The Elephant In the Room

(A Reflection by Nandipha Chibwe)

There is a particular kind of courage
the world rarely applauds.

Not the loud kind.
Not the dramatic kind.
Not the kind that draws crowds
or earns standing ovations.

But the quiet, trembling bravery
of naming
what everyone else
is pretending not to see.

The boldness
of addressing the elephant in the room.

Of choosing honesty
when silence would be easier.

Because uncomfortable conversations
require a rare strength.

They demand
that we risk tension
for truth,
risk misunderstanding
for clarity,
risk temporary discomfort
for lasting peace.

Avoidance often disguises itself
as protection.

We tell ourselves:

“Now isn’t the right time.”
“I don’t want conflict.”
“Maybe it will resolve itself.”

But unspoken truths
rarely disappear.

They grow.

In resentment.
In confusion.
In distance.

Silence does not always preserve peace.

Sometimes,
it preserves dysfunction.

And so,
there is profound bravery
in sitting down,
heart pounding,
voice shaking,
and saying:

We need to talk.

Not to accuse.
Not to wound.
But to understand.
To heal.
To clear the air
before silence suffocates
what honesty could save.

Hard conversations
are not signs
of brokenness.

Often,
they are signs
that something matters enough
to fight for.

Relationships.
Boundaries.
Growth.
Self-respect.

It takes courage
to confront what is heavy.

To pull discomfort
into the light.

To choose resolution
over performance.

Because maturity
is not found
in pretending everything is fine.

It is found
in the willingness
to face what is not.

So here’s to those
brave enough
to address the elephant—

to speak carefully,
listen openly,
and lean into discomfort
for the sake of something better.

Not every hard conversation
will be easy.

But avoidance
has never been
the highest form of courage.

Sometimes,
the bravest thing
you can do
is speak.

What I Choose to Keep

I have known silence
in many forms.

As something that speaks.
As something that breaks.
As something passed down
without asking.

I have worn it
like a second skin—
soft in places,
tight in others.

I have seen it
hold love back,
turn warmth cold,
make strangers feel like home.

I have seen it
make monsters
out of men
who were only powerful
because no one spoke.

And still—
it stayed with me.

Not always as fear.
Not always as harm.

Sometimes
as breath.

As the space
before a truth
finds its courage.

As the quiet
that lets me hear myself
without interruption.

So I will not abandon it.

But I will not carry it
the way I was taught.

I will not let it
speak for me
when I have words.

I will not let it
protect what harms me.

I will not let it
be mistaken
for my consent.

I will choose it
only when it is mine.

Only when it heals.
Only when it holds.
Only when it listens
without taking.

And when I speak—

I will not whisper.

THE WAGES OF SILENCE

He did not need to shout.

His voice was quiet—
the kind that lingers
long after the room is empty.

He spoke in warnings,
in looks,
in the space between
what was done
and what could be said.

And we learned quickly—
silence
was safer.

Or so it seemed.

Because silence
does not stay still.

It grows.

It wraps itself
around the throat,
settles in the chest,
teaches the body
how to keep quiet
even when it is breaking.

He walked freely
through our unsaid words,
unchallenged,
unseen—

made powerful
by what we carried
for him.

And I—
I held it too.

Like a secret
that did not belong to me.

Like a weight
I was told
was mine to bear.

Until I understood—

silence
is not always protection.

Sometimes,
it is the place
power hides.

—

FLUENT IN SILENCE

Silence has many forms.
Sometimes it protects.
Sometimes it connects.
Sometimes it carries what we are not ready to say.
And sometimes -it becomes the very thing that harms us.
This collection explores silence not as absence but as language.
A language learned, inherited, shared and,at times reclaimed.
These poems are not just about what is unsaid, but about what silence holds-love,fear, memory, power and choice.
-Nandipha Chibwe

Israël : soutien à la manifestation du jeudi 16 avril contre le terrorisme des colons envers les Palestiniens et contre le « nettoyage ethnique » en Cisjordanie. La mobilisation est organisée par un très large collectif d’ONG, dont Standing Together, Combatants for Peace et Breaking the Silence.

#israel #manifestation #Palestine #Cisjordanie #colons #terrorisme #nettoyageethnique #standingtogether #combatantforpeace #breakingthesilence

Dans les guerres d’Israël, entre traumatismes et impunité | ENQUETE

https://vid.freedif.org/w/rA514vTAFUC6HPAuQVtGZA

Break the Chain With Me

https://youtu.be/vnhyVoSkCs0

Break the Chain With Me

[Verse 1]
I was just a kid when the shadows first fell
Words like knives, hands that taught me hell
They called it love, but it felt like a cage
Gaslight burning, rewriting my page
I swore right then, in the dark of that night
I’d never let my anger steal a child’s light

[Pre-Chorus]
But the past isn’t quiet, it rattles the bars
Memories rise like smoke from old scars
I hear the same lines my father once spoke
And I feel the iron tightening ‘round my throat

[Chorus]
Lord, break the chain with me
Don’t let the poison run through my veins
I promised my kids a brand new story
No echoes of ghost, no repeating the shame
Hold the boy who learned to flinch and hide
Steady these hands when the old rage rises high
Jesus, You broke every chain on the cross
Now break this one with me, whatever the cost
Amen.

[Verse 2]
I built up a fortress with mortar and stone
Steady on the outside, but hollow alone
But the fragments keep cutting, uninvited and sharp
The ghost of my history is tearing my heart
I look at my children, those innocent eyes
And I’m desperate to sever these old family ties

[Bridge]
I won’t be the echo of yesterday’s hurt
I won’t leave a legacy written in dirt
Lord, if these memories won’t let me go
Give me the courage to finally say “no”
To the anger I carry, the fear I conceal
Help me be the father that should have been real

[Final Chorus]
Lord, break the chain with me
Don’t let the poison run through my veins
I promised my kids a brand new story
No echoes of ghost, no repeating the shame
Hold the boy who learned to flinch and hide
Steady these hands when the old rage rises high
Jesus, You broke every chain on the cross
Now break this one with me, whatever the cost
Amen.
Amen, set the captive free.

[Outro]
Break the chain…
Walk through the fire with me…
Lord, break it with me.
Amen.

Disclaimer:
The Lyrics of this music is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. You are free to use, share, remix, or build upon this work—even commercially—as long as credit is given to the original creator: Bryan King, the suggest format is: “Break the Chain With Me” by Bryan King, used under CC BY 4.0

Also, I kindly ask that if you choose to use it, please let me know by using the “Contact Me” feature on this site. Thank you!

From #BreakingTheSilence:

"Yesterday morning, we woke up to rocket alerts. #Israel began bombing #Iran. As often happens when the media attention shifts, Israel seized the moment to intensify its attacks against Palestinians.

[...]

With the first bombings in Iran, settlers intensified their attacks on Palestinians in the #WestBank.

https://x.com/BtSIsrael/status/2028131262565683393

#genocide #Gaza #Palestine #imperialism #colonialism #racism

"It's worth following ... the brave voices of people like Breaking the Silence, who speak for former [IDF] reservists who speak out and give testimony to what they saw and what they were required to do. Whether in the detention centres or on the field ... in the war zones."

#HelenClark, 2025

https://omny.fm/shows/the-bradbury-group/former-pm-helen-clark-simon-wilson-steve-abel-kerrin-leoni-maria-slade-economy-teen-beneficiaries-palestine-bradbury-group

(1/3)

#podcasts #WaateaNews #BradburyGroup #Palestine #Gaza #BreakingTheSilence