The most common translation of “Black Lives Matter“ in Chinese is ”黑人的命也是命“, which, if translate back into English, means “Black peoples’ lives are also lives“. When saying it, it may even sounds a bit like rapping which I guess, could be a tribute to hip hop music and hence the black culture. However, for this time, it doesn’t sound respectful enough.
There is an idiom in Chinese: ”性命攸關“, which means “vitally important, a matter of life and death“. “Black Lives Matter“ can be translated into “黑命攸關“ by changing the “lives“ “性命“ to “黑命“. Here the “soul“ part of life is now characterised by “black”, and this is how we understand this slogan.
”Black Lives Matter“現在被翻譯為”黑人的命也是命“，多少有點不合時宜。試想一下，若是在示威時，將這句帶點饒舌意味的中文句子當做口號沿路高呼，似乎欠缺一些緬懷逝者的莊重。當然，這個翻譯算不上是不好，有的公眾號甚至將這句口號翻譯成”黑暗生活“，轉譯回來似乎更接近”Thug Life“.
中文有一句成語: ”性命攸關“，形容事關重大，非常緊要，其中”性命“與”生命“相比，是更強調”心“及靈魂與生命相關性的表達。”Black Lives Matter“所呼籲的，正是這種緊要的相關性。所以，將”Black Lives Matter“翻譯成”黑命攸關“，能讓中文使用者，更貼切地表達對這場運動的關心。
