In a moment that cuts cleanly through this shadow time, Kazu Haga reflects on Martin Luther King Jr.’s teaching on negative peace, the kind of peace that is merely the absence of tension, achieved at the expense of justice.
Kazu names how painfully relevant this teaching is right now. In times of mass injustice and ongoing atrocities, calls for “calm,” “unity,” or “civility” often function as demands for silence. But silence, he reminds us, is not peace. It is compliance. It is the quiet that allows violence to continue uninterrupted.
Drawing from Dr. King’s wisdom, Kazu challenges the idea that harmony should be prioritized over truth. Real peace, he says, is not about avoiding discomfort, it is about facing it. Tension is not the enemy; injustice is. And when we refuse to name harm in the name of politeness or safety, we become participants in its continuation.
His words arrive as both warning and invitation:
do not confuse quiet with peace.
do not mistake neutrality for morality.
and do not abandon truth for the illusion of comfort.
In times like these, speaking is not disruption, it is responsibility.
Excerpt from the community conversation Fierce Vulnerability: Meeting Trauma in a Time of Collapse
#KazuHaga #NegativePeace #MLK #JusticeNotSilence
#Nonviolence #TruthTelling #MoralCourage #CommunityConversation
source