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Voice

17/2/2023

28 Comments

 
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‘I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.’ (Malala Yousafzai)

I once had a secret meeting with the political wing of a revolutionary group from Central America, in a dark basement flat in London. But my story doesn’t start there. This was my moment. As I flicked through the pages of a UK newspaper, an article leapt out at me about the brutal civil war in El Salvador. I don’t think I’d heard of El Salvador before yet it reminded me of accounts I had read of horrific atrocities committed by the Nazis in WW2. I couldn’t change that terrible history but I could do something now.

I quickly did some research then set to work straight away, creating flyers and posters and circulating and sticking them up anywhere I could think of, hoping to raise awareness and to spur others into action too. I talked incessantly to family, friends and colleagues about what was happening in El Salvador. Most responded with a bemused look: ‘Why get so wound up about a situation on the opposite side of the world and over which we have no control anyway?’ That didn’t deter me. It was my time to speak.

I heard of a demonstration for El Salvador in London so I went there with a friend, both wearing our anti-war combat jackets. On arrival, we were approached by the organisers and invited to carry a banner. To our surprise, they asked us to march at the very front, directly behind a row of children who were carrying a banner too. Some 20,000 people assembled behind us. We raised our voices in safety – while human rights activists in El Salvador were having their throats cut and their bodies dumped onto the streets.

Driven increasingly by vicarious trauma, I joined the El Salvador Committee for Human Rights, a team of 3 activists based in a small room, armed only with a manual typewriter. I had the privilege of volunteering alongside a humble legend, Mike Gatehouse, who had previously been captured and held by the military in Chile during the violent coup that had overthrown its democratically-elected government. My role now was to hitch-hike around the UK, encouraging and resourcing local activist groups to amplify their voice.

As I look back, I realise that I didn’t have sufficient personal resilience to handle the stress, and I came close to burnout. My efforts were driven more by pain, empathy and instinct than by strategy and I’ve learned, since, the critical value of supervision. Yet Greenpeace’s profound slogan expressed our motivations too: ‘The optimism of the action is better than the pessimism of the thought.’

​There are situations in which we have to act, not because we have any guarantee of success, but because somebody has to speak.
​
[See also: Revolution; Protest; Words; Smoke; Nika; I did try]
28 Comments
Ruth Cook
17/2/2023 04:28:36 pm

Great to know you acted,Nick

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 04:54:35 pm

Thanks Ruth. To be honest, in the face of such a horrifying situation in El Salvador at the time, I would have found it harder to turn away and not-act.

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 04:55:51 pm

Thanks Ruth. To be honest, in the face of such a horrifying situation in El Salvador at the time, I would have found it more difficult to turn away and to not-act.

Reply
John Barton
17/2/2023 05:02:43 pm

It's unusual in my experience, Nick, to hear a Christian talking about social action. I always imagine Christians to be other-worldly, thinking about heaven rather than changing things now! I hope that doesn't sound rude. I'm just (pleasantly) surprised.

Reply
Patricia Wellman
17/2/2023 05:10:03 pm

Hi Nick! If a situation bothers me, I have to deal with it and talk about it with others. Even if they don't understand me and my interest, I have an urge not to remain silent. Most of the time it's situations in my environment that I want to address and change, not situations in the world. Here I feel overwhelmed to be able to change something. But I would like to support, for example, injustices in the group, aid programs for people in my area or actions for the community and tell many about it.

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 06:10:05 pm

Hi Patricia. It sounds to me like you have the heart of an activist!

Reply
John Belstaff
17/2/2023 05:13:18 pm

I didn't expect to see a Christian writing about human rights, Nick. I always imagine Christians to be concerned more about other-worldly matters. I don't mean to be rude. I'm just (pleasantly) surprised!

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 06:07:38 pm

Hi John. Jürgen Moltmann's words resonate for me: "Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it and to oppose it. Because I believe in eternal life, I shall be active for the life of the people. Because I hope in the resurrection, I shall take part in the revolt of the people against deadly oppressive powers."

Reply
John Belstaff
17/2/2023 06:13:17 pm

Powerful words from a theologian Nick. What about the Bible?

Nick Wright
17/2/2023 06:14:34 pm

Hi John. Yes, indeed. For example: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31: 8-9)

Alice Young
17/2/2023 06:22:16 pm

I'm not surprised you felt traumatised Nick. That experience sounds harrowing. I didn't know about the war in El Salvador but I can see people fleeing in places like Ukraine. I feel so powerless to help. Thank you for inspiring us to speak up.

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 06:27:25 pm

Thank you, Alice. The secondary trauma I experienced was that of witnessing such terrible suffering and yet, too, feeling powerless to stop it. Some years later, I worked with an insightful therapist who helped me understand that (a) sometimes people in such situations discover remarkable resourcefulness, which is hard to imagine from the outside, and (b) I needed to establish clearer psychological boundaries so that I wouldn't become damaged, debilitated and overwhelmed. It was as if, at times, I was stepping so far into others' (imagined) shoes, that I was stepping outside of my own.

Reply
Hans Vogel
17/2/2023 07:14:13 pm

You are arrogant self righteous person. You think you are better than other people.

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 11:39:49 pm

Hi Hans. I find the words in this extract from Galatians 6:2-4 in the Bible to be a useful guide: "Reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens. Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

Reply
Frank Masters
17/2/2023 07:18:27 pm

I get your point Nick but there are too many voices these days. Social media is filled with self-opinionated people, all banging the drum for their own pet cause. It just makes a deafening din. We need more silence to listen and think.

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 11:42:28 pm

Hi Frank. I can certainly empathise with your stance on this. At risk of sharing yet more words, a short related piece may be of interest? https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/words

Reply
Marion Lambert
17/2/2023 07:22:24 pm

How many lives have you lived, Nick??!!

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 11:43:08 pm

Hi Marion. Your question made me smile. :)

Reply
Naomi Wilson
17/2/2023 07:26:02 pm

There are situations in which we have to act, not because we have any guarantee of success – but because somebody has to speak.

That got me thinking, Nick. Why don’t more people speak up? Why don’t I?

Reply
Nick Wright
17/2/2023 11:45:41 pm

Thank you, Naomi. I share some thoughts on that theme in this short related piece: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/words

Let me know what you think?

Reply
Arman
18/2/2023 04:50:11 pm

Hi Nick, for sharing this writing with us.
One piece of the writing remaind me about today's situation of Iran!
'The optimism of the action is better than the pessimism of the thought'.
God bless you ✝️

Reply
Nick Wright
18/2/2023 06:44:48 pm

Thank you, Arman. You're welcome. Yes, there are similarities with the situation in Iran today, particularly vis a vis the government and state apparatus acting so violently to suppress dissent.

On that theme: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/nika

God bless you too.

Reply
GB
19/2/2023 12:39:12 am

Hi Nick. Certainly a highly relevant topic for me too, regarding the slow motion genocide of a sovereign nation, West Papua. There’s great advice here. To those who are surprised that this comes from a Christian, there are SO many instructions to followers of the Christian faith to do justice for all, &’to speak out against the oppressor.

Reply
Nick Wright
19/2/2023 09:27:38 am

Thank you, GB. I must confess that I know little about West Papua, yet this Amnesty International report makes sobering reading: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/papua?utm_source=google&utm_medium=grant&utm_campaign=BRD_AWA_GEN_dynamic-search-ads&utm_content=&gclid=Cj0KCQiArsefBhCbARIsAP98hXR5zRI9_4ZxpDPt6Obe7fXtSG_HisxGfQJEbHf-_J_jo7UICQ5aedoaAunoEALw_wcB

Reply
Andy Atkins
22/2/2023 09:21:49 am

Totally forgot you worked with ES Solidarity and the great Mike Gatehouse. They were just across the corridor from the Chile Committee for Human Rights where I was. We must have been only yards away from meeting each other about 15 years earlier than we did!

Reply
Nick Wright
22/2/2023 09:22:56 am

Hi Andy. Yes, it was fascinating to meet all those years later, and to discover how close our paths had almost crossed!

Reply
Paul
23/2/2023 10:59:01 am

“The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of good people”. I had this quote by Napoleon Bonaparte mounted and hang in my office Nick a few years ago. I was reminded about it in your article. It sure is a good reminder for people that being passive will get us nowhere and even led us to sin. James 4:17 declares, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins."

Reply
Nick Wright
23/2/2023 07:29:40 pm

Thank you for sharing those wise and sobering insights, Paul. You reminded me of Christian theologian Martin Niemöller's words of reflection and warning during and after the Nazi period in Germany:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.

Reply



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    ​Nick Wright

    ​I'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? ​Get in touch!

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