Lilla Watson is a Gangulu woman of Dawson River in Queensland. Famously, she said,
“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, let us work together”.
This quote is an invitation, not just to help, but to share the same ideal of liberation with her, that we stand as one in the struggles and the suffering that our brothers and sisters have, and so work towards empowerment and transformation.
This, is solidarity.
Solidarity erases borders, it deletes margins, and it is achieved when there is no more us versus them.
Sadly, there are many people in our world who have had their humanness and dignity taken away. Let us be conscious of those who have struggled and those who have died at the hands of injustice. These people were some of the most vulnerable in our society, or, they were treated poorly because of such things as their race, colour, or sexual orientation.
As a Catholic school, we follow the teachings and example of Jesus, who stood in solidarity with the vulnerable and the outcast in his community. Those people who were treated as if they were nothing. Jesus allowed them to feel human and gave them their dignity.
At the end of last term a group of students and staff gathered to take part in a Vigil for Solidarity. We gathered to acknowledge and to pray for those who have suffered, and who continue to suffer for a variety of reasons.
We hear in the Gospels how Jesus praises the ones who listen to his words, and then act on them. To be a good Christian, therefore, is to act as one.
As a community here at Kildare College, we are committed to being a community where all people are valued, and where hope, justice and courage are our hallmarks. For these reasons we celebrate our multicultural existence at Kildare College. Nevertheless, it is important to stop every now and then and to reflect on our own actions and words, as this clearly tells others what we stand for.
Enrico Caprioli
APRIM
