Kareem is referencing the murders in Minneapolis this week,
But he expressed so well what I frequently feel about people remaining silent when they hear Dhamma teachers, monastics corrupting teachings and staying silent.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
“…when we are silent, we are still afraid.
So it is better to speak.”
— Audre Lorde
Audre Lord, for those who may not know,
was an activist who dedicated her life to confronting all manner of injustice.
When I first read that line back in the 1970s,
it didn’t feel so much a suggestion as a reminder of something I’ve tried to live my entire life.
Speaking out—especially when the world would much prefer your silence—is not an act of rebellion.
It’s an act of responsibility.
And for those of us who have witnessed injustice up close,
silence isn’t a good place to hide.
It’s a surrender.
I learned that early on.
Long before I became Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar the basketball player,
I was Lew Alcindor, a young Black man growing up in a country that insisted it was post‑racial while showing me,
every day, that it wasn’t.
By the time I got to UCLA, I had already seen enough to know
that staying quiet would not protect me or anyone who looked like me.
I had watched cities burn after Dr. King’s assassination.
I had seen the bodies.
I had heard the grief.
I had lived the fear.
Speaking up wasn’t a choice.
It was the only honest response.
Lorde made it clear in her writings and speeches that silence is the oxygen injustice breathes.
Power thrives when people doubt their own eyes,
when they’re told that the story they witnessed isn’t the story that occurred.
And that’s why Lorde’s words feel even more urgent today.
We live in a time when institutions rewrite events before the truth has even settled.
When videos contradict official statements,
and people holding cameras are treated like threats.
When accountability is promised in press releases but avoided at all costs in practice.
In moments like these, speaking out becomes more than expression.
It becomes evidence.
I’ve spent decades writing about social justice not because I enjoy controversy or love the attention,
but because I’ve seen what happens when we let others define reality for us.
I’ve watched institutions claim they value equality while their actions tell a different story.
I’ve watched leaders talk about accountability while dismantling the very tools that make accountability possible.
And I’ve watched ordinary people, often the most vulnerable among us,
risk their safety just to bear witness—and then tell the stories of what really happened.
That’s why Lorde’s quote is so apt, especially today,
this week.
Speaking out is not just about raising your voice.
It’s about refusing to let others erase the truth.
It’s about standing firm when the narrative being pushed is easier,
cleaner, more convenient than the messy reality.
It’s about honoring the people who can no longer speak for themselves.
I’ve lived long enough to know that speaking doesn’t guarantee change.
But silence guarantees nothing at all.
And if there’s one lesson I hope younger generations carry forward,
it’s this: your voice is not small.
Your testimony matters.
Your refusal to be silenced is part of a long,
unbroken line of people who believed that truth not only deserves defenders…it demands them.
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