How to break down barriers and not accept limits

演讲者：Shreya Joshi

 

You know, everywhere in the world, the question inevitably comes up: "Do you play basketball?"

你知道，在世界各地， 问题不可避免地出现了：“你打篮球吗？

 

From the neighbor across the street -- "Hey, do you hoop?" -- to the five-foot-seven guy at TSA PreCheck --

从街对面的邻居 - “嘿，你会箍吗？”- 到那个五英尺七的家伙 在 TSA 预检 --

 

that swore that he could beat me one on one.

发誓他可以 一对一打败我。

 

I despise fitting into the lane or the mold that this question insinuates. But I reluctantly say, “Yes.” I am a two-time NCAA champion.

我鄙视合身 进入这个问题暗示的车道或模具。 但我勉强说：“是的。 我是两届NCAA冠军。

 

Thank you.

谢谢。

 

A two-time gold medalist and a two-time --

两届金牌得主 还有两次——

 

A two-time WNBA champion.

两届WNBA总冠军。

 

But inside I scream, "I am so much more."

但我内心尖叫，“我远不止于此。

 

You see, barrier breaking is about not staying in your lane and not being something that the world expects you to be. It's about not accepting limitations. It starts with inspiration, and it's a foundation built upon picking apart what everybody thinks is the right way to do things. There are so many barrier breakers in here that are fighting so hard to unlock doors that they may never walk through, but they do it anyway because we're standing on the shoulders of those that did it for us. It's an uphill battle, and it doesn't guarantee big wins or lots of success. And throughout that uphill battle, I think all of us look for hope, right? We all look for optimism. And mine is my daughter and this next generation.

你看，打破障碍 是关于不停留在你的车道上，不成为什么 世界期待你成为。 这是关于不接受限制。 它始于灵感，这是一个基础 建立在挑剔每个人的想法之上 是正确的做事方式。 这里有这么多的障碍破坏者正在努力打开门 他们可能永远不会走过，但他们还是这样做了，因为我们站在肩膀上 那些为我们做过这件事的人。 这是一场艰苦的战斗，它不能保证 大赢或大成功。 在这场艰苦的战斗中， 我想我们所有人都在寻找希望，对吧？ 我们都在寻找乐观情绪。 我的是我的女儿 和下一代。

 

You see, I get to be the mom to an amazing 12-year-old daughter. Yes, I know. I am partial.

你看，我要当妈妈 给一个了不起的 12 岁女儿。 是的，我明白。我是偏袒的。

But she's pretty dope. I've been fortunate enough to travel the world with her while she allows her mom to fight for her dreams. We've played in Russia, and I say we because she really does think she's part of the team.

但她很傻。 我已经足够幸运了 和她一起环游世界，而她允许她的妈妈 为她的梦想而战。 我们在俄罗斯踢过球，我说是因为她真的 确实认为她是团队的一员。

 

We played in Russia, Turkey, China. And throughout that journey, I thought I would be the one teaching her, challenging her, being the example for her. But I’ve realized it’s a two-way street. You see, at three years old, I decided to enroll her in school in Russia. I was like, I wanted her to have a normal life, right? I want her to be able to meet kids her age. So at three, she befriended this little girl. Her name was Masha. Masha didn't speak any English. Lailaa barely spoke Russian, but her parents invited us over to their house. And so we went. We went for this playdate. So we knock on the door, and Masha's parents open the door so graciously and welcome us into their home. And we step forward, and I realize there’s no floor. It's a modest home. It's one room with a couch on the side that pulls out into the bed that they sleep on. There's a wood fire oven in the middle that heats the room and that they cook with. And at three years old, I was concerned. So I go to grab Lailaa, but I was too late. She looked in the corner and she said, “A dollhouse!” And Masha and Lailaa ran to the corner to play with the dollhouse. I'm so proud that that's my kid, and I can't say that I had much to do with that. She has a way of like uniting people, finding commonality, of rolling with the punches, of making the best of situations.

我们在俄罗斯、土耳其、中国踢球。 在整个旅程中，我以为我会是那个教她，挑战她的人， 成为她的榜样。 但我已经意识到这是一条双向的街道。 你看，三岁时，我决定让她入学 在俄罗斯的学校。 我当时想，我想要她 过正常的生活，对吧？ 我希望她能够 与她同龄的孩子见面。 所以在三岁时，她结识了 这个小女孩。她的名字叫玛莎。 玛莎不会说英语。 莱拉几乎不会说俄语，但她的父母邀请我们过来 到他们家。 所以我们去了。我们去参加这个游戏约会。 于是我们敲门，玛莎的父母 如此亲切地打开门，欢迎我们进入他们的家。 我们向前迈进， 我意识到没有地板。 这是一个简陋的家。 这是一个房间，侧面有一张沙发，可以拉到床上 他们睡着了。 中间有一个柴火炉，可以加热房间 他们用做饭。 三岁时，我很担心。 所以我去抓住莱拉， 但我为时已晚。 她看了看角落里 她说：“一个玩具屋！ 玛莎和莱拉跑到角落里 玩娃娃屋。 我很自豪那是我的孩子，我不能说我有 与此有很大关系。 她有一种团结人的方式， 找到共性，用拳头滚动， 充分利用情况。

 

I’ve always wanted to uplift her, because the messaging that I received from home was never shrink yourself to fit into this world, that you're enough, that everyone is enough, but you need to be individually you all the time. I was fortunate to grow up in an environment with my parents and my two brothers who empowered me every single day. They told me I can do anything I set my mind to, so much so that my nickname was “Can Do.”

我一直想提升她，因为消息传递 我从家里收到的是永远不会缩小自己 融入这个世界，你已经足够了， 每个人都足够了，但你需要 你一直都是个人。 我很幸运长大了 在与我的父母和我的两个兄弟在一起的环境中，他们每天都赋予我权力。 他们告诉我我可以做任何事情 我下定决心，以至于我的绰号是“可以做”。

 

And it was later extended by my brothers to “Can Do Anything And Get Away With It.”

后来我的兄弟们扩展了它 到“可以做任何事情并侥幸逃脱”。

 

I was the baby of the family. Yes, I was the baby, and I didn't lack confidence. If I wasn't kicking the ball out of the recess school parking lot in a dress, to my moms despise, or high, high in the trees. I loved to compete. At everything, not just in sports, either. This one time my teacher in elementary school, he said, "I want to know who can learn the helping verb song the fastest.

我是家里的孩子。 是的，我是婴儿， 我并不缺乏信心。 如果我不踢球 走出课间休息的学校停车场，穿着裙子，到我妈妈鄙视，或高，高高在树上。 我喜欢竞争。 在所有方面，也不仅仅是在体育运动中。 这一次我的老师 在小学时，他说：“我想知道谁能学习。 帮助动词歌曲最快。

 

I love to compete. I was that kid. I was that kid.

我喜欢竞争。 我就是那个孩子。我就是那个孩子。

 

But what I loved so much was that I was allowed to be me. I was allowed to compete. I was allowed to speak my mind. My parents encouraged that. Just because you're a girl, you don't have to stay in a certain lane.

但是我非常喜欢什么 是我被允许做我自己。 我被允许参加比赛。 我被允许说出我的想法。 我的父母鼓励这样做。 就因为你是个女孩， 您不必停留在某条车道上。

 

And then something happened in 1997. The women’s professional basketball league started. The WNBA had its inaugural season when I was 11 years old, and I saw people that looked like me playing the game that I loved so much. I no longer had to go out in the driveway and try to dunk like Michael Jordan. I could go out and get buckets like Cynthia Cooper.

然后 1997 年发生了一些事情。 女性专业 篮球联赛开始了。 WNBA迎来了首个赛季 当我11岁的时候，我看到了长得像我的人 玩我非常喜欢的游戏。 我不再需要像迈克尔·乔丹那样在车道上尝试扣篮。 我可以出去拿水桶 比如辛西娅·库珀。

 

You see, my parents encouraged sports because sports in their eyes was a microcosm of life. You learn to win. You learn to lose. You learn to work through obstacles. You learn to get up when you don't want to. You learn to value differences, because those are important. But as I ventured out into the world, I realized, like, the world wasn't so uplifting towards differences, right? The world had a way of ... putting differences in a box.

你看，我的父母鼓励运动，因为在他们眼里，运动在他们眼里 是生活的缩影。 你学会了赢。 你学会了失败。 你学会克服障碍。 你学会起床 当你不想的时候。 你学会重视差异， 因为这些都很重要。 但当我冒险出去时 进入这个世界，我意识到，就像，世界并没有那么令人振奋 走向差异，对吧？ 世界有办法... 将差异放在一个盒子里。

 

 

For instance, I received my girls basketball uniform in middle school. It was old and smelly and tight. The boys got brand new ones. My brother worked his butt off to get into one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country. My family was so proud. We heard the whispers: they said, “Quotas.” The world had a way of just putting differences in a box and then getting mad when we had the audacity to not fit. Just as an individual, you get mad at me for not fitting in the box that you made.

例如，我收到了我的女孩篮球 中学制服。 它又旧又臭又紧。 男孩们得到了全新的。 我哥哥努力工作，进入最负盛名的学校之一 该国的医学院。 我的家人感到非常自豪。 我们听到了窃窃私语： 他们说：“配额。 世界有办法 只是把差异放在一个盒子里，然后生气 当我们有胆量不适合时。 就像个人一样，你会因为我不合适而生气 在你制作的盒子里。

 

There was a time that went by where ... I didn't want to say yes to the basketball question. Because if I checked that box, then I checked all of their other assumptions, right? So competitive juices kicked in. I'll show you, I'll show you. I'm going to be the best. Girls can't dunk in a game? I'll dunk twice.

曾经有一段时间过去了... 我不想答应 到篮球问题。 因为如果我选中了那个框，那么我检查了所有 他们的其他假设，对吧？ 于是，竞争激烈的果汁开始了。 我给你看，我给你看。 我会成为最好的。 女孩不能在比赛中扣篮？ 我会扣篮两次。

 

You can't hold up an MVP trophy pregnant? OK, I'll show you. You can't have a family, a career and nurse your daughter. I came back nine weeks post-delivery and I played in a game, and I nursed my daughter for 13 months.

你撑不住MVP奖杯怀孕了？ 好的，我给你看看。 你不能有一个家庭， 事业和照顾你的女儿。 我在分娩后九周回来了 我玩了一个游戏，我照顾了我的女儿13个月。

 

You can't be on the cover of a video game. You can’t do a TED Talk as an athlete.

你不能出现在视频游戏的封面上。 作为一名运动员，你不能做TED演讲。

 

But this entire time, my idea of breaking barriers was being something so that the world could see that it was possible. But breaking down barriers isn't always records.

但在整个过程中， 我打破障碍的想法是这样 世界可以看到这是可能的。 但打破障碍 并不总是记录。

In [2021], like most of you, I sat around the television because I knew this was a moment. I sat my daughter front and center. I said, "Lailaa, watch this." The first African-American Asian Vice President was being sworn in. This is a moment that you might not appreciate now.

在[2021]，我和你们大多数人一样，坐在电视机旁 因为我知道这是一个时刻。 我把女儿坐在前面和中间。 我说：“莱拉，看这个。 第一位非裔亚裔美国人 副总统宣誓就职。 这是一个时刻 你现在可能不欣赏。

 

But in time you will. And as Kamala Harris was being sworn in, I said, “Lailaa, now look at her. Now you can do that too.”

但假以时日，你会的。 当卡玛拉哈里斯宣誓就职时， 我说：“莱拉，现在看看她。 现在你也可以这样做了。

 

And Lailaa looked at me. She looked through my eyes, and she said, “Why couldn’t I before?”

莱拉看着我。 她透过我的眼睛说： “为什么我以前不能？”

 

Suddenly, I felt this big because I had become what I despised the most in this world. I had put her in a box because you see, the story that the world told me was women aren’t Vice Presidents. And I had assumed that that's what they had told my daughter. I'm telling you, Generation Z, my daughter's generation, they're changing the world, they're changing the world through conversation, through unity and through living as though boxes and barriers don't exist. It's no longer enough to just put your head down. Get the job. Accomplish the feat. We have to unite, to come together, to figure out why barriers are there in the first place. And Generation Z is doing that. They're listening. They're seeing both sides. And they're uniting for causes that don't directly impact them. We have entire sports leagues that are standing up for what they believe in. It's no longer just one athlete. We have men that are fighting for women to receive equal pay. We have white allies that are protesting racial inequalities. We are talking about mental health.

突然间，我感觉自己这么大，因为我变成了 这个世界上我最鄙视的东西。 我把她放在一个盒子里，因为你看， 世界告诉我的故事是女性不是副总统。 我以为那是 他们告诉我女儿的话。 我告诉你，Z世代， 我女儿那一代，他们正在改变世界，他们正在改变世界 通过对话，通过团结，通过生活 好像盒子和障碍不存在。 这已经不够了 只是低下头。 得到这份工作。 完成壮举。 我们必须团结起来，走到一起，找出为什么障碍 首先就在那里。 而Z世代正在这样做。 他们在听。 他们看到了两面。 他们为事业团结起来 这不会直接影响他们。 我们有整个体育联盟都在站起来 因为他们相信什么。 它不再只是一个运动员。 我们有正在战斗的人 让妇女获得同工同酬。 我们有白人盟友 抗议种族不平等。 我们正在谈论心理健康。

 

And you know what's so special? My daughter the other week came up and handed me a list of stores that we're not allowed to shop at anymore.

你知道有什么特别的吗？ 前一周我的女儿 走过来递给我一份我们所在的商店清单 不允许再购物了。

 

I’m like, “Lailaa, like, another lesson, like, already?” She's like, "Mom, we're not allowed to shop at these stores because they're not body positive and body conscious towards all shapes and sizes.”

我说，“莱拉，就像， 又上了一堂课，好像，已经？ 她说，“妈妈，我们不允许 在这些商店购物，因为它们不是 身体积极，身体意识适合各种形状和大小。

 

And you know what, I'm listening, I'll be honest, and I'm learning, and you should, too, because my optimism lies in the next. That they will take our obstacles, our struggles, our insecurities, our challenges and not see them as obstacles, but as opportunities. Or they may not even acknowledge them at all.

你知道吗，我在听，我会诚实，我在学习， 你也应该这样做，因为我的乐观在于下一个。 他们会采取 我们的障碍，我们的挣扎，我们的不安全感，我们的挑战，而不是将它们视为障碍， 而是作为机会。 或者他们可能不会 甚至根本不承认它们。

 

I'm proud because Generation Z are proud, bold, and they're themselves. Because those ... that were told that they can't their entire life are having kids that are making us believe that we can.

我很自豪，因为Z世代 骄傲，大胆，他们就是自己。 因为那些... 被告知 他们不可能一生都在生孩子 让我们相信我们可以。

 

So go ahead, ask me if I play basketball, and I’ll proudly say, “Yes.” Because I realize I was the one putting basketball in a box all along.

所以去吧，问我是否打篮球，我会自豪地说，“是的。 因为我意识到我就是那个人 一直把篮球放在一个盒子里。

 

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

非常感谢您提供这个机会。