Violence is initiated by those who oppress, who exploit, who fail to recognize others as persons—not by those who are oppressed, exploited, and unrecognized. It is not the unloved who initiate disaffection, but those who cannot love because they love only themselves. It is not the helpless, subject to terror, who initiate terror, but the violent, who with their power create the concrete situation which begets the "rejects of life." It is not the tyrannized who initiate despotism, but the tyrants. It is not the despised who initiate hatred, but those who despise. It is not those whose humanity is denied them who negate humankind, but those who denied that humanity (thus negating their own as well). Force is used not by those who have become weak under the preponderance of the strong, but by the strong who have emasculated them.
For the oppressors, however, it is always the oppressed (whom they obviously never call "the oppressed" but—depending on whether they are fellow countrymen or not—"those people" or "the blind and envious masses" or "savages" or "natives" or "subversives" [or “Muslims” – PF]) who are disaffected, who are "violent," "barbaric," "wicked," or "ferocious" when they react to the violence of the oppressors.
Yet it is—paradoxical though it may seem—precisely in the response of the oppressed to the violence of their oppressors that a gesture of love may be found. Consciously or unconsciously, the act of rebellion by the oppressed (an act which is always, or nearly always, as violent as the initial violence of the oppressors) can initiate love. Whereas the violence of the oppressors prevents the oppressed from being fully human, the response of the latter to this violence is grounded in the desire to pursue the right to be human. As the oppressors dehumanize others and violate their rights, they themselves also become dehumanized. As the oppressed, fighting to be human, take away the oppressors power to dominate and suppress, they restore to the oppressors the humanity they had lost in the exercise of oppression
~ Paulo Freire, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed
//69.195.71.185/_media/resource/freire_pedagogy_of_the_oppresed.pdf
Recently by Peacock_Feather | Comments | Date |
---|---|---|
"Democracy" by the Sword | 39 | Oct 05, 2012 |
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan speaks against war with Iran | 32 | Oct 03, 2012 |
Regarding "regime change" in Syria | 6 | Oct 03, 2012 |
Person | About | Day |
---|---|---|
نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
either muslims or kuffar
by Fesenjoon2 on Tue Oct 02, 2012 06:01 AM PDTAnd if the Kuffar do not convert, Allah hath their limbs chopped off:
//quran.com/5/33
Either 'Them' or 'US'
by Demo on Tue Oct 02, 2012 04:19 AM PDTor say 'the rest of the world' or 'US' of A to make it more clear!
Thanks much for your blog. Such is still keeping the IC alive!
"Think not that GOD doth not heed the oppressors' deeds. He
but giveth them respite against a day when the eyes will fixedly stare
in horror, while they are running forward with necks outstretched, their heads uplifted, their gaze returning not towards them, and their hearts a (gaping) void!" (Quran 14:42-43)