The Witnessed Witness

Author: Walid Saif

Who said that the courage of revelation in a biography lies only in exposing what a person usually keeps hidden, such as private secrets and hidden matters, especially the memory of the body in its labyrinths? Rather, courage lies in resisting the current and the temptations of security within the herd. Courage lies in refusing to drink from the river of madness when drinkers multiply and their delusions and delirium become the norm. Courage lies in dismantling the myths that professional, cultural, and political factions establish about themselves. Courage lies in rejecting the club's conditions for carrying its membership card, no matter its power and practical and moral privileges. Courage lies in preferring the burdens of reason over the gains of ignorance. If challenging crude ruling power discourse requires some courage, then criticizing many opposition discourses and exposing their claims, dualities, falsehoods, and inherent authority, and what blackmails you with notions of authenticity, cultural specificities, and protecting threatened identity. This is because challenging the discourse of power might earn you medals of chivalry and gallantry. However, criticizing ideological and popular discourses might distribute your blood among political and intellectual tribes, leaving you not knowing which side to lean on. So, who said that the enemy of my enemy is necessarily my friend? Courage, finally, is to be yourself and to build your own narrative away from external dictates. This is my narrative!