"SILENCE IS LIKE A CANCER"
TRUTH & RECONCILIATION SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
DAY ONE OF A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU WAS ABSENT
THE FIRST VERSE OF "THE SOUND OF SILENCE" SPEAKS LOUDLY
"THE SOUND OF SILENCE"
THANK YOU DISTURBED FOR YOUR POWERFUL PRESENTATION
Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light, I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
"Fools", said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words, like silent raindrops fell And echoed In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sound of silence
Lyrics courtesy of Simon Productions
Vanessa and Morgan share their talent through this powerful message
Canada Needs to Hear Indigenous Stories
Colonizers have used false narratives to justify genocide.
But storytelling can be a powerful way to fight back
BY JESSE WENTE
"That lack of progress across three and a half decades should be shocking. To many First Nations people, though, the shock at a racist act can last only so long and run only so deep, even if the pain lingers. We simply face this shit too often to be surprised by it—a world weariness we surely share with other marginalized communities.
And, really, we know better than to expect these attacks to stop when so many of their underlying causes remain unchanged and barely addressed."
WE CAN NO LONGER TOLERATE THE SOUND OF SILENCE. WE NEED TO LISTEN & BECOME ALLIES.
"In fact, most non-Indigenous people’s entire understanding of Indigenous life and personhood is an invention of Hollywood, from the war whoop to the sense that colonialism is inevitable, that the land and its original inhabitants are simply impediments to the birthright of the newcomers, that we are objects to be either used or destroyed on a white man’s path to destiny. This has been the dominant portrait of Indigenous life at least as far back as the birth of moving pictures."
https://thewalrus.ca/jesse-wente-unreconciled/