Kweku’s Korner
By Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi
Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi, formerly known as Ramel Smith
The world has gone mad. And, since we are all living in madness, we do not even notice it; in fact, we have normalized it. In March of 2020, America shut down for a once-in-a-century pandemic; in September of 2022, President Joe Biden declared it was over. On October 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack against Israel and killed 1,139 people. On September 24, 2024, the state of Missouri executed a man by the name Marcellus Williams. These types of events happen in our world and then we move like nothing happened. We have normalized madness because it happens on such a regular basis.
Marcellus Williams
Consider the pandemic that literally closed America and wreaked havoc upon the physical and mental health of her citizens. We all returned to normal without a proper closure of the situation. We are not the same as a country. One would think at this time we would learn how to grow from this trauma. Instead, we doubled down on our hate and selfishness. Remember this, we learned spiritual places were not as essential as liquor stores. That is not normal!
The world was taken aback when the strike on Israel happened on October 7, 2023. It was confusing to me why people were confused that Hamas attacked Israel. Since 1948, this battle has been going in some form of fashion. If another World War begins, it will be because of how the last World War ended. The two-state solution was forced upon a land by the British, but no one held the British accountable for the mess they created. You can blame Israel or Hamas, but we will not even look at the culprit that planted the seeds for this untenable situation. That is not right!
In the pandemic, the world was outraged by the killings of Ahmad Abery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Not only, America, but the world united against rogue cops and hyperaggressive vigilantes. We stated that these were lives that were gone, too soon and needlessly. We rioted, protested, and demanded justice. Fast forward to September of 2024 and the powers that be in Missouri and the US Supreme Court sanctioned a planned execution of a man many deemed innocent. In states with the death penalty, an execution is not uncommon; however, there was a preponderance of evidence to cast doubt that he was not guilty of the crime that led to the original sentence and punishment. We as a nation voiced our dissent, but we did not march or protest like before. Why? Because we have normalized dysfunction.
Consider the level of cognitive dissonance, denials, and disassociations we create to survive in this madness. School shootings, drug overdoses, increasingly severe weather conditions, seizing of the capitol of the United States? These are external events, consider in your personal life what level of madness have you learned to accept? We have a mental health problem because we have normalized dysfunction.