The demands of our time
“Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” — Elie Wiesel
“If you are not awe-struck by the power bestowed on you, you are bound to abuse it.” — Paulo Freire
“We are confronted with the fierce urgency of Now. Now is not the time to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism.” — Dr Martin Luther King
The authors whose words headline this piece are renowned. They made significant contributions to history in the 20th century. Their views and opinions inspired millions of people across the globe and will continue to do so well into the future. If their names and works are unknown to some, Google them and become inspired.
Everything they said is relevant to and applicable to our current situation. We may do well to take heed.
Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor who experienced the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. His parents were carted off to certain death and lived to become an outstanding writer, Nobel laureate and political thinker.
Always take sides! Neutrality helps the oppressor and never the victim. This is a truism that all of us need to appreciate and act upon. I am fortunate to have come of age when global changes encouraged political activism and a growth in consciousness. For me, it was easy to embrace the clarion call of Vincentian activist/ancestor Oscar Allen, “Be more and do more.”
I am proud to hail Brother A as a mentor and to live this creed. As a writer and social commentator, no major issue of the day has escaped my gaze, twisted, or tied my tongue. One cannot be silent for fear he might offend. The challenge is to stand for principle and not be bent out of shape when confronted with a difficult issue.
The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are wise: Stand for something or be prepared to fall for anything. Someone said that candour is the luxury of youth. Still, it’s also true that we hopefully get wiser as we grow older and should be prepared to take a stand without permanently being paralysed with fear and cowed into inaction. The consequences of our actions are all important, but thoughts of negative consequences must not become the be-all or end-all of our existence.
Sometimes, we have to fight, act, or speak if only to inspire ourselves and others. Sometimes, the statement “enough is enough” is the most important thing that any of us must make. And so, the efforts of public workers who stood firmly in defence of their right to conscience and for bodily autonomy in the face of the government’s effort to force an ineffective and unsafe vaccine on them should be applauded rather than condemned. Those citizens who have come to an understanding of the errors in their decisions must be assisted as they say never again.
Or consider Paulo Freire, the brilliant Brazilian philosopher/educator, who exhorted us to be awestruck by power. The leaders of organisations, institutions, and countries have significant responsibilities based on their positions and the authority they command. They can make or break careers, destroy lives or nurture and create pathways for others to thrive.
We are frequently confronted with situations where leaders convince themselves they are unique and extraordinary, thus forgetting that in a democracy it is the people who have the real power. Rather than commit to becoming the people’s servants, they laud it over their subjects abusing them at every turn.
The current US president and our prime minister are striking examples of leaders who believe that the right to speak belongs only to them and their ilk. Principled disagreement on essential policy issues is almost always given an evil intent. Because of the overarching reach and influence of religious, business, and political leaders, the public sphere could witness a chilling effect, meaningful discourse stifled, and the nation suffering if they foolishly manifest authoritarian attitudes.
We have to break free from that mindset and mode of doing things. The requirements of the nation rather than the whim and fancy of our leaders must rise to the fore. Herein lies MLK’s recognition of the “fierce urgency of Now.” In a crucial letter from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, he argued for “why we cannot wait”.
The identical question confronts us as we move into a crucial election year. The government has been experimenting with our lives for the last quarter of a century. Precious little has changed except that Gonsalves and a narrow band of local and foreign elites have gotten fat gluttonously feeding at the trough.
Increasing unemployment, poverty, violent crime, homelessness, and drug addiction are an enduring scourge on the nation. Social prostitution among our young people, hopelessness and helplessness have risen to unprecedented levels.
The nation needs a reset. Such a change will not radically transform our society. It will tell those in office that they have outlived their usefulness and summon another set of leaders to the difficult task of nation-building.
In my best Black Stalin voice, “We can make it if we try, just a little bit harder”.
