Sunday evening. I had a long discussion with a friend about revolutions. The discussion took some other turn, and we ended up talking barriers and fears. She talked about the times and how much they have changed. How we have more barriers that limit us from carrying out certain actions compared to what was once obtainable.
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Her argument left an impression on my mind. One that kept me contemplating the times and how much they have changed. I came to the conclusion that truly, the times have changed, but haven't necessarily created more barriers but instead reduced them.
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Now, let me tell you about the barriers faced by some revolutionaries in the former times.
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Fela. I guess many of you do not know his story. Fela opposed the Nigerian head of states in a time when these men were literarily god unto themselves. Maybe you think this is a small feat. Today, the soldiers are more cautious, even scared, but an ordinary officer cadet on uniform would tell you to roll in a gutter and you would jump in like it's the nicest place you've ever seen. Here was a man, who refused to cower when the nation had 150 million cowards for citizens. Here was a man who understood the dignity in dying on his feet instead of his knees. The times have reduced the brutality of the soldiers but have increased our fear of them.
Seretse Khama. First president of Botswana. Banished from his country for marrying a white woman. No, not by his people, by the United Kingdom. Seretse studied in the UK, where he met and married Ruth Williams, a white woman. This was at a time when apartheid was at its height in nearby South Africa. The marriage angered both the elders of his tribe and the racist government in South Africa. The elders eventually accepted his decision but South Africa did not. So they got him banished from his country. Throughout, the man did not bend or break. He loved his wife and defended his decision everywhere, even in the British congress. Today, nobody stops you from marrying a woman of your choice, but a small push by mother-in-law and the marriage would be begging for a peaceful end. The times have mitigated the barrier but not the fear.
Mandela. We are all supposed to know his story, so I won't waste precious time retelling it. But what we may not know is that Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years’ imprisonment in solitary confinement. 18 years in solitary. Let that sink in. What greater barrier? If you've never been locked in a cell, you might not understand what 18 years in solitary could do to a man. Soyinka spent 25 months and came out screaming hell. 18 years in solitary would break any man but not Mandela. One prison warden would later tell stories of how Mandela would scream 'fuuuck the white government' at the top of his voice from his prison cell. Here is a man bleeding and cursing.
Today our barriers are mostly self-inflicted fears. We often given up our dearest pursuits because of minor things like family and finance. The times have changed, but our fears haven't.
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Today, we have more mental barriers and fears. Self-inflicted and self-nurtured.
