All my life I've heard the name of Mohandas (Mahatma) G Gandhi. his name resonated as a person of integrity, a profound yearning for peaceful resolutions to problems that plagued people who weren't white.
Later I learned of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, not because of communism, but because they fought for freedom from oppression.
in '68 I learned of apartheid and the name of Nelson Mandela. One man leading a people who were constantly harassed by police and military, who were treated to the worst discrimination in the world, even worse than black Americans, barred from any work other than labour, beaten wilfully by their white bosses for minor infractions, compelled by laws to carry passes and present them on demand by any police or be imprisoned. Just like the Nazi Reich.
I learned about apartheid and the cruelty that those in charge could do to our fellow humans. people whose only difference was skin and culture.
some here have equated the Voice with apartheid. they feel they will become victims of racism. and that they will somehow not have the same rights as Aboriginal people.
tonight on NITV I watched an excellent movie, Mandela. it reminded me of how when the South African people were beginning to gain support from the rest of the world, how the right wing extremists rammed the AWB armoured personnel carrier into Parliament House in Cape Town seeking to force the white Gov of De Klerk to arrest every black person.
this is an extreme example to hold up before you (if you've read this far, I thank you) but we need to remember to be grateful that our black skinned fellow citizens and humans are asking us to listen to them.
this is NOT political fgs. its not moral or even ethical. its not about me. its about people genuinely asking to be listened to - please.
this is about justice. and just us can give them justice.
