JUSTICE NOT CHARITY!

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”

This is a quote that captures the essence of Nelson Mandela’s heart and call to action. That the charity work we use to hide our guilt is a facemask for the actual work we are refusing to engage in, it is easier to do charity, it takes us nowhere and it doesn’t change anything except to ease the guilt of the giver, it’s a drug the wealthy use to ease their discomfort. Mandela says, overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice, justice in corporate and government supply chains, justice in the allocation of resources and the equal sharing of the different means of production, justice in opportunities to thrive, justice, not charity!

The proliferation of charities is an indication of the structural and systemic changes that are not happening and the growing discomfort of those who are hogging resources, it's outlets of guilt and not justice work.

Mandela makes it clear in this quote that being the most unequal country in the world is an indicator of grave injustice and that we should not be okay with that as it is not natural, it is not normal, it is the wrong design and we must change it, if humans design the system, humans can undo and redesign a more equitable one. And then he closes off by saying that, “sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.” To be a great generation requires that we perceive the moment and rise to the occasion, this is a call to rise to the occasion!