“People are afraid of freedom…freedom takes great courage.” -Dr. Cornel West

The meaning of ‘people are afraid of freedom…freedom takes great courage.’ means that, in general, individuals live in fear of changing their environment if it means that their lives as they know it would be disturbed. Therefore, they adhere to the status quo so not to be disruptive.

I chose this quote because it drives one to reflect more deeply on what it takes to bring about change in any given situation.


Yes, I agree with Dr. Cornel West that people are afraid of true freedom because it takes so much out of them to buck authority and the norm, therefore, they just conform. People do not like to leave their comfort zone or space. For example, getting up everyday and going to work to earn a living that will support one’s comfortable lifestyle becomes the norm. It also makes one robotic in that one follows the same routine on a day by day, week by week basis. Never questioning the way things are as opposed to the way they should be as long as it doesn’t interfere with one’s way of life.

True freedom on the contrary, would take more effort. It would have one observing the environment to find what is wrong or what facts could be changed for the ‘greater good’ of all human beings. This soul searching can take many different forms and leads to various forms of actions. The action taken in and of itself then becomes the vehicle by which change can be attained and may lead to a certain level of discomfort or trial that makes life as one knew it, difficult. Dr. Cornel West gave examples of individuals that were willing to challenge systematic racism through substantive and collective actions such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

For all these reasons and more, people remain stuck in their small world, resisting the pull of a wider universe that would require more courage than a robotic existence. One only has to look at the examples of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., individuals who risked bodily harm and, in some cases, death by bucking the trend of racism in their society to effect changes. In the words of Dr. Cornel West,  “If you’re afraid of despair, then you’ll never have hope.”

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