● THE UNIVERSAL UNDRESSING ●
By Nicholas Pansegrouw
(South Africa – Taiwan)
YES, THAT IS THE QUESTION: Where do we go from here? The voices of this book do not speak alone for their respective contexts; instead, they symbolize the inherent human need to grow in accordance with each other. They are infused with a sense of wanting to connect and keeping connection authentic, which in our current age of saturated, pandemic-oriented 'digitalia' is becoming increasingly difficult amidst all the incessant confusion and disinformation.
Ultimately, as educated, privileged people able to read these words, we need to recognize and stand up to our responsibilities as those with the capacity to change. Through our ability to access, process, and disseminate information, we possess the necessary infrastructure to continue questioning the status quo, and by doing so, we can create momentum that tips the tide further toward the Decolonial paradigm.
I urge all of those who have made it this far in the book to harness your individual capacity and use it to educate beyond your expectations. You are imbued with more than you'll ever know, and, if successfully channeled, you DO possess the capacity to change this world for the better, irrespective of what magnitude that materializes in.
In sum, take the words, sentiments, and dreams of what lives in these pages and merge them with your own. Take flight with them as you come to know yourself, your community, and your life in a far richer way than any brand of materialism can buy. And from it all – no matter how little or much difference you end up making – you can say that you tried to be a better person, a better community member, and a better human being.
If each of us can do this much, imagine how much better the world and its inhabitants will be.