Uncomfortable about current protests?

Embrace your
discomfort and be part of social change
By Ahmed Riaz Mohamed
We live in a country and in a democracy forged through struggle, sacrifice and protest. The recent
surge in student-led protest in the country is powerfully reminiscent of apartheid-era resistance and
anti-apartheid marches, rallies and sit-ins. These students are channelling the spirit of former
student leaders such as Steven Biko who led powerful protests at universities across the country.
What is taking place at universities via #FeesMustFall is not only about money. Yes, availability of
funds is key here but at the core the underlying issues speak to a process of exclusion and
inaccessibility that cannot be decoupled from colonisation and the legacy of apartheid as a form of
profound socioeconomic injustice. It cannot be removed from discourses of oppression that have
silenced those who have been victim to these dominant and hegemonic practices in order to
maintain the status quo, and allow asymmetrical relations of power to perpetuate without question.
In some ways the so-called born frees are in a better position than those of us who moved through
the higher education system riding on the coattails of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and
its reconciliation and healing discourses. I wonder if we werent disadvantaged by this. It is almost as
if we were too caught up in the feel-goodness of it all that we were too afraid, and too defended, to
see and acknowledge the more insidious ways in which various forms of oppression continued to
operate around us. Perhaps having subverted these rosy discourses of reconciliation and healing, the
born frees have been more free to access their discomfort, and to express the rage that has been
silenced, giving voice to the previously voiceless. We are witnessing a reclamation a spatial
reformation in which those being denied access are taking a stand and empowering themselves to
demand what has been shifted just beyond their reach by institutionalised exclusivity. Spatial reform
is an important requirement for liberation and emancipation, along with awareness, collective
organisation and collective action such a protest.
Protest is an essential and integral part of social change, development, progression, growth and of
democracy. It is a key component of challenging social injustice and structural inequalities that
result in the lack of access by the lesser privileged to inalienable rights such as education. Without
protest Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists would likely have died in prison. Without
protest apartheid would probably have remained in-tact, thriving and unchallenged. Without protest
gay and lesbian people would not be allowed to marry. Without protest women would still be denied
the right to vote. There are countless examples of the privileges and rights we take for granted today
that came about as a result of protest (even if only in part).
Protest is necessary. Should it be violent? Probably not. Should it encroach or deny the rights of
others? No. Should it make you uncomfortable? Absolutely! Protest is meant to make you
uncomfortable. It is meant to force you to reflect, to question, to take a stand. It is an opportunity to
be part of social change; to be part of progress. Solidarity and communality are the crucible in which
resistance thrives. So instead of being complicit in problematic practices by pretending as if nothing
is going on, or complaining about those damn stupid protesters who are causing so much
inconvenience take the opportunity being offered. It is an invitation to engage both with others and
with yourself. It is a moment in which we allow the subaltern voice to be heard, allow them to speak,
to scream, to rage and we allow ourselves to listen, really listen.

As a psychologist, in my role as a psychotherapist, I have the privilege (yes, its a privilege) of

stepping in the worlds of my clients to experience even just for that hour (although the experience
often lingers beyond that hour) the world as they do. I observe, embrace, experience, indulge and
understand from a perspective other than my own, while still holding in my mind what I think, how I
feel, how my own world interacts with that of the world I have just been allowed to access and
engage with. This is an intersubjective process that necessarily involves two subjectivities coming
together, meeting, engaging, and transforming one another.
This process is not always easy and is more often than not quite uncomfortable, sometimes
intolerable given the intensity and pain of that which one has just been given access to. But it is only
by sitting with the discomfort, engaging with it and understanding it that it is possible to use it to
effect transformation and open up the space for dialogue and meaningful change. This is not unlike
what needs to happen in societies where we must engage with the discomfort that protests such as
those occurring at the moment make us feel, reflecting on it and understanding the meaning that
underlies it. If we can take a moment to listen and to allow ourselves access into the world of the
other regardless of how uncomfortable and if we can reflect on the significance of our discomfort,
we have taken important first steps towards being part of social change.
Ahmed Riaz Mohamed is a clinical psychologist and lecturer in the department of psychology at the
University of Pretoria. He has previously worked as a clinical psychologist at the Centre for
Psychological Services and Career Development at the University of Johannesburg, as well as at
psychiatric hospitals in Pretoria and Cape Town.

http://thoughtleader.co.za/psyssa/2015/10/22/uncomfort
able-about-current-protests-embrace-your-discmfort-and-be-part-of-social-change/