There are some
creations that are immutably prophetic.
Songs, books, speeches, observations. Precisely, the Creators of the
works themselves.
Among the
examples I’d consider such as Shakespeare’s Tomorrow,
and Gaye’s, concept album, Toni Morrison's Nobel Lecture in Literature Address is a stunning model that marks recent events.
Presented to the Swedish Academy on December 7, 1993, this timeless
lecture “autopsyizes” language down to its wounds on society; its healing
abilities; and its maintenance of humanity, contingent on the choices we have made and will make with the language that is in our hands. When I heard the audio edition of this
lecture, I gathered from it the way in which language as anything else,
beautiful and meaningful can fall and become dead if handled irresponsibly.
Addressing the dark side of language that oppresses
and incites violence, the timeliness and timelessness of this lecture has been
manifested by youth’s irreverent outbursts on public transits, schoolyards, and
malls requiring shutdowns, to physical unrests across the nation. The words in this speech are timelessly
echoed, as unfortunate wars are provoked with instigative language stirring
raids and riots decade after decade.
After the address, enchantingly told as a story –
allowing sage and youth to assert their views – it was the accountability
offered to both that I found most tender in lieu of blaming the youth. From it, I deemed a need for elders to share
their historical struggles with young to groom consciousness.
