[Opinião] Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood - Trevor Noah

      

Título: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Série: -

Autor: Trevor Noah

Data de Leitura: 28/05/2024 ⮞ 05/06/2024

Classificação: -

Sinopse

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.

Minha review no GoodReads

Nunca vivi na África do Sul, mas quando era pequena estive internada em Joanesburgo, no Hospital Rosebank, na área de Sandton. Não me recordo de ter presenciado qualquer tipo de discriminação, até porque não vi nenhum negro durante a minha longa estadia no hospital. Aliás, só mais tarde, já em Portugal, é que percebi que a África do Sul era um país "coloured", onde o apartheid era violento.

Fechado o baú das minhas memórias, passemos ao Trevor.

Trevor Noah nasceu a 20 de fevereiro de 1984, em Joanesburgo, durante o regime do apartheid. A sua mãe, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, é negra e de origem Xhosa, e o seu pai, Robert Noah, é um suíço-alemão branco. Como o casal não cumpriu com o decretado no Immorality Act de 1927, Trevor teve de passar parte da sua infância "escondido" para evitar problemas legais.

As a kid I understood that people were different colors, but in my head white and black and brown were like types of chocolate. Dad was the white chocolate, mom was the dark chocolate, and I was the milk chocolate. But we were all just chocolate. I didn’t know any of it had anything to do with ‘race.’ I didn’t know what race was. My mother never referred to my dad as white or to me as mixed.

Trevor cresceu no Soweto, um bairro predominantemente negro, mas frequentava uma escola de brancos, onde era um dos poucos alunos negros. Aprendeu a falar várias línguas sul-africanas, o que lhe permitiu navegar entre diferentes culturas e grupos raciais, ajudando-o a evitar conflitos e a adaptar-se a diferentes ambientes.

We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited. Growing up in Soweto, our dream was to put another room on our house. Maybe have a driveway. Maybe, someday, a cast-iron gate at the end of the driveway. Because that is all we knew. But the highest rung of what’s possible is far beyond the world you can see. My mother showed me what was possible.

Gostei muito da forma como o Trevor fala da mãe que teve um papel central na sua vida, foi uma mulher corajosa, independente e profundamente religiosa.

That’s how it would go. Pray, sing, pray. Sing, pray, sing. Sing, sing, sing. Pray, pray, pray. Sometimes it would last for hours, always ending with an “amen,” and they could keep that “amen” going on for five minutes at least. “Ah-men. Ah-ah-ah-men. Ah-ah-ah-ah-men. Ahhhhhhhhahhhh hhhhhhhahhhhhahh hhhhah hhhhmen. Meni-meni-meni. Men-men-men. Ahhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhmmmmm mmennnnnn nnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn.” Then everyone would say goodbye and go home. Next night, different house, same thing.

Criou Trevor sozinha, enfrentou inúmeras adversidades, incluindo a pobreza e a segregação racial, mas sempre enfatizou a importância da educação, resiliência e fé, moldando o carácter e a visão de mundo do seu filho.

My mom did what school didn’t. She taught me how to think.

Durante a adolescência, Trevor envolveu-se em pequenos delitos, como vender CD’s piratas e roubar carros.

It’s easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong, different definitions of what constitutes crime, and what level of crime they’re willing to participate in.

Chegou a ser preso, mas foi libertado graças à fiança paga pela mãe. Essas experiências juvenis foram formativas, ensinando-lhe a lidar com adversidades e a compreender as complexidades sociais da África do Sul.

Houve alguns momentos em que achei que houve repetições desnecessárias, mas aos 32 anos também não há assim tanto para dizer.

Trevor não é apenas o apresentador do The Daily Show, também é um comediante, um comunicador nato e um contador de histórias. A sua capacidade de comunicar com o público vai muito além de simplesmente contar piadas; ele é capaz de transmitir mensagens poderosas através do humor e da narrativa.

Finalmente, este é um daqueles livros que em audiobook resulta muito bem.