“Not Albino’s…just PEOPLE with albinism”

I remember sitting there as the words of this man gushed from his mouth echoing the deep seated sentiments of his heart: “We are not albinos. We are people with albinism.” I remember the recollection of stories of the unwanted stigma and ignorant rejection that pricked at his skin as he trekked the thorny streets of civilization. I remember the resilience that stood firm in his eyes as he passionately expressed his passion for the ostracized. I remember a man veiled in the skin of albinism yet, even more so, veiled in the skin of humanity. He was and still is a person. I was and still am a person. Irrespective of color and what has been labelled as a “defect”, we are people.

“We are people…”

An elephant is sitting in our rooms, in our workplaces, and in our country. Her cries of social injustice are heard but not noticed. They are seen but perhaps not perceived. They are felt but not touched. Amid the façade, some are hurting. Some are living subliminal lives, hiding away from the safe haven that is meant to be our community, for fear of being sold. Yet, what has been mindfully coined as human merchandise are our brothers and sisters. Our reflection that piercingly parallels the truth of who we all are stands in the gap of this human prejudice. We (yes we) are people. We are people created in the image of God; People created in the image of the perfect triune Being whose desire is to reflect His Being through the craft of His handiwork. If we allow ourselves to outcast a seemingly outward “defect” it will only reveal a greater defect within us. As someone once said, “When I look into your face, I see mine.”

The end of June marked the end of albinism awareness month. But as the days turn into months and the months turn into years, let us always keep aware of the hurt that silently cries in the background and the voices that yearn to speak. Jesus fought for the justice of the unheard. He was and still is the father to the fatherless and the friend to the outcast. Even whilst our moral fabric was “defected” by sin, He stepped down to save us. What love is this. Let us continue voicing on. Let us continue remembering. Let us, irrespective of skin color, continue to be us.

“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” Hebrews 13:3

At His Feet…