Many young black people wake up to a yawning void of emptiness, with no opportunities for skills training, jobs or inspiration to attend the schools in their neighbourhoods. They are caught up in a never-ending cycle of nothingness. We should not be surprised that, increasingly, we see more young people taking to the streets in protest, and that the age of the perpetrators of violent crime is becoming younger.
The 15 years of our democracy seem to have produced a generation of young people whose circumstances make them feel worthless. This makes it difficult to bestow worth upon others, and to connect with them as fellow human beings. This is how poverty strips away the humanity of individuals.
The complex and enduring struggle to restore one’s sense of humanity in the face of such dehumanising conditions can manifest in violence, against self or others. Gatherings such as the St George’s Cathedral pilgrimage remind us of the importance of walking the journeys that bring us back to the table of shared humanity. This solidarity is perhaps what we need to face our psychological demons, and to repair the brokenness of our society across racial and generational divides. The words of the psychoanalyst Robert Stolorow capture this sentiment: ‘If we can help one another bear the darkness rather than evade it, perhaps one day we will be able to see the light.’
We need a new vision of humanism. We need to find ways to listen to one another’s stories of pain. This will enable us to extend our ethical horizons to include others, and to understand that we are implicated in one another’s pain and trauma.
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