Bearing Witness

A voice is a gift; it should be cherished and used… Powerlessness and silence go together; one of the first efforts made in any totalitarian takeover is to suppress the writers, the singers, the journalists, those who are the collective voice.   - Margaret Atwood

There has been much debate over the years as to the role that literature and art in all its prism facets should play within a culture. Is it for entertainment? Escapism? Or should those individuals who have been blessed with a convincing, expressive ‘voice’ be committed to a greater cause? Living in Canada, one of the most peaceful, inclusive countries in the world, it’s easy to become complacent. Generally, writers can say what they think openly, without fear of punishment or censorship. “Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression” is a basic human right guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights. But what of the rest of the world?

Left : Margaret Atwood
Photo Courtesy: newworldencyclopedia.org

On May 27, 2009, Amnesty International released its 2009 Report. Regardless of where you hail from in this wide world of ours, it's difficult to remain complacent in light of the findings of the latest Amnesty International Report.  Even as soaring food prices place more of the world's population at risk of hunger and disease, the governments of Burma (Myanmar), North Korea and Zimbabwe are using food as a weapon to control their population from seeking political change. Those countries’ brave souls who have taken a stance to speak up in defence of the most basic of human rights—their writers and poets—have been sentenced to jail terms. Their voices have been silenced.

A Disturbing Scenario: While countries around the world focus their attention and resources on bolstering their flagging economies, many governments are using the global economic crisis as an opportunity to further their stranglehold on the repressed.  This disturbing scenario: governments with a dismal history of human rights violations capitalizing on the fact that Western and European countries have their attention focused inwardly, is a recipe for disaster. In her report, Irene Khan of Amnesty International argued, “In times of economic stress and political tensions, there is a need for openness and tolerance so that dissatisfaction and discontent can be channeled into constructive dialogue and the search for solutions…the dirty truth is that many people are poor because of overt and covert policies of discrimination, marginalization and exclusion…It is no mere coincidence that many of the world’s poor are women, migrants, ethnic or religious minorities.”



History has taught us that the collective voice of a people will not stay silenced. And if not expressed in the words of its writers and poets, then how? As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” If North American and European governments ignore these human rights violations in favour of dealing with their own internal economic problems, what waits for us when the situation reaches its inevitable tipping point? Almost fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. also said, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

Amputating The Creative Soul: In their attempts to silence these poets and writers, do their respective governments really understand the price that their cultures will pay from amputating the creative soul of their people? To quote poet, William Blake: “Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.” Poetry and art are the creative cornerstones of a people’s culture. Destroy the cornerstones and you crumble the foundation that maintains the culture. A people’s voice through its poetry and writings should be nurtured and passed down to the generations that follow. As Allen Ginsberg put it, “The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry does.”

Does Poetry Have a Place in Politics?: Poetry’s place (or lack of it) in politics is a topic of much debate. Canadian, Milton Acorn, a self-proclaimed political poet, said about politics, “…in the most creative moments of history, politics is the focus where all human aspirations meet and struggle for fulfillment.” Politics, in its purest form, is a dialogue between two parties. For a dialogue to be meaningful, both parties must have a voice. If the collective voice of the people is silenced, who better to take up its resonance than a poet? I echo the words of Irving Layton when he said, “Poetry, by giving dignity and utterance to our distress, enables us to hope, makes compassion reasonable.”



Bearing Witness: It is said that a true poet or writer while relaying their canvas of reality is neither judge nor jury, but a witness. The very act of writing is an act of bearing witness. Poets pay attention. They absorb the world through a creative lens, then through the power of words, translate what they’ve seen. Readers ‘hear’ this testimony and through the sorting blocks of their personal experience, native culture and value systems decide their verdict. Poet, Dennis Lee said, “A poem enacts in words the presence of what we live among. It arises from the tough, delicate, heartbreaking rooting of what is in its own nonbeing. From that rooting, there arise elemental movements of being: of hunger, of play, of rage, of celebration, of dying. Such movements are always particular, speaking the things which are. A poem enacts those living movements in words.”

In the words of Allen Ginsberg, “no change can be made in a polite silence.” Those of us who are fortunate enough to have the gift of a voice and the right to use it, have the responsibility to speak up for those who do not. For every brother and sister whose voice has been silenced, may our collective voices rise up to bear witness so that the world might hear.



Hands   by: Debbie Ouellet

It’s hands
that show hunger—
fingers spread,
palms up,
outstretched, grabbing
at bits of sky;
‘cause there’s
nothing left
to reach to
but a fist full
of empty bellies.

It’s hands
that show indifference—
fingers clenched,
in pockets,
turned inward, clamped
around purse strings;
‘cause there’s
nothing better
to reach to
than a fist full
of privilege.

Comments

You are Palestinian, the more you say it the more you are. Do not look at the other side because then your cause is not worth the energy you put in it. Human beings are basically the same wherever they are from." My cause, my cause, my viewpoint, please see it and do not look at anything else. Me, me, me..."
If we all keep on looking this way nothing will ever change at all.
Just scream so think you'll be heard. But what do you want people to hear? The truth or your opinion?