At times, no frequently, I as a white, middle class woman
living in a comfortable apartment in Sydney, feel powerless. Powerless to act, powerless to make a
difference. I also feel conflicted. My heart, my conscience, wanted to march in
the Black Lives Matters demonstration. I
wanted to join the protests highlighting that there have been more than 430 Aboriginal
deaths in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission and add my voice to those
raging that despite this atrocious number no one has been held
accountable. Aboriginal people are still
dying in custody. Dying prematurely are
disadvantaged by every socio-economic indicator. Yes, I have had my wings clipped. And I feel embarrassed. What is my silence and non-participation
saying? Desmond Tutu says “If you are
neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” And in a similar fashion Elie Wiesel says “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the
victim. Silence encourages the
tormentor, never the tormented.”
So how do we break
the silence. Particularly how do we
break the silence during these COVID restricted times? How do we individually and collectively
ensure that we are neither complicit nor seen to be complicit with the
individual prejudice and systemic racism?
How do we raise our awareness of our white privilege? Yi-Fu Juan says, “Spiritual and cultural
transformation are linked to changes in how we talk about our lives and the
world in which we live." How
do we learn to listen, talk and act differently?
Judy Cannato retells the story that John Dear has told. In the early 1980's a small group gathered
in their church basement in East Germany to ask a daring question: "What
will Germany look like a thousand years from now when the Berlin Wall finally
falls?" There was no question of
the Wall coming down soon. Such a
prospect was unimaginable. Communism was
here to stay. The grip of the Soviet empire
was permanent. The suicidal competition
between the two nuclear superpowers seemed preordained. And yet, they asked the question. They allowed their imagination free reign.
What would a world without the Wall look like? And what must we do now to
hasten that great day a thousand years from now?
According to the story, the small group felt energized as
they discussed their dream. They decided
to meet again a few weeks later. Soon
word of the meetings spread and more people began to meet in church basements
to dream of a world without the Wall. Over the next few years, a grassroots
movement grew. Ordinary people on both
sides of the Wall pursued the vision of unity and reconciliation. They met, organized, prayed and spoke out.
Then, out of the blue, Mikhail Gorbachev announced his new policy of perestroika. The Polish Solidarity movement pushed the
Soviets out and a new democracy was born.
Events moved quickly. Communism
collapsed and the Soviet Union imploded.
The grassroots movement begun in East Berlin by a handful
of faithful dreamers made all the difference.
In November 1989, tens of thousands of people marched in East Berlin to
demand the fall of the Wall. Every day,
more people marched. Soon, hundreds of thousands were marching. Then all of a
sudden, on November 9th, the Wall fell down. It took the world by
surprise. Yet the Berlin Wall could not
have come down peacefully without the grassroots visionaries who dreamed,
imagined, met, discussed and organized over the years. Gorbachev needed a grassroots
movement to make his vision bear fruit.
In other words, the Wall fell because ordinary people imagined a world
without the Wall. They held up the
possibility of a world without the Wall and they acted as if such a world was
possible and inevitable. (Field of
Compassion by Judy Cannato p 75)
Can we as a community ask questions, let our imaginations
challenge us and dare to dream of a new world, unleashing a spirit of
transformation that can actually change history. Then we would be truly saying Black Lives
Matter. Truly we would be witnessing
spiritual and cultural transformation.
Another worthwhile link: https://organizingchange.org/here-is-how-moral-leaders-approach-neutrality/
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