Freedom begins from within
By alphadog1
- 875 reads
Steve Biko was a student activist and founder of the idea known as Black consciousnesses; a movement which at its heart was set to empower and mobilize the largely black population of South Africa.
The black consciousness idea was born out of hatred towards the black community, a race with huge generational ties to the land of South Africa itself, from the wealthier minority white community.
Biko's idea of rejecting prevailing opinion or mythology to attain a larger comprehension, is as prevalent now for many who are poor and disabled as it was for the enslaved of South Africa thirty five years ago. The indirect hatred thrown at many of us who are disabled, though patronizing middle class liberal opinion, and the direct discrimination, through right wing newspapers who pedal right wing mythology, via the cold cruelty of an unelected government, cut to the core of many individual's, whom, through no fault of their own, are becoming increasingly marginalized, segregated and dehumanized.
Like the native South African, we disabled are born here, we have ties here, we have hopes and dreams that are thwarted by cuts and segregation, and if things are to continue, we will become the slaves of a generation of a minority class of wealthy individuals. So we need to reach for our own myths and grab hold of them. Yes , we have things that separate us from them, but these are not a weakness... these are a strengths, they are, essentially what make us individuals and give us greater worth; and they should be embraced. For as we embrace these difficulties, so we can begin to walk the path to greater freedom.
Steve Biko refused to see a colour in skin. And by refusing to see it, he destroyed within him the segregation and dehumanization that exists in racism. This is what this new idea of ability consciousness is all about. Yes, we are are different but we are equal, and we, like any other human being, deserve within our means to have the right to work where we want for whom we want to. As long as this segregation, manipulation and cruelty continues; so, will our battle. For freedom begins from within, with a single mental step into the light.
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"we have hopes and dreams
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