Black Woman Speaks of White Womanhood

“You were afraid to nurse your young
lest fallen breast offend your master’s sight
and he should flee to firmer loveliness.
And so you passed them, your children, on to me.
Flesh that was your flesh and blood that was your blood
drank the sustenance of life from me.
And as I gave suckle I knew I nursed my own child’s enemy.
I could have lied,
told you your child was fed till it was dead of hunger.
But I could not find the heart to kill orphaned innocence.
For as it fed, it smiled and burped and gurgled with content
and as for color knew no difference.
Yes, in that first while
I kept your sons and daughters alive.
But when they grew strong in blood and bone
that was of my milk
you
taught them to hate me.
Put your decay in their hearts and upon their lips
so that strength that was of myself
turned and spat upon me,
despoiled my daughters, and killed my sons.
You know I speak true.“

(Beah Richards, excerpt from “A Black Woman Speaks of White Womanhood")

Some things never change

Cicero (43 B.C) of the Roman empire wrote this. 
Do people and things ever change?

1. The poor, work and work.

2. The rich, exploit the poor. 

3. The soldier, protects both.

4. The taxpayer, pays for all the three.

5. The wanderer, rests for all the four.

6. The drunk, drinks for all the five.

7. The banker, robs all the six.

8. The lawyer, misleads all the seven. 

9. The tax collector, kills all the eight.

10. The undertaker, buries all the nine.

11. The Politician and Prostitute live happily on account of all the ten.

Kill, kill,kill ........

Kill, kill, kill.  If this is what people hear and watch day in and day out then what will be the outcome?

We will calibrate our lives to believe that violence, mayhem and killing are perfectly normal activities.

Add to this state of mind, an easy access to weapons, and further agitate these minds and all hell breaks loose.

The Americans measure and monitor everything and that is extremely informative and educational. A report prepared by the University of Pennsylvania showed that a typical American child by the age of 16 will have witnessed 180,000 acts of violence and 20,000 murders on television. Add to this the violence that is reported in the newspapers, and magazines, the movies, violent video games and we have ticking time bombs.

Starting soon after world war II and promoted by Hollywood and export of this culture to the whole world, violence has become a staple diet for most people.  Imperialism necessitates the glorification of war and violence.  Unfortunately the Americans are not the only ones and the Russians, Chinese, and even we the pacifistic Indians have a big appetite for violence.

Why then should we be surprised by widespread killings and violence, be it in homes, workplaces, schools, and places of worship at regular frequency. People are increasingly using violence as the first step in resolving issues. This insanity harms mainly innocent people who pose no threat nor bear the killers any ill-will.

The violence hurts less when it appears far away, as if we read it in a story book. When it strikes at home or someone we know the effect is usually unsettling if not devastating.

A nephew of mine (at that time aged 10) fancied himself a mini version of some of the killers he saw on television. Much against his mother's angry protests he persuaded his father to buy him an air pistol. Always brandishing the weapon he led his younger siblings and other kids in the neighbourhood playing games of war and killing.

One day while role playing, the young boy shot his younger brother in the face at point blank range. The little boy's eye exploded.  The child's life was scarred, and the family developed irreparable fissures.

Even 18 years later there is a simmering anger within the child and his mother. There is a latent fear and  anxiety in the mind of the nephew who fired the weapon and his parents, for they know what goes around comes around, and there will have to be payback. Not knowing when they will have to pay the price and how, is a fear that haunts them everyday.

 In all of history there has been no instance of violence having effectively resolved an issue permanently. If you do not want innocent people to be maimed or killed, stop glorifying war and violence. Do not expose yourselves and your children unnecessarily to violent behaviour unless you want them to pursue a career or lifestyle which demands violence.