Silence is Complicity — Holocaust Remembrance
We Remember…
As we reflect on the atrocities of the Holocaust, may we always remember the silence of those around the world… the people who were complicit and condoning of the systemic discrimination, injustice, slavery, inhumanity, and genocide of Jews. We remember the lives of those who were condemned to slavery and then to death. We remember their faces and their hearts… how they fought through adversity mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. We remember the lives lost and the lives saved. We remember the dead and the alive. We remember the survivors who lived to witness to the world the realities of discrimination, racism, slavery, and genocide. We Remember…
Never Forget…
May we never forget the Holocaust and the people who continue to tell their historical truths. May we never forget the “lights” that flickered in dark and grim times to lead and save lives. May we never forget the secret passages of survival and the courageous individuals who did SOMETHING. May we respect and honor those who stood up, spoke out, and supported the oppressed.
May we never forget to listen, learn, research, and re-tell the memories of those who survived hate. May the heroism of humanity be forever honored and celebrated.
May we never forget how one person inspired hate, influenced rules, created texts, and controlled media/content to define the “superiority” of a group and “demean” the existence of another group. May we never forget how our words and talents were suppressed, culture forbidden, religion shunned, literature burned, language banned, houses destroyed, families torn apart, and ghettos established only less than a century ago. May we never forget the calculated regulations, procedures, and processes that created and perpetuated racism and a “solution” to rid the world of our people.
May we never forget how students were taught in schools… how they learned about hate and how even in the silence of teachers (and parents, principals, & community members)… they still learned that differences were a death sentence. They learned that Jews were bad, evil, and wrong. They learned verbally, experientially, and silently.
May we never forget how “silence” and how people “turned their backs”, “covered their eyes”, and “sealed their lips” with hopes that the holocaust that was happening would “work itself out”, all contributed to the death of our people.
May we never forget the racism, ignorance, intolerance, and killing of people because of their differences (religion, culture/traditions, hair color, height, eye color, abilities, etc.). May we continue to unlearn, relearn, memorialize, and explore the hard truths. May we document and teach the real facts to ensure that no one ever forgets… Never Forget…
Never Again…
We must be acutely aware of the signs of fascism and racism that initiate as policies and laws to systematically destroy groups of people. We must not get so comfortable in our privileged lives that we think this will never happen again (genocide is currently happening all over the world).
We must not be silent bystanders of the same hate that killed our people. We must not sit idly by as even in America, systemic racism and discrimination thrive…
We are sometimes the perpetrators of prejudice, biases, and bigotry, and in our privilege we are silently supporting the system that tried to rid the world of us many times throughout our history.
A new culture has emerged… one that has morphed into silent yet systemic discrimination all around the world. We must change this “culture of complicity” to transform our world to be a better place for all people to live, survive, and thrive. We must take strategic action to make sure inhumanity and injustice never happens again… Never Again…
NEVER
May we continue to do what we can to stand up, speak out, and change the systems that are unjust and inhumane. May we NEVER get too complacent in our comfort and in our own “power”, that we can not see how we too are playing a role in the discrimination and demise of groups of people because of their race, ethnicity, geographic location, skin color, hair type, or religion, etc. May we NEVER be “okay” with benefiting from modern day slavery, segregation, and inequality. May we teach our children the hard historical facts and give them the skills they need to make sure NEVER is a reality. May we do things and be people who ARE the difference in the world. May we not ignore racism. May we not deny discriminatory practices. May we be courageous individuals who are not afraid of change and who do not participate consciously or unconsciously to inequity. May we challenge ourselves and deliberately confront and change the racist systems that we are apart of and play a role in.
May we do whatever we can to always remember the people who died in and survived the Holocaust, never forget the systemic actions that created hateful ideologies, and examine everything to make sure a holocaust never occurs again (any where to any people around the world).
May we NEVER be silent and complicit in our own comfort and privilege and passively allow genocide (masked or unmasked). — Dr. Tarece Johnson, The Global Purpose Approach
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#SilenceIsComplicity #DoNotBeSilent #ViolenceIsSilence #Humanity
#Injustice #Inequity #Oppression #Justice #Equality
#Diversity #DiversityEngagement #Inclusion #SocialJustice#EconomicJustice #Equity
