40+FAB Blog

Seething or soothing

While in secondary school, I learnt in physics that one of the characteristics of black objects was their ability to absorb heat. It was no wonder we had black pots that were used for cooking. The more the heat was turned up, the more the pots would absorb it to cook its contents. As much as they were able to take it, at some point they would begin to seethe and boil over and spew their contents all over the stove. Our job in the kitchen was to make sure that by lowering the heat or adding water, we were able to soothe the pot from boiling over.

In 1990, there was a civil war in Rwanda and after 3 years of seething, a peace accord was signed, however, after a year the leader of the country who upheld this treaty soothing the nation was assassinated. The very next day, the genocide began, and over a period of a few months about a million people were killed while the international community turned a blind eye to it.

In 2020, modern day America is still fighting a civil war that has gone on for decades, some have contributed over the years to soothe it, while recently many have done much to make the black people seethe. I wonder if the international community will fold it’s hands again and continue to allow the systematic killings of black people in America.

We may not call it a genocide now, we may call for the rule of law to take its rightful course, we may say it is not our business, but when the pot boils over the whole kitchen will become a mess. What contribution will we make to soothe it and not allow it to seethe and boil over?