Fight for what you believe in

It's not that I'm advocating a belligerent 'I-take-no-shit-from-anyone' attitude. That you should go on even where sense says step back. Be put. Let it go. Don't fight or fight back. But where you're heart tells you it's all so wrong for some people or institutions to mal-treat and just get away with it, fight. You just gotta know in your heart of hearts that it goes against your values, at to take out individualism, that on average it is wrong for someone or some institution to treat you there way they have.

Yesterday, I was walking down town Pretoria within the buzz and hussle of humankind. Then, innocently as we looked, I'd like to believe, four 'reservist (training) policemen apprehend us in an unlikeable manner. They then say to us without even greeting, "we want to search you, we suspect you'. Needless to say, I was more than appauled. I was freaked out. I was angered. I went belligerent and launched into the same attitude they apprehended us with. I demanded they present us with a search warrant if they were to successufuly and lawfuly search me or my brother. Again, needless to say, I grabbed my brothers hand, amidst my fury, started walking away from them since they didn't greet me, they didnt present themselves in a lawful manner, and couldn't produce a search warrant and chose us two, within a buzz of more than a hundred people. Well, they gave chase although we weren't running. Following a long exchange of words, they decided 'you seem educated and you think you know too much than us'. They then cuffed me. Cuffed me without saying that famous line of , 'you have right to remain silent... to a lawyer... and all that.' I asked what was the cause of my arrest. Aaah, you talk too much and we want you to tell that 'shit' to our commissioner. Well, I demanded then they take me to conference with their boss. Half way to the police station, me in total shame from the stares and embarrassment as I was handcuffed like a flight risk, hardened criminal, kept on asking them the cause of my arrest as they didn't even search me to find a weapon. Realising they went for wrongful, unprocedural arrest and having had a bit of tough questions to answer from me, they decided 'we giving you a warning for resisting a search'. I demanded the promised conference with the commissinor. Well, needless to say once again, they wrote down my name (wrongly spelt), took down my incorrect number (as I was so shocked I couldn't recall my real number), and as I demanded one of their names and service number they said: "to do what with them". They dashed off into the alleys of the streets. Pity they didn't have names tags, or rather, luckily for them they didn't take me to the commissioner to explain that they arrested a cooperative guy because he asked what were his rights during and arrest or a search, but, the night before that, they didn't catch a guy who robbed my little sister of her cellphone and cash at knifepoint, and a month earlier, they didn't come to attend to a racist and physical assault incident after I had called 10111 and was just given a reference number.

In short, if something is believed to be wrong. You believe it to be wrong, fight all you can. Just don't let your freedoms stripped of you and all you do is absolutely nothing whilst your heart tells you: I believe this is wrong'. Many people's blood was spilt fighting for our freedoms. That the police say we can do this and that, does not make it right or lawful or even constitutional.

Aluta continua!


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