Shades of oppression

Oppress — to crush, put down, subdue, prosecute relentlessly.

Oppression is woven into the codes of all of our human-constructed systems, and has been woven into the codes of all Western lineages for over 2500 years.

It has also been woven into many indigenous systems in various forms, even if we prefer a more benign mythology.

The codes of oppression live in capitalism, legal laws, governance, finance, patriarchy, ability and civics.

The idea of equality and justice is noble yet has rarely been realised for more than a moment in time.

It is an ideal I strive for. It is an ideal that lives within every design feature in Syntropic. To enable the healthy thrivability of all-life.

I do not know what it feels like to be ancestrally oppressed for my race. I cannot know this.

I do not know what it feels like to be oppressed for my physical ability.

I do know what it feels like to be oppressed for my gender.

I certainly know what it feels like to be oppressed as a single mother for most of my daughter’s life. Where 100% of financial viability rested on my shoulders. When there was no money. Take the job. Find a way. Do the thing I did not want to do so I could pay the rent and feed my child.

Therefore, I can find empathy, a shared but different experience, with people who have suffered far more relentless systemic oppression.

Yet, as Ta Nehisi Coates said, your oppression will not save you. Our oppression will not save us.

None of us can languish in our various shades of oppression, wearing the cloak of victimhood. While the oppressed are legitimate victims of cruel systems designed by nasty people who thrive off the oppression of others, to wallow in victimhood is to relinquish our agency of response, which is exactly what the system wants us to do.

Knowing and experiencing the many shades of oppression allows an opportunity for the oppressed to unite and design systems and ways of being that do not oppress any person or creature.

To do this, we must first recognise that moving beyond oppression requires putting aside the scale of the oppression as the key focus.

Oppression is. Let us acknowledge it in all its shades and dimensions. We do this by listening to others, hearing their stories, and acknowledging their pain. Once we have done this, let us collectively design systems of zero oppression for all life.

Or, to put it another way, the injury can be very deep, or superficial. How do we, the injured, prevent any kind of future injury to us and others by working together without diminishing the scale of the injury?

Note: Too often the oppressed become oppressors. And the cycle continues.

Photo March 14 2025, Article written March 14th 2025

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