Hello everyone! It's time for WEP's April Challenge! This month's challenge draws inspiration from the wonderful work of art FREEDOM MORNING.
If you'd like to join in with us, click here!
I typically write a work for fiction for these challenges, but this time around, I felt like jotting down some thoughts on freedom and sharing them with everyone. Feel free to let me know what you think and what freedom means for you in your life.
A Perspective on Freedom
What
is freedom?
This
is a question I think we should all be asking ourselves, and we should also
examine why we come up with the particular answers we do.
Freedom
calls to us all as human beings. For those who have been enslaved, it may have
seemed like an impossible dream. Even so, the call of freedom is a strong one,
and no matter how long the odds, human beings are often willing to undertake tremendous
risk to make freedom a reality for them.
When
I think of freedom, I tend to see it as opportunity. You can make choices for
yourself such as what kind of job you do, where you live, and how you spend
your time. Outside forces and people may place certain limitations on you, but
you can live your life in a way that brings you happiness and satisfaction.
Events
in the world have prompted me to shift my perspective on what freedom means. Freedom
isn’t only about the big picture. It is also found in the smaller aspects of
life that many of us take for granted.
I
live in the United States. The land of the free. We pride ourselves on that
description. Yet our history of slavery proves that freedom was not always available
to everyone living here. And while many would like to wave away that history
and pretend the effects of that past cannot still be felt today, they’re wrong.
As
I watch current events unfold, I can’t help but think of all the little ways my
freedom differs from the freedoms of others.
I
am free to get pulled over by the police and not be afraid. I am free to walk
through a neighborhood without anyone questioning my right to be there. I am
free to go into a store and not be singled out as a potential shoplifter.
Freedom
encompasses so many little things I usually take for granted. I can take them
for granted, because my skin color allows me to.
Sometimes
people need a shift in perspective. We need to challenge ourselves to question
our assumptions and listen to others whose lives and experiences differ from
ours.
The
dawn of freedom for those who were once enslaved was filled with hope and many
promises of a better future. More than a century and a half later, some of those
promises have yet to be fulfilled.
We
must work together to fulfill them.
Word Count: 408
FCA