Rose coloured glasses
Born in Africa, I migrated
to Australia over half my life ago. It has not really been until recently though
that I truly understood why the move was initiated, what my mother meant about,
liberty, free speech and equality for all. It often seemed idealistic and
devoid from the reality, as if she was looking at the world through the
proverbial rose coloured glasses if you like, seeing life as it should be, not
as it was.
Free Speech
This course “An Intro to Journalism” has
been such a revelation for me. The pursuit not only of free speech, but the
freedom to think and act as you wish (albeit within the confounds of the
socially acceptable norm’s which protect and respect human dignity), have become
so much clearer. The understanding of the importance of the Forth Estate in the
balance of power and the support of peoples rights are a far cry from the Kony’s, Mugabe’s, Idi
Amin’s and Gadaffi’s of the world
where the expression of free thought would more likely see one arrested and thrown
into detention for treason than hailed as a giant of free speech.
The clarity, to see the wonderful people
like Mandela, who risked all to free his people and embraced all people as his
own resonate with the philosophies of Gandhi, The Dali Lama and Martin Luther
King.
The Soap Box!
I am so privileged that Australia has
provided that clarity for me, that sense of what is fair and just and what equality
stands for and this course ‘ Journalism 1111’ has given me the voice I needed to express it.
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