오프라 윈프리 전당대회 연설

 

오프라 윈프리의 2024. 8. 21일(현지시각) 미국 민주당 전당대회 연설을 듣다가, 참으로 멋진 말씀들 메모.

The work will never be done because "freedom isn't free".
- 자유를 얻기 위해서 우리는 얼마나 치열해져야 하는가.

America is an ongoing project. It requires commitment. It requires being open to the hard work and the heartwork of democracy.
-민주주의 뿐 아니라 가치있는 모든 일은 hard work와 heart work, 둘 다 필요하다는.

we are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery. These are complicated times, people, and they require "adult conversation".
-어른의 대화. 우리나라 정치에서도 제발 어른의 대화가 이루어지기를.

At school and at home, somebody did a beautiful job of showing this young girl how to challenge the people at the top and empower the people at the bottom. They showed her how to look at the world and see not just what is, but what can be. They instilled in her a passion for justice and freedom and the Glorious fighting Spirit necessary to pursue that passion.
- 우리가 학생들에게 가르쳐야 하는 것. 상위권에게는 도전을, 하위권에게 힘을 실어주는 것. 세상을 바라볼 때 현재의 모습이 아니라 앞으로 될 수 있는 모습을 보는 방법을 가르치는 것, 정의와 자유에 대한 열정, 그리고 그 열정을 추구하는 데 필요한 영광스러운 투쟁 정신.

Values and character matter most of all in leadership and in life.
- 대통령도, 교사도, 그 어떤 조직의 리더이든, 리더십과 삶에서 무엇보다 중요한건 가치관과 인격. 남을 속이고 자신의 영달을 취하는 사람은 리더가 되어서는 안된다.

Let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday. We won't go back, we won't be set back, pushed back, bullied back, kicked back—we're not going back. We're not going back. We're not going back. So let us choose—let us choose truth, let us choose honor, and let us choose joy because that's the best of America. But more than anything else, let us choose Freedom. Why? Because that's the best of America.
- "We're not going back."을 모든 청중이 함께 외치는 장면이 뭉클했다. "We're not going back." "We're not going back." 나도, 우리도 뒤로는 가지 말아야지.

오프라윈프리 같은 어른이 되고 싶다. 어디로 가야할지 방향을 알려주는 사람. 효과적이고 정제된 어른의 언어로 타인을 설득할 수 있는 사람.

[연설 전문]

Who says you can't go home again? After watching the Obamas last night, that was some epic fire, wasn't it? Some epic fire. We're now so fired up. We can't wait to leave here and do something. And what we're going to do is elect Colo Harris as the next president of the United States. 

I am so honored to have been asked to speak on tonight's theme about what matters most to me, to you, and all of us, Americans: Freedom. There are people who want you to see our country as a nation of us against them, people who want to scare you, who want to rule you, people who'd have you believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe, that there's a right way to worship and a wrong way to love. People who seek first to divide and then to conquer. But here's the thing: when we stand together, it is impossible to conquer us.

In the words of an extraordinary American, the late Congressman John Lewis, he said, no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on, we are all in the same boat, now. Congressman Lewis knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the brilliant Americans who helped to get us where we are. But he also knew that the work is not done. The work will never be done because freedom isn't free.

America is an ongoing project. It requires commitment. It requires being open to the hard work and the heartwork of democracy. And every now and then it requires standing up to life's bullies. I know this. I've lived in Mississippi, in Tennessee, and Wisconsin, Maryland, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Colorado, California, and California, and Sweet Home Chicago, Illinois. I have actually traveled this country, from the Redwood Forest (love those redwoods) to The Gulfstream Waters. I've seen racism, sexism, income inequality, and division. I've not only seen it, at times I've been on the receiving end of it. But more often than not, what I've witnessed and experienced are human beings, both conservative and liberal, who may not agree with each other but who would still help you in a heartbeat if you were in trouble.

 

These are the people who make me proud to say that I am an American. They are the best of America. And despite what some would have you think, we are not so different from our neighbors. When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No, we just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too. 

Because we are a country of people who work hard for the money. We wish our brothers and sisters well, and we pray for peace. We know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually matters. But we are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery. These are complicated times, people, and they require adult conversation. And I welcome those conversations because civilized debate is vital to democracy and it is the best of America. 

Now, over the last couple of nights, we have all seen brave people walk onto the stage and share their most private pain. Amanda and Josh, Caitlyn Hatley—they told us their stories of rape and incest and near-death experiences from having the state deny them the abortion that their doctor explained was medicallynecessary. And they've told us these things for one reason: to keep what happened to them from happening to anybody else. Because if you do not have autonomy over this—if you cannot control when and how you choose to bring your children into this world and how they are raised and supported—there is no American Dream.

The women and men who are battling to keep us from going back to a time of desperation and shame and stone cold fear—they are the New Freedom Fighters. And make no mistake: they are the best of America.

I want to talk now about somebody who's not with us tonight. Tessy Privos Williams was born in New Orleans not long after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. That was in 1954, the same year I was born. But I didn't have to head to first grade at the all-white Madonna school with a US Marshall by my side like Tessy did. And when I got to school, the building wasn't empty like it was for Tessy. You see, rather than allowing Madonna to be integrated, parents pulled their kids out of the school, leaving only Tessy and two other little black girls—Gail Etan and Leona Tate—to sit in a classroom with the windows papered over to block snipers from attacking their six-year-old bodies. Tessy passed away six weeks ago, and I tell this story to honor her tonight because she, like Ruby Bridges and her friends Leona and Gail, the New Orleans Four they were called, they broke barriers and they paid dearly for it. 

But it was the grace and guts and courage of women like Tessy Privos Williams that paved the way for another young girl who, 9 years later, became part of the second class to integrate the public schools in Berkeley, California. And it seems to me that at school and at home, somebody did a beautiful job of showing this young girl how to challenge the people at the top and empower the people at the bottom. They showed her how to look at the world and see not just what is, but what can be. They instilled in her a passion for justice and freedom and the Glorious fighting Spirit necessary to pursue that passion. 

And soon, and very soon, soon and very soon, we're going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, two idealistic, energetic immigrants — how this child grew up to become the 47th president of the United States. That is the best of America.

You know, let me tell you this: this election isn't about us and them, it's about you and me and what we want our futures to look like. There are choices to be made when we cast our ballot. Now, there's a certain candidate who says if we just go to the polls this one time, that we'll never have to do it again. Well, you know what? You're looking at a registered independent who's proud to vote again and again and again because I'm an American, and that's what Americans do. Voting is the best of America.

And I have always, since I was eligible to vote, I've always voted my values. And that is what is needed in this election, now more than ever. So I'm calling on all you Independents and all you undecided—you know this is true, you know I'm telling you the truth: that values and character matter most of all in leadership and in life. And more than anything, you know this is true: that decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024.

And just plain Common Sense. Common Sense tells you that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can give us decency and respect. They're the ones to give it to us. So we are Americans. We are Americans. Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual, because that's the best of America. And let us choose optimism over cynicism because that's the best of America. And let us choose inclusion over retribution. Let us choose Common Sense over nonsense because that's the best of America.

And let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday. We won't go back, we won't be set back, pushed back, bullied back, kicked back—we're not going back. We're not going back. We're not going back. So let us choose—let us choose truth, let us choose honor, and let us choose joy because that's the best of America. But more than anything else, let us choose Freedom. Why? Because that's the best of America. 

We're all Americans, and together let's all choose Kamala Harris. Thank you, Chicago. Thank you, America.