Keti Koti

Today we celebrate Keti Koti , the end of slavery in NL, Breaking Of The Chains. Yes, that is worth a celebration, also to the white Dutch people.

One of the hardest things in a human lifetime is to admit that you are guilty, that you did something absolutely terrible, something totally unacceptable. To admit you did this, to live with yourself and to love yourself despite even this, needs an effort. Acceptance. Forgiveness. Often victims blame themselves for the terrible thing they endured. So to know you actually are guilty, you really did this terrible thing, makes it hard to accept yourself live with yourself. Apparently this goes for whole countries even.

We all know how good it feels when someone who treated us bad admits this, whole heartedly and apologises to then look you in the eye and ask how you are. So this seems a perfect idea.

That the end of slavery was there is reason to celebrate. I am very glad it is not considered normal to own another human being, by law. I am glad it is no longer allowed, by law, to cruelly punish the people that resisted this awful law. Now we can celebrate our humanity, we can cherish our ability to love, our talent to work together, to develop all talents everyone owns. The only way to continue together, with this history we share and the different parts we all played in it, now and then, is to see what happened, to acknowledge it and to mourn it. To mourn the cruelty in us and created by us. Then we can heal. And then we can live and celebrate life. Together, in a way that is enjoyable for everyone.

I Am Because You Are in Galerie Ransdorp