Cultures Of Silence.
How is something like a culture of silence that has been around for so long, in the minds of most people across this globe? In some parts of Africa, it has been years and even decades, a cultural tradition in which individuals are not allowed to speak about anything directly. It’s a kind of “culture of silence” that was observed by many families as they have lived on their own land for generations before passing them down to their descendants, who would then pass those same traditions on to future generations. This practice also applied to schools and workplaces where one person’s children taught others and gave lessons and advice. That is why we see today so many leaders encouraging people not to talk, and many people who still live under these cultures of silence in certain societies.
They all started from childhood when a father or mother decided that it was time for him to take his child away from everything he believed to be right, and start living without any restrictions to what he had been taught from that moment from his parents, teachers, church members, elders, other people in society. So that man would spend most of his time alone with the animals, plants and things outside that he knew belonged exclusively to him and other persons only around him. Only his daughter had friends whom she could play and interact with as well as spend time with her. She learned to say the words in English, and later on she learned how to read as well as write. As time went on, she began growing up and became more aware of the social and political systems in Jamaica. The girl started going out to walk around the house and soon her mother felt that she did not need to have the conversation she did at home because the lady was doing almost as good as being with her mother. Things moved quickly, and eventually a few times went to school. However, there wasn’t much social interaction with people that were not related to the family. Her father used to think she was odd and that she didn’t know how to talk about things about him, as an adult, but she couldn’t get someone to understand what she meant. She had no one to tell her that the way she said things, she had no reason to. After school came the time when she started going to church at 10 o’clock every morning and evening. The thing she loved more than having an ordinary teacher to teach her was the class she was getting. One day, she found herself taking a lot of notes while sitting beside her teacher, reading them. While looking through her books, she stumbled and started saying something along the lines of: “This book is very important because… it shows us what our Heavenly Father is like, and I feel like you ought to focus on that person because the Lord has made in His image. We should pay special attention to persons that we can go to find information, or persons who have made significant contributions to our communities and the world in general. My dad will always give me a piece of paper and if I do anything wrong, he’ll put a note in my notebook saying ‘You’re making mistakes today’; and the next week, I’ll go back to church to pray and worship God. That way I can always remember that the Father blessed me so much, and I can always think back to him. I can think of how I can take special precautions against any bad things my father and I will do. I do not believe in allowing myself my life to be controlled, because after I’ve said my prayers and done my prayers and followed everything the Lord tells me to do, He’ll probably give me more trouble than it deserves, and I’d have to go deeper into hell. But if I just believe that He wants me to do right, I’d never do anything wrong.” She continued, “I don’t like to lose control of the situation and if I choose, I could always look backwards and blame myself. I think I’m the type of person who does not want to see anyone get hurt or be taken advantage of so, in that way, it doesn’t really bother me much. Because I do not want anything to happen to my mom.”
Her daddy would always talk about how people were not supposed to talk, but there were rules. And how he thought he was the head of a country club. He saw the people who lived in the community as property that were being owned by a person who might not have the resources that they needed to keep them safe. He didn’t necessarily know their story but the fact that they were people like himself, he imagined they would have had similar struggles. When people in the village were happy, the man would sing songs he played on his guitar called love songs in honor of the couple. Then, if the people got sad, he would sing songs about how they should forgive other persons and forget things they were angry about. If things went smoothly, everybody laughed and clapped together and everyone was smiling. Sometimes it seemed to him that people didn’t have a voice, but the truth is, they did. It is very common to hear people talking about how the elders in the village talk about how they lived their lives and people will always have questions about how it feels to be alive after that age, but nobody ever told them anything about what happened to them after they grow up and become adults. So, they were left to figure out things for themselves. No-one ever told them exactly what it was like when grownups talked about when they were young.
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