Journal by Amanda Regalado
October 2014
The Fast and the Hungry
"Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you'll take it."
-Malcolm X
"There are two types of people in this world, Amanda," my dad would tell me. "There are the Fast and the Hungry."
In moments like these, my dad was literally talking about food. There are the Fast--those who eat their meal quickly enough so that others don't start picking off of their plate. Then, there are the Hungry. The Hungry are those who eat slowly, so slowly that the Fast people take all of their food because they did not eat it quickly enough. The Hungry are hungry because they did not take advantage of the opportunity to eat all of their food. The Fast are not hungry because they took the opportunity not only to eat their own food, but to eat the Hungrys' food as well. This is just a silly analogy my father told me when I was little, but this analogy relates to much more than people sharing dinner together at a family table. Malcolm X once said, "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you'll take it." In terms of social justice and equality, you cannot expect it to be handed to you freely on an open platter. You must take it, according to Malcolm X. You must actively pursue equality. If you don't, you will end up being the Hungry.
October 2014
The Fast and the Hungry
"Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you'll take it."
-Malcolm X
"There are two types of people in this world, Amanda," my dad would tell me. "There are the Fast and the Hungry."
In moments like these, my dad was literally talking about food. There are the Fast--those who eat their meal quickly enough so that others don't start picking off of their plate. Then, there are the Hungry. The Hungry are those who eat slowly, so slowly that the Fast people take all of their food because they did not eat it quickly enough. The Hungry are hungry because they did not take advantage of the opportunity to eat all of their food. The Fast are not hungry because they took the opportunity not only to eat their own food, but to eat the Hungrys' food as well. This is just a silly analogy my father told me when I was little, but this analogy relates to much more than people sharing dinner together at a family table. Malcolm X once said, "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you'll take it." In terms of social justice and equality, you cannot expect it to be handed to you freely on an open platter. You must take it, according to Malcolm X. You must actively pursue equality. If you don't, you will end up being the Hungry.
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