Freedom - Let’s look at that a bit.
The previous generation fought very hard for our freedom
But are we free yet?
Is that why we have become so complacent?
Let me tell you why.
We no longer fight for freedom,
Instead, so we can do exactly what the oppressor wants,
only voluntarily and willingly.
We no longer fight to reclaim what’s rightfully ours,
what was forcefully & unfairly taken away from us;
Instead, that it be shared fairly amongst all of us.
We no longer fight for our position as the original & rightful owners of the land,
Instead, so they let us have a fair share of it – for a fee.
We no longer fight for a fair representation in the economy of the country as an 80% majority,
Instead, we plead for a 25% share of the stake; and let the minority keep the rest.
We no longer fight to keep our own ways and customs,
but that they bear with us as we try to learn theirs.
We don’t fight to be educated in our own languages,
now we’d rather settle for the easiest to learn of their languages.
These days we have to sit down and come up with strategies and ways forward to preserve what is ours, but now subject to extinction.
We have to sit around the table and negotiate so we can have at least a share of what was forcefully taken from us.
We have to negotiate to be freed from what was forcefully and unfairly imposed upon us.
These days we have to pay compensation to get back what was initially stolen from us.
Tens and thousands of us have to speak together to put right what was wronged by just one voice.
Yes, thousands of us have to labour together to rebuild what was destroyed by a few.
We have been told we need to come to the table to sort out verbally what was deliberately and violently messed up for us.
We have been told we need a pen and paper to put right what was wronged with a sword and gun.
We have been led to believe this can be sorted out in a civilized and humanly manner, when it was caused in the most animal-like manner.
We are attacked for our race-based corrective policies, when the very destructive policies were the most racist.
We have become marginalised so much that we have become like black spots. Yes, black spots on a black sheet – invisible, irrelevant and of no effect.
We forgive. We let go. Yet, we don’t forget.
We make friends with them. But, we don’t forget.
We love them. Yet, we don’t forget.
Today, our generation is much better off. But we still know.
Today, the future looks much brighter. But we will always know.
Ask me to move on, because I can.
Ask me to be responsible for my future, because I am.
Ask me to make the most of opportunities presented to me today, because I will.
Ask me to care & love unconditionally, because I do.
Ask me not to be racist, because I am not one.
But –
Don’t ask me to ignore the past, because I won’t.
Don’t ask me to forget, because I can’t.
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