Throughout Connecticut, across the country, and around the world, people from all walks of life are demonstrating their belief that political leadership must take decisive action to acknowledge mistakes, take corrective action, then move on. Accountability is required to end racism and sexism.
There is evidence that slavery existed worldwide during the earliest periods of recorded history. It started with victors of wars being served by defeated captives. Pre-Christian Greeks and Romans perfected the slave trade into a highly profitable business. Ironically, during this period a new word appeared in the spoken languages on earth; “freedom.” Press ‘fast forward’ to 2021.
Last July in Suffield, peaceful demonstrators met with mixed reactions from passersby. One demonstrator supporting the group Black Lives Matter held a sign that read “Our History Did Not Begin in Chains.” My inquiry to this person (who identified as being a descendant of American slavery) about the meaning of that message got a reply which made me shudder. “This statement recalls that six centuries ago a commercial enterprise was established to capture, brand, and sell Black African human beings as livestock for servitude. Skin color is still that brand.”
On every continent, including North America and West-Central Europe, it’s hard to comprehend how the social status for women and girls being as equal to men and boys could continue being denounced. Great disparities continue in political debate over full acceptance of discrimination based on sex or sexual preference being regarded as destructive. Clearly the 51 percent of our female gender worldwide, statistically have only half the equality of observed male civil and human rights. Identifying love expression for anything other than between man and woman is punishable by death in countries where disobedient women and girls also suffer the same fate. Lack of understanding, fear and ignorance continue to propagate resentment.
The chants of “Enough Is Enough!” and those of “No Justice – No Peace!” resound with frustration and disbelief in our Twenty-First Century inter-webbed world. A widespread prevalence of brutality, enormous disparities in social justice, and the bigotry that sustain these conditions is actually another type of pandemic circling the globe.
There is no vaccine to immunize against hatred and discrimination. Contentment is not an artificial flavor that some have and some have not. There is one consciousness, one breath we all share – one for all, and all for one. If we strive to take individual responsibility for our actions, and teach (by example) yet unborn future generations to appreciate this knowledge, fluent and graceful life on earth will be possible.
Ray Pioggia