Sharing the burden and cost of change
Angry youths protest in Kenol, Muranga County, on October 4, 2020
What you need to know:
- Activists live in fear on behalf of the people who gave up chasing better lives because with every hurdle they went through, thrice as many hurdles popped up.
- Activists have seen what despair can do and because of it, they fight with fear in their hearts.
There’s an unlikely thought that we should sit with as long as we live in countries that need deep structural change. This thought is the one that makes us believe or assume that those who stand up, occupy public space and actively champion the rights of others are courageous.
We presuppose that choosing to fight for the rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing of others, is exclusively driven by courage. Well... what if I told you that those who speak up aren't only courageous but that they're filled with fear in equal measure?
Fear is one of the greatest tools used to galvanise and move people. For example in politics, narratives that stir people into fearing an opponent’s win are common.
Their outcome is assured, particularly in political environments where politicians continue to bastardise politics.
These fear-induced narratives directly play on the psyche of citizens creating angst. In the context of activists, fear is rooted in knowing the immense consequences of inaction, silence and apathy. Beyond the courage that defines an activists’ actions, fear is what determines how they act.
Because of this, activists clearly see that each of us deserves dignity and that waiting for something to happen to them before taking action does nothing but fuel the unjust operating culture of dysfunctional systems.
These systems make up the unfavourable governance, capitalism, poverty, class and endless inequality, that keeps spinning and throwing off those without privilege. Activists are fearful of the consequences of people living empty lives because they know the cost of lost dreams.
Preserve of a few
Activists are scared that the lived experiences of communities who’ve been kept in the unending cycles of poverty and indignity will not end unless small steps are taken. Activists are also scared that opportunities for dignified life remain the preserve of a few, while the majority are served a raw deal, then forced to settle because the injustice of unequal resource distribution thrives in the silence of tribalism or nepotism.
Activists live in fear on behalf of the people who gave up chasing better lives because with every hurdle they went through, thrice as many hurdles popped up.
Lastly, activists are fearful of the fact that there are many things that vulnerable people want to do, experiences they’d wish to have, lives they hope to live but somehow, the system keeps sidelining them and there’s nothing more dangerous than people who don't have anything to live for.
Activists have seen what despair can do and because of it, they fight with fear in their hearts. The cost of their fight is so high for themselves and those around them while their losses and sacrifices are irreparable.
Despite all these, the fear of hopelessness pushes them on. Holding on to the hope that the people they fight for will one day see how fearful they are.
And that maybe, if we all realised how scary it is to exist within systems that erase and make the vulnerable invisible, we’d join them and play our part in fighting for each other. We’d share the burdens, sacrifices and undeniable cost of change.
