AMANDLA

Can an act of resistance be as simple as choosing to no longer be complicit?

In reality aren’t we all complicit in maintaining the structures of our societies, accepting it as an undeniable fact, a fixed reality? How, you may ask, have we allowed ourselves to be used by systems constructed to keep the hierarchical status quo intact at our own expense and securing our enslavement through dodgy economics? Unquestioningly we agree to exchange our time on this earth for a salary keeping us shackled to desks, stuck in offices and on sites… always on the clock, always in debt in service of something other than ourselves.

Have we been asleep, programmed, or brainwashed into maintaining our own shackles?

Can the dismantling begin in the simplest way, with the realization that because we were made complicit in the survival of these manufactured systems, we can, by the smallest acts of resistance, dismantle them?

But how do we change these ingrained habits and behaviours?

How do we decode the damaging narratives that dictate our reality?

Narratives such as:

·       One gender deserves preferential treatment over the other

·       One race is better than another

·       The unfair idea of class and castes

·       One religion is the chosen one.

·       Capitalism and Democracy are good; Socialism and Communism are bad

·       The North vs. South divide

·       1st world and 3rd world distinctions… and so on…the list is endless.

 

And we act accordingly, don’t we? We play the roles assigned to us, and stick within the narrow bands we are permitted to operate within.

 And we are glad we are not “them”,” the lesser than”. And we sacrifice “the other”, look down on “them”, happy in our “otherness” … pointing fingers, allowing for their control and annihilation, not realizing that it is through our silence that we have given these systems carte blanche to act the way they do: to steal resources, claim lands, demand servitude, sow death and destruction, wage wars…and we look the other way because we benefit from this to a degree.

I know these constructs well, the narratives of control, the language of fear… Dehumanizing people in Apartheid South Africa was entrenched in our daily lives and fear was instilled by the media using terms like “Swart Gevaar”, "Slegs Blankes" and we were imprisoned and segregated, not only in our communities, but in our minds, the rhetoric of white superiority and colonialism sold to us, and our second and third class citizenry a mantle resting on each of us, weighing us down.

Revolution and Resistance are our birthrights!

True resistance is soft and loud!

Loud, out in the streets, fists in the air, tyres burning, throwing stones (and anything you can lay your hands on) at armoured tanks and vehicles manned by men in green and blue uniforms wielding batons, armed with guns and missiles, throwing teargas at crowds of citizens tired of their oppression. And calling for boycotts and isolation in the international arena…and sanctions! And humanity winning then defeated once again because the tentacle of oppression is multi-layered and insidious, and it clings to its privilege and requires us to forget our own dehumanization for the sake of Peace and Reconciliation. And in the era of post-apartheid our faith being destroyed by greedy politicians out for self-promotion and power, selling out our countrymen to greedy corporations leaving us hollow, our lives and experiences having so little value.

Mass resistance is a beautiful thing; it sweeps you up and leads you to believe that power does in fact lie in the hands of the people. Yet the people in power look down on us from their ivory towers and continue their nefarious plans in countries all over the world where the resources can be found that will enrich them and empower them to continue business as normal as they have done throughout history.

And soft in the smallest things we each choose to do, or NOT to do every day on an individual level to buck against these narratives that are sold to us as gospel.

It starts with questioning everything and choosing those things that align with the values of equality and humanity. It can be as simple as not buying from companies with records of worker abuse and child labour, and unfair business practices.

To speaking out in the workplace and demanding fair wages for everyone, as well as equality across the board from the CEO to the Tea Lady to the Workshop Manager…

To managers choosing not to act like Hitler’s Henchman and carrying out orders of the higher ups to make workers toe the line.

To speaking out within our families if we notice inequality on the basis of gender. Small things like how we treat and value our sons versus our daughters.

Calling out people who are racists and make racist comments as if it is acceptable.

“No, Susan, you were not just kidding, and no one is laughing!” 

Saying something when you see something horrible happening to another person, like a fellow student being bullied for their religion or race, or because they are considered different.

Or providing for your neighbours when they are struggling, and offering a generous hand or a kind shoulder in their time of strife...

Can you think of something you could do to break these unbearable patterns?

It is time we celebrated our differences and glorified in our diversity and individuality.

No more cookie-cutter people, no more mimicking celebrity culture, or revering the wealthy and elite, or acting like coconuts to assimilate…

Let’s be loud in our differences and uniqueness.

Let’s be accepting and kind.

It is time to resist!

It is time for the revolution!