Words that caught me: R is for 'Reconsider' and 'Redefine'
A few days ago I looked at my social media feeds,
And noticed a fiery rage coming at me, fast and furious.
That intrigued me. My interest was piqued.
So I zoomed in, to get a closer look.
Words of rage were coming in faster than I could read
them.
It seemed like it was flooding.
And since I now know ‘overwhelmed is a choice’, I stepped back
a little.
I needed to get a hold of ma’ self.
That evening, there was a broadcast on the event,
And as the newsman warned us, with the now
characteristic:
‘The images you are about to see could be disturbing’,
My curiosity blew over and I looked on intently,
Keen to grasp what the hullabaloo was about.
And as the images flashed on the screen,
I felt by brow narrow. My breath slowed down.
A lump caught at my throat. My body shock in a jolt.
And I swear, I could feel the pain in his voice, as he
gasped for air.
Yet…the knee was unyielding as the face above him
Went about admiring the scene around him, amazingly
unconcerned.
How callous and contemptuous can one be, towards life,
flesh and blood?
I felt my head look down, involuntarily, in shock,
As my spirit contorted and knotted,
With emotions I didn’t know yet, what to name.
It reminded me of the emotions that flooded me
The first time I read the ROOTS…
And I dare add, the numerous pre-colonial and neo-colonial
protestations.
We forget too soon, from whence we came from.
It may have happened so far away…
And I know it may not matter to you right now
Or touch you much –
After all, a lot worse has happened here already, to, and
by, our very own,
And I have never written anything on or against it (why do
I care now, you ask),
And you probably have a lot of other things to think and
worry about, right now.
I understand.
The sun will rise again tomorrow.
The protests and the rage will die down.
And we’ll continue with our lives…
Until the next life filters away,
Needlessly and recklessly.
Let me say this…
I would really love to live in a world
That honors and respects human life the same way,
everywhere.
A life should never, ever, be lost, solely on basis of one’s
skin colour, ethnicity or class!
Is that too much to ask?
In very many ways, we live in a broken world
That’s crying for change and transformation.
But we will not get there by wishing it, or praying
someone will come and do it for us.
We have to do the change.
We have to be the change we want to see.
We have to begin somewhere.
And we can start by thoughtfully reconsidering our
priorities,
Redefining what we now call essential,
And demanding that our leaders reflect - in their doing,
not rhetoric - where we want to go.
That day has been long coming.
But we can start today!
And this, here, is our little grain of sand.
Come with yours…and together…we can turn this into a lovely
beach!
- Leo Babauta and Ozan Varol have both written something nice on this. Please, please...heed the call...and add your voice!
- Vala Afshar recently tweeted a video of the great Muhammad Ali talking about these same things in 1971! Just imagine that! That's 5 decades back!!
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