It's Time to Fight Back

I have been holding off this blog post for a while now, ironically, trying to formulate how I can express my views, in such a way that ties up experiences and events that have occurred over the last few months in a well-rounded way. My message, quite simply, is this. It's time to fight back. It's time to stand up, and speak out. Over the past few months, in my own personal life, but also the lives of many people around the world, there has been an ongoing struggle to uphold this, due to obvious restrictions brought about by the pandemic, but I think what we're all forgetting, regardless of the impact of coronavirus, is that there are still voices going unheard. As a young person in an ever-changing global climate, I feel an innate responsibility to be a voice for future generations, and in this blog post today, I would like to talk about some of the things I've been dealing with recently, what my thoughts are regarding some of the key topics at the moment, including the Black Lives Matter Movement, NHS and front line workers, and the upset regarding GCSE and A-Level grades.

I have to admit that, up until very recently, I was very confident in my expression, but I always shied away from conflict. I never felt like I had the true ability to stand up for myself, and I would often just let things slide; especially comments that people would direct towards me, whether direct or indirect. My demeanour was characterised by always trying to keep things peaceful and ensuring that any conflict was kept to an absolute minimum. Again, a few months ago, I would have probably still agreed with this mindset, but as I'm sitting here today, I've started to see things a little differently. Peace is very important. But peace and harmony, when introduced to the fanatical, and chaotic nature of human beings, is almost impossible to achieve. There's always someone who will be unhappy; someone who will suffer because of their own actions, or the actions of others around them. Peace can always be a lovely thing to experience, but it's not something to strive towards, and it's certainly not guaranteed. After an ongoing situation in my personal life regarding some extended family members, I felt that enough was enough. My subsequent actions did not intend to create conflict, but nor did they intend to create peace. There are some things in life that can never be fixed. As heartbreaking as that may be, the truth and reality of the situation lies in our own ability to move on. But before I did, I wanted to say everything that had been on my mind for the past year. So I sat down, and I did just that. I just spoke. Was there a sense of peace after it? No, not really. Not even for me at the time. But I felt a desperate need to release everything that had built up. I didn't want to be the one that stepped down anymore. I wanted to be the one who spoke up; who fought back. I think I certainly surprised myself, but consequently, I feel that I have grown massively as a person since then. Sometimes, I have moments where I wonder if I did the right thing, but they are quickly replaced by one very important lesson that I have learnt. You can't let people walk all over you. My parents and I were struggling, and I felt I had to do something about it. Speak up. Not back down. As a consequence, I have lost more people from my life, and after the losses I have already felt this year, it was a hard blow. But as a good friend told me recently, it's important to remember that you can only feel a great amount of loss if you had a lot to begin with. My priority now, is taking the lessons forward, and using them to inform my future decisions.

There are two contradictory notions regarding speaking out in society nowadays. On the one hand, whilst it is considered highly important for self-expression, identity, and liberation, in some cases, it has gotten to a point where a lot of people feel they can't say anything, for fear of offending someone. This is where the trouble begins. On one hand, I would say, freedom of expression is extremely important, and if you have something to say, then you should say it. But, in some cases, would it be better to keep that opinion or view to yourself? Where do you draw the line? Politics is an area of society that represents this battle of expression extremely well. Left-wing, right-wing, centrist, all areas of the political spectrum that have valid ideologies, proposes and focuses, and whilst causing great amounts of debate, political leaning is still considered subjective. But how can something like racism, or sexism be subjective? Is it ok for someone to state an opinion that women should be treated lesser than men? A lot of you will be saying that of course, that isn't ok, but what I'm talking about here is freedom of expression. It's an incredibly difficult thing to draw a line on.

Since the death of George Floyd in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter Movement has caused global shockwaves regarding the continuing racism that the world is facing. Quite rightly, the four police officers involved were charged and removed from the police force. The event created outrage in a lot of communities, leading to people taking to the streets in protest; fighting back. I know that if I ever heard anyone making homophobic, racist, sexist, or prejudiced comments, I would challenge them. I'm going to be honest, there might have been a time a few months ago where I would have thought, "it's not my place," or "this doesn't concern me." It concerns all of us, and I'm not just talking on a global level in regards to racial equality. I'm also talking about standing up for what you believe to be right. It really can go a long way. Rosa Parks took it upon herself to stand up for the black community in Alabama, and others on a worldwide scale, and in doing so, paved the way for an end to racial segregation. We don't all need to be Rosa Parks, or Martin Luther King, but our simple actions of speaking up, can and will create more shockwaves that continue for generations. Unfortunately, different forms of prejudice are always going to exist, but I like to think that most of us know when backing down is not an option.

Due to the bungled algorithm introduced for A-Level results when they came out last week, there was a lot of unrest up and down the country, as students opened their results and were disappointed with the grades they had received. In what was deemed a huge mistake by the government, the algorithm was later scrapped in favour of teacher's predicted grades, which, in essence, should have been used right from the very beginning. I count myself lucky to have been in Year 12 this year, and not 11 or 13. Imagine, after the years of hard work they had put in, to be let down by a government that promised earlier this year that university places would not be affected, and nor would their future prospects. After the protesting this week, I have to say, I'm surprisingly proud of my generation, and that's not something I say very often. We couldn't just let this go. We want our grades to reflect who we are, and our dedication to work, not something put into a computer system as a last-minute resort, especially after the claims that Gavin Williamson knew the system would fail many students up and down the country. In addition to social problems regarding the education system over the last few months, the NHS has had to deal with a staggering ordeal at the hands of the pandemic, and despite claims by the government in late 2019 to put more money into the NHS, by then, it was already too late. Frontline workers have had to speak out against numerous things, including PPE equipment, pay rises, lack of staff. These problems were already huge before the impact of coronavirus, and now, a lot of the health workers are fed up with the incompetence of higher authority figures, who are failing to meet the needs of everyone in this country. It's never too late to speak out. There are times when people need to hear something, whether they like it or not. Even if they don't listen to everything you say, you have to carry a sense of hope that the main message you are trying to get across leaves a distinguishable mark on their conscience.

One thing that always springs to mind when I look closely into the topic of speaking out, is the nature of bullying. Bullying comes in all different shapes and sizes; physical, mental, or both. Some people also carry the view that bullying only occurs to younger generations, for example, in schools. This is simply not true. Bullying can occur anywhere; in schools, in the workplace, friends, family. That's right. Friends and family. Bullying has many different forms. It is not a linear form of abuse, and sometimes, even unconsciously, people are belittling others; friends that they supposedly claim to care about. I remember during my younger years, in primary school, you would always see posters in the hallways saying "We have a no bullying policy in our school." This was all well and good, but it definitely doesn't mean that every single child in that school abided by it. A silent poster does nothing. Speaking out does. The one thing that bullies are scared of is people standing up for themselves. They want to maintain that sense of control; manipulating people into thinking less of themselves, feeling worthless, ashamed. That person may not feel in a position to turn around and fight back, but what about all the onlookers? All the other people that simply let it happen because again "it's not my place," or "this doesn't concern me." Let me ask you a question. What if it was you? Would you want someone to stand up for you, and say something? The power we have is held within us, and it's unleashed by our voices. There are events in my life that I look back on now, thinking, I wish I had said something. I wish I hadn't backed down. The best part of knowing and feeling that, is the fact that in the future I know I won't back down. I will stand up, for all the times I didn't before.

Am I impressed with the way the people of this country have stood up for themselves over the past few months? Yes. Am I impressed with the way I have stood up for myself over the past few months? Definitely. My message to anyone reading this today, is to just stop and think for a moment. Have a think about the last week. Did you try and keep the peace with someone, just because it was easy and less conflicting? Did you let someone take advantage of your kindness? Don't let that be you again. Let's all try to move forward to a world where fighting back and speaking out is not considered a mark of rebellion, but a mark of normality, integrity, and self-belief.

https://blacklivesmatter.com

https://www.bullying.co.uk/

The link to "bullying.co.uk" is a website for advice, for anyone out there who is struggling.