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Global citizens move around in environments of power every day. Decisions are made every second from places and spaces of power and such decisions affect individual lives in the present and future. However, many of us are afraid of the word “Power”, we fear to speak about it, we shun from claiming it and we correlate it to something that is evil or something which destroys power holders, power seekers and power framers.
The thought of power often sends a destabilizing crippling effect which incapacitates many into a narcoleptic passivity state. This passivity enables the concentration of power, it allows power holders to justify the use of power and it gives the sense that power is static and infinite in its present operation and manifestation.
I was illiterate about power and the use of it. I did not understand it as I was never educated about it, and this illiteracy brought with it certain fears and fears encouraged apathy and disengagement in my civic duties and placed me on virtually non-existent ends of the individual, political, social, academic and economic social spectrums.
I feared to own power because as a Caribbean woman I was socialized to believe that power was scary and it belonged to a certain group of people, a certain class in society, and a certain race.
I believed and accepted that power was corrupt, it was bad and it was destructive. I felt uncomfortable to participate in conversations about power and would use my illiteracy and fears to criticize something I was not knowledgeable about nor its uses and I was ashamed to acknowledge this. The fears of others compounded my own inner fears and I self-subjugated as a citizen in my personal, community and professional life.
How could I acknowledge what I did not know, ironically I criticized what I did not know. Illiteracy kills development and growth and sadly many power holders feed the illiteracy of the masses and are energized by it. This fear of power crippled me in every area of my life, I used my powerlessness to justify my illiteracy as I accused to be excused.
While travelling and sitting at the feet of transformative and emancipatory educators I began to understand power and how powerful it can be in the hands, minds and hearts of literate actively engaged citizens.
I began a personal process of de-institutionalizing my own ladders of oppression, demystifying the social construction of power which shaped and molded my attitudes and behaviors as a result of the power of social norms and the institutions which they feed into. I began redefining what it means to be a Caribbean Woman and Citizen of African descent whose parents came from two different Caribbean Islands, with two different contexts and each having a different understanding of power.
I began the process of understanding the power of citizenship not from the linear ideology of place and country of birth as this linear view have opened the doors for exclusion, permission and creates multiple negative consequences for humankind. I began living citizenship from that place of being “a pro-social, problem-solving contributor in a self-governing community. As civics is the art of citizenship.” – Eric Liu of Citizen University.
This definition of citizenship initiated the process of evolving citizenship in my life.
The time is now when every citizen ought to become literate about the transformational and explosive effect of civic power. Literacy about power ignites active citizenship. We must replace the thought that power is a zero-sum game with the innovative, imaginative civic idea of together (Self-US Now).
For years citizens have been operating from the place of power is zero-sum which is when one person, group, political party, institution or community gains power then another or the other loses power.
This ideology which has become an accepted social norm continues to dis-empower citizens, erode civic engagement and enable citizen’s passivity and or willful illiteracy.
When citizens begin to look at power as a positive sum power entity which begins by looking at the ‘whole’. When we include voices who are left out and marginalized...
When we increase citizens understanding of ‘Together Self-US Now’...
When voice and agency and civic power are embraced and included, then communities and societies will be strengthened, become adaptable, and powerful.
Inclusion always changes the roles and sources of power. And Inclusion always breeds social development and endless possibilities because it always inspires success.
Citizens have an obligation to understand that power must be claimed and exercise from a place of literacy. To claim power one must understand it. We all have a right to claim civic power. And we must not ask for permission to claim nor exercise it, as the present power holders who have concentrated power would use power to justify why power over should remain with them and those they appoint.
What also happens when power is concentrated? It opens the flood gate of narratives which are created to justify the power concentration, the holders of it and its manifestations. And over time due process of democracy is covertly taken over by a coup and held captive. This concentration of power establishes systems of social, economic and political inequalities. It widens the economic gaps and classifies and categorizes citizens. ‘We and Them’, ‘Rich and Poor’, ‘Upper, middle, low and no class’, ‘educated and uneducated’.
There exist way too many powerful people holding and using power who are illiterate about it. And this illiteracy begins the abuse of power. It is imperative that citizens understand the role of citizenship, become literate of what it is and how it functions, and understand how to claim and exercise their civic power. According to Eric Liu, learning to read and write power changes the power game, it changes the power justification narratives and its changes the equation.
This is why I no longer fear to name and own power and Speak TRUTH to Power.
Read Part 4: 3 Types of Empathy Important to Healing and Social Change
The thought of power often sends a destabilizing crippling effect which incapacitates many into a narcoleptic passivity state. This passivity enables the concentration of power, it allows power holders to justify the use of power and it gives the sense that power is static and infinite in its present operation and manifestation.
I was illiterate about power and the use of it. I did not understand it as I was never educated about it, and this illiteracy brought with it certain fears and fears encouraged apathy and disengagement in my civic duties and placed me on virtually non-existent ends of the individual, political, social, academic and economic social spectrums.
I feared to own power because as a Caribbean woman I was socialized to believe that power was scary and it belonged to a certain group of people, a certain class in society, and a certain race.
I believed and accepted that power was corrupt, it was bad and it was destructive. I felt uncomfortable to participate in conversations about power and would use my illiteracy and fears to criticize something I was not knowledgeable about nor its uses and I was ashamed to acknowledge this. The fears of others compounded my own inner fears and I self-subjugated as a citizen in my personal, community and professional life.
How could I acknowledge what I did not know, ironically I criticized what I did not know. Illiteracy kills development and growth and sadly many power holders feed the illiteracy of the masses and are energized by it. This fear of power crippled me in every area of my life, I used my powerlessness to justify my illiteracy as I accused to be excused.
While travelling and sitting at the feet of transformative and emancipatory educators I began to understand power and how powerful it can be in the hands, minds and hearts of literate actively engaged citizens.
I began a personal process of de-institutionalizing my own ladders of oppression, demystifying the social construction of power which shaped and molded my attitudes and behaviors as a result of the power of social norms and the institutions which they feed into. I began redefining what it means to be a Caribbean Woman and Citizen of African descent whose parents came from two different Caribbean Islands, with two different contexts and each having a different understanding of power.
I began the process of understanding the power of citizenship not from the linear ideology of place and country of birth as this linear view have opened the doors for exclusion, permission and creates multiple negative consequences for humankind. I began living citizenship from that place of being “a pro-social, problem-solving contributor in a self-governing community. As civics is the art of citizenship.” – Eric Liu of Citizen University.
This definition of citizenship initiated the process of evolving citizenship in my life.
The time is now when every citizen ought to become literate about the transformational and explosive effect of civic power. Literacy about power ignites active citizenship. We must replace the thought that power is a zero-sum game with the innovative, imaginative civic idea of together (Self-US Now).
For years citizens have been operating from the place of power is zero-sum which is when one person, group, political party, institution or community gains power then another or the other loses power.
This ideology which has become an accepted social norm continues to dis-empower citizens, erode civic engagement and enable citizen’s passivity and or willful illiteracy.
When citizens begin to look at power as a positive sum power entity which begins by looking at the ‘whole’. When we include voices who are left out and marginalized...
When we increase citizens understanding of ‘Together Self-US Now’...
When voice and agency and civic power are embraced and included, then communities and societies will be strengthened, become adaptable, and powerful.
Inclusion always changes the roles and sources of power. And Inclusion always breeds social development and endless possibilities because it always inspires success.
Citizens have an obligation to understand that power must be claimed and exercise from a place of literacy. To claim power one must understand it. We all have a right to claim civic power. And we must not ask for permission to claim nor exercise it, as the present power holders who have concentrated power would use power to justify why power over should remain with them and those they appoint.
What also happens when power is concentrated? It opens the flood gate of narratives which are created to justify the power concentration, the holders of it and its manifestations. And over time due process of democracy is covertly taken over by a coup and held captive. This concentration of power establishes systems of social, economic and political inequalities. It widens the economic gaps and classifies and categorizes citizens. ‘We and Them’, ‘Rich and Poor’, ‘Upper, middle, low and no class’, ‘educated and uneducated’.
There exist way too many powerful people holding and using power who are illiterate about it. And this illiteracy begins the abuse of power. It is imperative that citizens understand the role of citizenship, become literate of what it is and how it functions, and understand how to claim and exercise their civic power. According to Eric Liu, learning to read and write power changes the power game, it changes the power justification narratives and its changes the equation.
This is why I no longer fear to name and own power and Speak TRUTH to Power.
Read Part 4: 3 Types of Empathy Important to Healing and Social Change
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Sherna Alexander Benjamin is on a journey of Spiritual Renewal. She is a Writing Enthusiast, World Pulse Ambassador, Advocate and University student pursuing a course of study in Social Work and Research to restore human dignity, tell stories, drive social impact, and change Public Policies and Laws. She Champions for Justice Systems (within the family, community and society), Women and Girls Advancement and Education, Mainstreaming of Conflict Transformation and Peace building and the realization of Sustainable Development Goals.
"We educate women because it is smart. We educate women because it changes the world." - Drew Fuast
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