Equal Rights Controversy
"Mi say, equal rights and justice,
Nuff ignorant people ago cuss this."
I cannot believe this has caught the attention of almost all Jamaican people. If they haven't listened to it, they are curious as to what it is and what is everyone conversing about. The media is having a field day with the lyrics; television stations having heated arguments, radio shows appalled, instagram spreading memes and videos, facebook having millions of likes and comments and twitter just cannot be retweeted anymore!
.....And I sit here and it stroke me, Equal Rights and Justice, everyone talking about this Equal Rights and Justice, everyone in the know, has something to say, needs to comment on this Equal Rights and Justice.
What is Equal Rights?
What is Justice?
Jamaican People, what is Equal Rights and Justice?
See this is my biggest issue, the things that we choose to give our attention to, the things we choose to want to be involved in, the things we choose to converse about.
"I don't want no peace,
I man need equal rights and justice."
So many people are dying from diseases, so many people are in poverty, children are being raped, women are being killed, discrimination is evident, life is becoming detrimental around us and we are concerned with Equal Rights and Justice.
But are we really?
Equal Rights should not just be about male and female relations within society nor should justice be about convincing ourselves we are treating others fairly. It is so much more than that. It involves tackling those issues that we as humans refuse to even open our eyes to, acknowledge existence, face the reality.
So yes, I am talking to you.
You who scorns the person that shares a different religion from you, the person that shares a different gender from you, the person that shares a different race from you, the person that shares a different ethnicity from you, the person that shares a different sexuality from you, the person that shares different beliefs from you.
You who scorns the person that does things differently from you.
You the scorner.
Yet still you want to talk about Equal Rights and Justice!
There is no equality, there can be no justice until you change the way you perceive things. People ought to understand that everything, every single thing in this world begins with you, begins with how you see it and begins with
how you perceive it.
Understand that for the world to achieve Equal Rights and Justice you first have to own up to your wrongs, own up to you denying equal rights and justice, realize you are first at fault and then be willing to take the stand and change the way in which you think about others, the way in which you treat others, the way in which you distinguish between yourself from another person.
Equal Rights and Justice starts with simply Empathy and Humility.
That is the key equation right there.
Equal Rights & Justice = Empathy + Humility
As people we tend to lack empathy. We are so caught up with ourselves; we forget others exist without even realizing. It’s all about you you you you, and never about them.
Have you ever stopped to think about how your ability to not understand the other person, what they do and why they do what they do can cause them to feel?
Place yourself in the “victim’s” shoes for just a minute and realize how you are making life hard for him or her.
Not because you do not share in his or her beliefs gives you the right to determine whether their actions are right or wrong.
People have the right to their own choices and should not be condemned for them.
You are not always the important person in the picture. The background of the picture should always stand out to you. Let them be them, and you be you without any controversy.
The world is better when you realize this.
So next time when you wanna talk about Equal Rights and Justice, make sure it’s a sound conversation of real concern for the betterment of the human race.
