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A Better Tomorrow

The Politics of Engagement in a World of Fear

Published

9 years ago

on

BY HUGH ANTHONY

The terrorist attacks in Paris have left an indelible scar on our consciousness as individuals and collective societies as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) claims responsibility, yet again given the attacks in Beirut a few days ago.  In our Western democracies, it goes against the ideals of our democracy we embrace and hold so dear and is represented by

-Freedom of speech

-Freedom of equality

-The right to practice any religion

-The right to fair trial

-The right to vote

-A government elected by the people

We ought not to give into a world of fear, which has been so effectively utilized, not just by ISIS, but also by our very own democracies to isolate and divide, as with the recent elections in Canada and Poland.  What this politics of fear does is create a void and isolate citizens and people who want to embrace and understand the collective political norms rooted in democratic values.  As our societies embrace immigrants and minorities that will change the status quo of our hegemonic views that Western societies hold to so dearly, we have to share the values that have held our societies together and live them, not just when it is convenient, but making it a way of life.

Our societies need to share their values, not rules; how we integrate, not isolate; how we play our game, not our rights only to arms and shoot our guns; and how we affirm our reality, not our ideals. For some western societies, their goals should be to challenge the status quo of fear and reaffirm its founding values and agreed policies and guidelines for political engagement.  To do otherwise, will put our values and our democracies at peril; and on a collision path where we are responding from the axis of fear, rather than from the vantage point of political engagement. How I define political engagement is not in a traditional context, as we have come to know it, but how we collectively understand the means, ways, outlets and platforms of expression, advocacy and constructive dialogue for meaningful and sustainable change.

The responses to the terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, and the other cities over the past years Alexandria, Brussels, Copenhagen, Delhi, London, Madrid, Nairobi, Ottawa, Peshawar, and Sinai, and how do we move from the politics of fear to a politics of engagement, I propose three steps:

Engagement of Youths

If there was ever a time that’s considered the Enlightenment of Technological Engagement it is now. Our youths in Western democracies are now more connected to social media more ways than we want to believe than five years ago during the Arab Spring.   The era of clicktivism, where at the click or tap of a button, youths become exposed to information whether or not it is factual, it impacts how their opinions are formed and how they act.  It is our collective responsibility – civil society, business community, and political directorate to make youth engagement a strategic priority.  To do otherwise or to hold on to the old conventional view that youths are not engaged, is misguided and will result in the reinforcement of that view and further disenfranchise them.  The guided view and belief we need to embrace is that young people are willing to be involved in contributing to life and to living in a responsible manner. Thus, it challenges the notions and engages them to act and create positive social change.  To do otherwise, a feeling of despair may emerge and radicalization can replace inclusive engagement. For meaningful engagement, we need to involve the youths in planning and decision-making such as social innovation, education, entrepreneurship and political advocacy, given that they affect and effect them and their peers. There are benefits to be gained by leveraging the platforms that they actively participate on and in.  Our youths are not just amazing consumers, they are also excellent decision makers and innovators, who should have a say on how they curate their very own futures as well as ours.

Engagement of Minority communities

A research by the Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo), based at Coventry University, suggests that we are still failing to understand and reflect the growing diversity within our minority – and majority – communities. This is partly due to the sheer pace of change and increasing complexity of the diversity around us.

With the sheer pace of change in our societies, the situated and cultural context of minority communities often conflicts with mainstream ideals, not their values.  To effectively engage minority communities, we have to adjust the lens from which we seek to glean their contextual realities and lived experiences.  The need to engage minority communities should not be done only through traditional modalities such as through elders and community leaders alone, there is no better way to gain credibility in minority communities than by building partnerships and relationships with individuals and organization within them that have authority and collective persuasion that espouse an understanding of their socio-cultural and psycho-spiritual dynamics, their livelihoods, language, recreation and education.

The reinforcement of policies in the provision of services to minority communities within Western democracies that usually undermine their lived experiences, realities and socio-cultural contexts need to be reviewed.  For change to happen we need to review and recommend strategies that incorporate an understanding of minority communities to bring about sustainable change and well-being.  To do otherwise, it isolates them and undermines our abilities to build a cohesive and coherent approach for all citizens and civil society.

The priority for all societies that wants to harness the synergies of these minority communities for the collective good is to acknowledge that race and ethnicity are framed in the United Nations Human Rights Charter and incorporate that recognition in their governance framework. The issue of engagement must not only be general but specific in relations to how we recommend strategies of engagement for minority communities and how they are served and be willing to be served.  That is, with dignity, respect, recognition, equality and ability, not from a perspective of fear, disdain, contempt, but seeing our differences as strength and how our similar we are, even though we appear different. Our blood is all red in color, I infer!

Engagement of Civil Society

The capacity for engagement in civil society must not only come from within dominant groups or majority population within democratic societies, but also from key affected populations, in particular, women, minorities, indigenous groups, underserved communities (such lesbian, gays, bisexual, two-spirited, queer and MSM) and youths. For this to be meaningful and sustainable, civil society actors – private, public sector and non-profit organizations – must be held to a higher level of accountability to provide greater access to affected populations.

The digital age has provided unfettered access to information in real time and at practically no cost. This media and the medium of technology can be leveraged to assist in how we engage civil society and our constituents, and how it can help them deliver and manage change in a more effective and efficient way. As Suzanne Nazal noted “social media has transferred power to the people and has given rise to online activism.” She further noted that our ability for engagement has become easier and accessible to citizens to express support for a cause or start a campaign.

There are opportunities for civil society to explore in how we communicate beyond the traditional and/or comfortable modalities.  The alternative forms offer invaluable dialogue and have the potential to build a network of committed, active citizens that can positively influence civil society.  The need for commitment to engagement from governments, the business community and the third sector to foster, facilitate and enable environments for organizing, championing, advocating and engaging both affected and majority communities is crucial for sustainability and livelihoods within democratic societies to operate on the values they foster, not just the ideals espoused.

While we continue to build consensus around the most momentous challenges facing our world – terrorism and terrorist attacks – let our collective energies build bridges to healing, not exacerbate tensions and our vulnerabilities that currently exist even within our own societies. But most importantly, let us not divert attention from the serious challenges of youth engagement, engagement of minorities and the collective responsibilities of civil society.  They all contribute to the mosaic that creates a safe, meaningful and just society that provides a blueprint for strategic imperatives and political engagement that will create the quilt that becomes the premise upon which we strengthen the values that hold us as a society together, instead of dividing us, and foster our abilities that can help distort and destroy the politics of fear.

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A Better Tomorrow

A personal search for meaning; a perspective on pain and pain expressed

Published

2 years ago

on

April 24, 2023

By

Photo Credit: Arina Krasnikova

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Every now and then, I segway to give my readers perspective on the reason why I have been writing this story for over two years in the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper.

For those who don’t know, the title of my column is called, “A Better Tomorrow.” I initially started to write this as a medium of inspiration; I wanted readers to know that even in the darkest of times, there is always a way to make tomorrow better.

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Psychiatrist and Neurologist Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) wrote about his ordeal as a concentration camp inmate during the Second World War. What he observed was that those who survived longest in concentration camps were not those who were physically strong, but those who retained a sense of control over their environment.

I bring this incredibly poignant novel up, because for many of us, the last few years also allowed us to observe the intricacies of societal behaviour. It was rough for us: families being separated, lockdowns, and businesses closing down. Of course then there were the countless deaths of loved ones, fear of sickness, mainstream media and governmental forces propagating messages of despair that kept us all in our heads, and out of our hearts.

What Panama did was prepare me for this pandemic. I know what it feels like to feel helpless, afraid, unsure of what the next day will bring. The pandemic was on a macro scale, but this experience became macro for me.

All throughout this, all I could do was hope for, “A Better Tomorrow.” I turned my pain into words, and shared these words with all of you. I also learned that all of us have ways that we share our pain with the world. It is not always an artistic beautiful expression; sometimes it comes out as anger, rage, abuse; all human beings, to some degree or another, develop ways of dealing with pain very early on. It is an innate capacity we utilize to adapt and survive this world. It is how we protect our psyche, and our emotions.

Our nature is very similar to plants; we shape ourselves and adapt to our environment. Those that adapt to their environment survive; they twist, torque, and reach in order to get the sunlight and nutrients needed. This can be difficult if you are a plant amongst weeds: there is so much more reaching that you have to do, and it is tiring. It takes something special to move you forward; something that reminds you that what you want in life is not impossible to get.

This is why I share my story. I do it to let readers into my world; have them experience my pain with me, and work with me through my recovery. We all have difficult circumstances in life, and there are those times where giving up is easy. I want you to take a second right now and think about one of your experiences that seemed impossible to overcome, but somehow you did it.

Think about how you felt once you had dealt with the rawness of the situation.

As you are thinking about your experience, I want you to think about how it is making you feel having to think about it.

It is all perspective; regardless of what has happened to you, placing it into perspective is very important. We have to find a way to navigate the noise, see past your current situation, create ways to deal with your pain.

I have learned that sharing my story has helped others open up about their experiences, speak through their trauma and come to terms with it.

I hope you take the time to answer some of the questions I presented earlier, but now, back to the story….

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A Better Tomorrow

For the first time in a long time I felt seen; The story behind M

Published

2 years ago

on

March 14, 2023

By

Photo by Pixabay - Ink_Lee0

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

I sat in the steam room and reflected on my meeting with M. “He is so damn short,” I said to myself. He was no more than 5’2, tiny, but he did have a nice body. There was no way that I would ever get involved with someone who was 5’2. I shook my head. This was not the point; I was here because he said that he wanted to work with me, not date me. I had to keep my head on straight, but the way he looked at me, spoke to me.

I snapped out of my thoughts and went to take a shower. After getting dressed I joined M outside. He was waiting by the door on his phone. When he saw me, this scintillating smile flashed on his face.

“Hey Sim! I thought you might be a little hungry after our workout. Let’s go grab something to eat up the street. We can talk about the work that I would like for you to do.”

I was hesitant, but I thought to myself, what is the harm? I was hungry, and if he was buying, I would let him.

“Sure why not! You owe me after nearly killing me out there.”

M laughed and took my bag from me. “Let’s go Sim!”

He waved at the staff and we headed out.

We found a restaurant up the street, not too far from the gym. After we had been seated, the discussions just happened. We talked about everything. Family, where he was born, children. We had a lot in common, especially our love for Detroit. He had been born and raised there, and I had lived in Windsor on and off for 10 years. Some of my fondest memories were those years in Windsor, going to Detroit, working in Detroit, learning in Detroit.

Before I knew it, we had been talking for about three hours. I was four beers in and stuffed from my fish and chips. I looked at the time.

“What are your plans for tomorrow Sim,” M asked?

“Well, I am on my grind right now. I have had a rough few months, and I am trying to get my footing back. This is why we are here; you shared that you want me to help you with your work?”

“Well before we go there,” M replied, “Tell me what has been going on lately?”

I looked down and fought back tears. I wasn’t ready to speak on my recent calamities.

“Sim, it’s okay. Trust me! I have gone through a lot the last few years, and I know what it is like to shut down. Talk to me; sometimes you just have to get it out.”

His invitation to share moved me; I looked up at him and he was sitting there, looking at me. His calmness opened me like a flower, and I started to speak. I told him everything about Panama, my relationship with D, how badly things had been going in my relationship. Once the floodgates were open I couldn’t stop talking. After another hour I finally relented. I sat there quietly, mentally kicking myself for over-sharing.

“Sim,” M said after a few moments of silence. “We are more alike than you think. You see, there is a reason why I reached out to you. You are a beautiful soul, and it is hard to find people to relate to.”

M then started to share his story with me. He also had been in prison, and charged for the same things that I had been accused of. I listened keenly as he told me the experience, soaking up the fact that someone else got me, and understood what I had been going through. The shame. The need to hate myself for what I had done, the pain I had caused my parents, finally someone innerstood me.

We talked until the restaurant closed. It had to be one of the most impactful nights for me since I had gotten out of Panama. I felt seen.

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A Better Tomorrow

Things were about to get interesting, and not in a good way; The story behind M

Published

2 years ago

on

March 10, 2023

By

Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

I will never forget the first time that I met M. He had asked me to meet him at a gym that he was training at down in the North York area. I remember being excited getting ready to go down there. I wasn’t sure why, but when I looked at the picture on LinkedIn, I was quickly made aware.

That skin…

Those lips…

Famous last words; shake my head.

When I arrived at the gym, I parked the car, and gave him a call as he had instructed.

“I’m here!”

“Amazing! I am coming out to get you. Are you dressed to work out?”

It wasn’t until right then that I realized that he had an accent. Was he American? Something about the slight twang in his voice made me nostalgic.

“I am dressed. I am coming in. Do I have to say anything to the person at the front desk?”

“Nah! I am coming out to get you.”

I turned off the car and grabbed my gym bag. Naturally, I had put on my tightest pair of tights, and one of my favourite crop tops. Not exactly a workout outfit, but I had no problem getting sweaty in this.

I made my way towards the door, opened it up, and stepped inside.

The gym was buzzing with noise; weights clanging, music playing, people chatting loudly. I looked around for M, but didn’t see him.

“Hey Simone!”

I turned around and standing in front of me was that handsome face, the beautiful skin, and those big, beautiful lips, on the shortest man I had ever seen. I tried not to make a face, but I don’t know if I held my surprise. The picture on LinkedIn must have been taken from a low angle, because he did not look short in the picture. He could not be more than 4’2. He actually was 4’2. Imagine how it looked with me standing in front of him at 5’9.

“Hey Simone!”

I realized that I had not responded.

“Hello M. Nice to meet you.” I couldn’t stop staring at the top of his head.

“You ready for a workout. I want to show you what I can do for you, and maybe you can help me. You are here to help aren’t you,” he said with a smirk?

I had to laugh. “Direct me to the change room, and I will be right out to help you help me.”

“Head to the back of the gym. The women’s locker room is on the left-hand side. I will be waiting for you.”

I made my way back smiling to myself. What was this little man going to show me? I was pretty athletic and had been working out for a few years. As I changed my clothes, I reflected on the fact that I had assumed he was tall. That was my own fault. I couldn’t blame him for his height. Plus, this was business. Nothing else. I looked in the mirror; “Alright Simone. Let’s do this.”

OMG!

The workout with M nearly killed me. He showed me a few simple things, and honestly it nearly killed me. After 45 minutes he had me sweating and on the floor.

“Wow M! That was amazing. I was here thinking that I was in shape. You definitely showed me,” I said laughing.

“Hey, don’t let my size fool you. I have made bigger men than you cry after working out with me. Go ahead and shower up. Let’s grab something to eat. Put some fuel in your body.”

“Nothing would be better.” M helped me off the floor and I headed back into the change room to get ready.

Well, that was certainly interesting. He had completely caught me off guard. That would not be the first or last time M did that.

Things were about to get interesting, and not in a good way…

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