THE GREATEST PROBLEM, IS INDEED THE SILENCE OF THE GOOD PEOPLE

THE GREATEST PROBLEM, IS INDEED THE SILENCE OF THE GOOD PEOPLE

By Gabriel Dinda

My wife, Verah, told me about a friend of hers who, relating to an excerpt from her book, ‘Diary of the Miaha’, posted about her skepticism on being loved and how she is always ‘ready to be left/heartbroken’. In response, Verah shared a brief reflection on why she thinks it’s possible to be genuinely loved, support each other and live together happily and in a loving manner.

It appears to me that the world is short of good news. The media, especially social media is easily captivated by bad news. Bad news spreads faster because it interests people more, therefore people think that generally the world is ‘bad’. The good people, or those with good news seem to be overwhelmed by bad news hence give up and in a bid to keep their peace, bury themselves in silence hence denying the world the chance to hear the other side of the story.

I think this is where the problem is ­­- the silence of the bearers of good news or good people. The silence of those who are genuinely struggling to do good. The silence of faithful husbands who in the face of “normalized” infidelity, stick to what is truly good. The silence of “strong women” who do not think their strength can only be exhibited by killing their unborn babies because they have a ‘choice’. The silence of lecturers who know a lot about life, but choose to keep it to themselves for fear of being misunderstood. The silence of gospel musicians who have refused to be swayed by a common thought that there must be a naked person in a video for it to sell. The silence of the social media ‘influencers’ who refuse to use their influence to bully those who are bereaved but use their influence to make someone else’s life better or influence positive thoughts.

The silence of leaders who refuse to accept the “gifts given to them to influence policy in a way to favor the “privileged”. The silence of the teachers teaching their students genuine ways to navigate life and not just to pass exams. The silence of young people who are practicing chastity in their dating. The silence of girls who dress decently exposing as little as possible yet still “feel good” about their bodies. The silence of family members who are happy to go back to their homes every day. The silence of parents who are looking at their children as gifts from God and treating them as such and not as a burden that requires economic planning. The silence of husbands who are convinced that wives are not tools but human beings who can be talked to without a slap. The silence of happily married people who think they have to be married for a hundred years to say that marriage is not a prison. The silence of media houses who refuse to put up perverted adverts for the sake of common good. The silence of politicians who refuse to travel abroad to “benchmark” as the people they should govern sleep hungry.

The silence of good people deprives the bad people of an option. And with only one option, the ‘badness’ keeps spreading. The silence deprives people of hope, only seeing despair everywhere they turn. The silence deprives people of role models, only remaining to look up to naked slay queens as ideal mentors. The silence deprives people of ideals. Of things to aspire to. The silence deprives us of where we should be. The silence consoles us in our bad manners, that everyone does ‘it’. The silence gives us an excuse to continue behaving recklessly, because no one gives us alternatives. The silence deprives us of who we truly are – slowly dragging us to the animal kingdom. The silence of good people is the greatest enemy to both good and bad people.

Talk, Taaaaaaaalk, in whichever platform you can. If you consider yourself good, let people know about it. Let that one person know about it. Talk or make it possible to be known by others. If you feel you have an alternative view to something which society has “normalized” taaaalk. Write about it in your blog, even if just one person reads it. That’s enough. Use every available opportunity to give humanity an alternative. Talk about the good you do. Post about the good you experience. Share the pictures of those who are doing good. Put them in your status. Give those who are doing good a chance. Write about doing good. Better yet, let it reflect in your actions. Let people know about the good you are doing. Why are you lighting a candle and hiding it?

Truly, truly I tell you, Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned that in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. Allow me to change that to: The world will be a better place when the silence of good people replaces the noise of bad people.

Gabriel Dinda is the Founder of Writers Guild Kenya. Email-olewedinda@gmail.com