Dear Reader,
"You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise."
— Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou.
In a world today where identities have become liabilities, the poem, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou reminds us to be resilient. But, is it possible to rise alone? Do we always need others to stand beside us?
The Mirror
Who Speaks For Us?
Being seen as a minority, as different, as an ‘other’ is scanning the news for the criminal’s identity before empathising with the poor victims affected by senseless acts. Relief before empathy, when you find out that the criminal shares nothing with you. Isn’t that sad?
The crime is briefly disregarded, as we focus our anxiety on prayers,
“Please don’t look like me.
Please don’t pray like me.
Please don’t talk like me.
Please don’t carry the same passport as me.”
Isn’t that sad?
Once we confirm that the criminal is an ‘other,’ the next thing we do is comb through comments and reactions, not for anything good, but rather hoping to detect hypocrisy in excuses, denials and silences. To shout, “ohhh, but if it was…. you wouldn’t be silent, you wouldn’t be making excuses.”
Again, the victims are forgotten, as the game of pointing fingers ensues.
Isn’t that sad?
We’ve lost the ability to feel enraged on behalf of someone else when oppression and injustice occurs, merely because it’s happening to ‘them,’ not ‘us.’ Unfortunately, injustice against one person today, becomes injustice against all tomorrow.
What will we say then?
“Why is no one speaking for us??”
“If this happened to them, they’d be on the streets protesting. But it’s us, so no one cares.”
I’ve been there, angry that no one is speaking out when people that look like me, pray like me, talk like me, and carry the same passport I do have had their rights trampled on.
But when have I ever carried a placard for someone else?
The Echo
"Please don't be black - Blackish"
The Grounding
Look around you, what injustice are you overlooking because it doesn’t affect you?
The Lens
Some silences can’t cut across wood.
Names remain crumpled, to be unearthed when there’s no one left to take accountability.
The Shelf
Behind You Is The Sea - Susan Muaddi Darraj
Because people are more than the headlines, they're flawed and aren't marked by their tragedies.
The Green Bone Trilogy – Fonda Lee
Because everyone's a villain sometimes, but there are times when you still have to root for a side.
Before You Go
Let’s look out for others when we can. I’m the first person to be afraid of speaking up, even when it concerns me personally, but we’re getting to a point in the world where silence is becoming a self-inflicted wound.
It’s fine if others don’t speak up for us, let’s not wait or expect them to do so.
Speaking out when it concerns those that don’t share our identity or values is difficult and I hope I won’t be a hypocrite when my test comes.
Until next week,
Spring4th.