Every day we are faced with challenges. Sometimes, these challenges are as simple as deciding which bills to pay and when. Other times, these challenges might be whether to question a direct order that crosses moral or ethical boundaries. No matter the dilemma, a little bit of our soul is extracted anytime we compromise our beliefs and personal ethics.
Delegate Patrick Henry presented resolutions to raise and establish a militia, and to put Virginia in a posture of defense against the tyrannical crown of England on March 23, 1775, he famously concluded his speech "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Mahatma Gandhi employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from the British and led his country to freedom from rule in 1947 only to be assassinated months later. In 1936, August Landmesser, a shipyard worker in Hamburg, Germany refused to participate in the Nazi Heil Hitler salute. Rosa Parks became known as "the mother of the civil rights movement" when she was arrested on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. An unidentified Chinese man stood in front of a column of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, only a day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protest. Before Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa from 1994-1999, he was imprisoned from 1962-1990 for treason and conspiracy against the government.
History is filled with a plethora of stories of individuals answering the call depicted in the Banned And Cancelled Series uttered by the protagonist Byron, "How much more are we going to let them take?" These historical figures mentioned answered, "No More!" Some were imprisoned, while others would lose their lives. We must not share history through a distorted lens that fits our own narrative, but rather, we can change the future by learning from the mistakes of the past. Realizing our actions or inactions in questioning those in power can be very impactful to the future of our world as we know it.
In this shattered world, you can either assimilate or be one of the countless individuals finding themselves BANNED AND CANCELLED!
Comentarios