Thursday, May 26, 2011

Seeds of Injustice, a must read

Trying to run after time in my desire to work on my thesis fast, I asked for highly recommended readings for me to prioritize. Ideas are starting to unfold and I am overwhelmed with the many possible books on my list. So which one do I read first? Anne told me that the Seeds of Injustice (Reflections on the Murder Frame-up of the Negros Nine in the Philippines) from the Prison Diary of Niall O'Brien was the first of Fr Niall's books and is the basic. So I borrowed her one and only copy (assuring her that I will really take good care of it) and brought it along with me to the bank. Waiting for my turn, I started to turn on the cover, read the title and the commentaries at the back, the pictures...
Page 1 greeted me with this quotation,
Violence has a source, and that source is injustice.
Violence is the fruit of the tree of injustice
and hatred is its evil flower.
If we sow seeds of injustice, we reap violence.
If we want to remove violence, we must first remove injustice.
Niall O'Brien

This alone can bring one into a reflection on the truth of what he said. True, yes, true...
Continue on the pages...
Page 5 says,
para sila nanday
Digna, Nato, Arod, Clarita, Lina, Nanette, Boy, Putot (all are deceased)
para sa akon Ilog kag Amay
kag para man sa imo Nene

I love the way he put it, in Hiligaynon, our dialect... the pride of a native. And I really feel that he is talking to me still with the words, KAG PARA MAN SA IMO NENE, (and also to me). So do I identify myself with NENE as I try to pray for Fr Niall to help me with this reading that I may understand the words in the context that he wished for every Nene to understand. Kag para man sa imo Nene will be a good drive for me as I continue to read the pages...

So my journey of the recent past in this island of Negros, in the prison cell of the Negros Nine begins...


http://misyononline.com/new/jul-aug2009/the-Negros-Nine-Live-On