Speak up

SILENCE IS NOT ALWAYS GOLDEN

More often than not, we have been told that silence is golden, that it is better to hold our tongue than to let it loose, that restraining ourselves from speaking is strength, and wisdom. However, there are moments when silence is not wisdom; it is complicity, collaboration, connivance, and conspiracy to evil. When injustice thrives in quiet corners, when words left unspoken allow harm, pain, and destruction to continue, silence becomes a betrayal of others, ourselves, and the truth.

The world is a better place today because some people have dared to speak up. William Wilberforce spoke up against slave trade of the nineteenth century, which saw the eventual abolition of slavery; Martin Luther King Jr. spoke vehemently against the inhumane treatment of blacks in the United States of America, a course for which sake he lost his life; Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa all spake up for their people, those who could not speak up for themselves, and the result was freedom, and a better life for those they spoke for.

The world will always remember those who dared to speak, the whistleblowers, the protesters, the ones who refused to let fear lock up their lips, and hold their tongues. A word at the right time can unravel a lie; spark a movement for justice, freedom, or revolution; or even save a life. Your voice, even when it shakes, carries weight, so speak up when you need to.

There is power in silence, there is power listening, but there is also power in breaking the quiet, speaking up, and saying things that ought to be said, when it should be said. Some wounds rotten in the dark, but when brought to life receive healing. Some truths can only be known when silence is broken, and light shone on it; and sometimes, the bravest thing you can do for a greater good is to make some noise.

To a better you, Kamikun John.