We can’t breathe

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Can a schoolgirl save the world? Can just one schoolgirl change it? Greta Thunberg? Malala Yousafzai? Darnella Frazier? Absolutely, yes. The thrilling news came last week, of the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, for the murder of black African American George Floyd, on whose neck he had kneeled for an agonising nine minutes, until he died. Convicted on three counts of murder and manslaughter, Chauvin can get a prison sentence of up to 40 years. But what sealed the case, was the damning phone video recording of the entire murder, taken by a young high school girl, Darnella Frazier, then 17. That video, shot on the street, is changing the course of justice in America, and perhaps the world. Not only did the video secure Chauvin's conviction, it led to the firing of three other officers at the scene, a ban on police chokeholds, and a federal investigation. It has also sparked a global movement for racial justice. "I was so anxious…But to know guilty on all 3 charges!!! Thank you God… George Floyd we did it!! Justice has been served," Frazier posted on Facebook.

This incident compellingly underlines the power of one. I've been associated with Rolex for some years now, and the Rolex Awards for Enterprise has a marvellous tag line that is burned in my heart: anyone can change everything. That's not just cool copy: the awards honour individuals who are quietly changing the world. Rolex's 150 award winners since 1976 have been transforming lives and communities, and saving endangered ecosystems. Rolex's diverse Indian ‘laureates' include conservationists Krithi Karanth, Arun Krishnamurthy, Romulus Whitaker and conservation filmmaker Shekar Dattatri, engineer Sonam Wangchuk (‘ice stupas' for water supply in Ladakh), Piyush Tewari (reducing road fatalities), designer Sumit Dagar (his SimplEye app enables the blind to use smartphones), Chanda Shroff's Shrujan (changing Kutchi womens' lives through embroidery), Gorur Gopinath (sustainable silk production), Laurent Pordie (sustainability of Tibetan ‘Amchi' medicine in Ladakh), Ilse Köhler-Rollefson (German veterinary surgeon working for sustainability of camel herders in the Thar Desert). Each of them has shown that it takes just one person to change the world. Never underestimate the power of one. Ekla chalo re.

The other aspect, of course, is that Frazier kept filming, despite the agony of watching Floyd being murdered before her eyes. It is one of journalism's oldest conundrums: should you save lives or should you report/photograph/film? There is no one-answer-fits-all, but there is no doubt that by reporting/photographing/filming, the larger world gets to know of injustice, exploitation and devastation, as well as stories of courage and hope, and that can make a difference, trigger larger, systemic change.

It is entirely another matter that in today's India, lynching videos of minorities, including Dalits and Muslims, rape and exploitation videos of women and LGBT persons, pogroms, murders, minority houses being torched, mass religious gatherings organised in the time of COVID-19, are assiduously rewarded with political power or other benefits. These videos and actions are a matter of pride for a fragile, nationalist masculinity, that, terrified of facing its own emptiness and failure, desperately needs to put down poor and marginalised people, in order to feel superior about itself, its religion and culture.
Chauvin kneeled on the neck of a man, choking him to death. Here, someone is kneeling on the neck of the nation, choking it. We can't breathe. Never underestimate karma. Apna time ayega.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com