved for just talking and healing. And in those 30 minutes, women would share what brought them to the class to begin with but also various other experiences with violence.
我的意思是，我們會做60分鐘的自衛課，然後我們會留30分鐘單純聊天治癒。在那30分鐘裡，女性一開始會分享參加課程的原因，但是也會分享和暴力相關的其他經驗。
And, as an example, one time in one of those classes, one woman actually started to talk about the fact that she had been in a domestic violence relationship for over 30 years, and it was her first time being able to articulate that because we had established that safe space for her.
比如說，有一次在其中一堂課上，一位女性開始傾訴，說30多年來她一直處於一段家暴關係中，這是她第一次有機會說出來，因為我們為她提供了一個安全的空間。
So it's powerful work, but it only happens when we believe in women's agency to define what safety and what power looks like for themselves. All right, for lesson number three, and this was the hardest thing for me, the most important thing about this work is to start with the joy.
這份工作充滿力量，但只有當我們相信女性有能力為自身定義安全和力量時，這才會發生。好，我學到的第三課——對我來說是最難的——對這項工作來說最重要的就是快樂地開始。
When I started doing this work, I was reacting to a hate-based attack, so I was feeling insecure, and anxious and overwhelmed. I was really afraid. And it makes sense, because if you take a step back, and I can imagine that a lot of women in this room can probably relate to this, the feeling, an overwhelming feeling of insecurity is oftentimes with us constantly.
當我開始這個項目時，我要回應充滿仇恨的攻擊，所以我充滿不安、焦慮、備受打擊。我當時十分害怕。這是合理的，因為如果你退一步，我能想像這裡很多女性也許都能感同身受，這種強烈的不安全感，經常伴隨著我們。
I mean, imagine this: walking home late at night, hearing footsteps behind you. You wonder if you should walk faster or if you should slow down. You keep your keys in your hand, in case you need to use them. You say, "Text me when you get home. I want to make sure you are safe." And we mean those words. We're afraid to put down our drinks.
我的意思是，想像一下：在夜裡走回家，聽見身後響起腳步聲。你在想是要走得快一點還是慢下來。你緊緊攥著鑰匙以備不時之需。你說，「到家時給我發個信息。我想確保你安全到達。」而我們對此十分認真。我們害怕，不敢放下飲料。
We're afraid to speak too much or too little in a meeting. And imagine being woman and black and trans and queer and Latinx and undocumented and poor and immigrant, and you could then only imagine how overwhelming this work can be, especially within the context of personal safety.
我們害怕在一個會議中講得太多或是太少。想像一個女性，或者黑人、跨性別者、同性戀、拉丁裔或是未註冊的、貧窮的移民，那麼你才能明白這項工作多麼沉重，特別是關於個人安全的工作。
However, when I took a step to reflect on what brought me to this work to begin with, I began to realize it was actually the love that I had for women in my community. It was the way I saw them gather, their ability to build for each other that inspired me to keep doing this work day in and day out.
然而，當我思考這項工作的初衷時，我意識到一切始於我對我社區之中女性的愛。她們的團結，她們支撐彼此的能力激勵我每天繼續這項工作。
So whether I was in a refugee camp in Jordan or a community center in Dallas, Texas or a corporate office in Silicon Valley, women gathered in beautifully magical ways and they built together and supported each other in ways that shifted cultureto empower and build safety for women.
所以不管是在約旦的難民營裡，還是在德克薩斯州達拉斯的社區中心裡，或是矽谷公司的辦公室裡，女性匯聚在一起，充滿美麗和魔力，互相支持，以此轉變文化，為女性賦權、構建安全。這就是改變如何發生的，
It was through those relationships we built together. That's why we don't just teach self-defense, but we also throw dance parties and host potlucks and write love notes to each other and sing songs together. And it's really about the friendship, and it's been so, so fun.
通過我們共築的關係發生。因此我們不只是教自衛術，我們也會舉辦派對，組織聚餐，給彼此寫愛心便籤，並且一起唱歌。這一切都關乎友誼，而且很有意思。
So the last thing I want to leave you with is that the key takeaway for me in teaching self-defense all of these years is that I actually don't want women as cool as the self-defense moves are to go out and use these self-defense techniques. I don't want any woman to have to de-escalate any violent situation.
所以最後我想分享一點，是我在這幾年教授防身術中學到的關鍵一點，那就是儘管防身術招式很酷，但實際上我不想女性走出去會用到這些自衛技巧。我希望任何女性都不用去化解任何暴力情況。
But for that to happen, the violence shouldn't happen, and for the violence not to happen, the systems and the cultures that allow for this violence to take place to begin with needs to stop. And for that to happen, we need all hands on deck. So I've given you my secret recipe, and now it's up to you.
但是如果要達到這一點， 暴力就不應該出現。如果想要不出現暴力，那麼允許暴力發生的系統和文化需要開始停止。要達到這一點，我們需要所有人的參與。所以，我已經告訴了你們我的秘密配方，現在這取決於你，
To start with what you know, to start with who you know, and to start with joy. But just start. Thank you so much. about taking those invisible personal feelings that I don’t have words for, holding them to the light, putting words to them, and then sharing them with other people in the hopes that it might help them find words to find their feelings as well.
從你知道的事務開始，從你知道的人開始，帶著樂趣開始。但最重要的是要開始行動。非常感謝。將我不能用言語表達的無形的情感，公之於眾，為它們賦予文字，並且和他人分享，希望它們能為他人的情感賦予文字。