Some say that if you haven't tasted the bitterness of oppression firsthand, your fight against it is misplaced—like stepping into a battle that isn’t yours to wage. But I reject that notion.
I may not bear the scars of every injustice, but that does not mean I cannot see them, feel them, or fight against them. Because those who do suffer are not strangers to me. They are not so far removed in ethnicity, in gender, in humanity. Their struggles echo through history and pulse through the present, and if injustice still thrives, then so must our resistance.
Justice is not reserved for the wounded alone—it is a responsibility shared by all who refuse to let suffering continue unchecked. To stand by and do nothing simply because I have not suffered enough would be to betray the very principles that make change possible.
This is why we keep pushing toward Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream—a dream of justice, equality, and true freedom. But perhaps, to get there, we must carry the boldness of Malcolm X and the heart of Jesus. We must be fearless in the face of oppression, unwavering in our demand for change, and anchored in the love that values every human soul.
Oppression, inequality, and injustice will not vanish on their own. They require voices—many voices—rising together, refusing to be silent simply because the pain is not personally ours.
So, I stand. Not because I have felt every blow, but because too many still do. And their fight is my fight. Because justice does not belong to the few—it belongs to us all.