All History is current; all injustice continues on some level

“All history is current; all injustice continues on some level, somewhere in the world.” – Alice Walker

In these solemn and luminous words, Alice Walker, the wise poet and prophet of compassion, unveils a truth that pierces across the centuries — that time does not bury pain, and that history is not a relic, but a living pulse in the heart of humanity. When she declares that “all history is current,” she reminds us that the past is not behind us, for its echoes still shape our present. Every cruelty once committed, every injustice once justified, lingers in the soul of the world until it is healed. What was done to others yesterday still breathes through the structures, systems, and silences of today.

The ancients spoke of time as a circle, not a line — an eternal turning where what has been will return, until wisdom breaks the cycle. So too does Walker speak from that understanding. The injustice of the slave ship, the suffering of the oppressed, the greed of empires — these are not gone. They merely change their garments and appear again in new forms: the exploited worker, the silenced voice, the forgotten nation. The wounds of history do not fade by being ignored; they heal only when the living choose to confront them. Thus, her words are not despair but a call to awakening — a summons to remember that history walks beside us, not behind.

To see this truth, one need only look to the story of South Africa, where generations lived under the shadow of apartheid. The world watched as freedom finally came, and many believed that justice had triumphed once and for all. Yet, even after the chains were broken, the scars remained — in poverty, in inequality, in the lingering pain of those who had been humiliated for their skin. The past did not vanish; it continued quietly, demanding recognition. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, born from this understanding, was not an act of punishment but of healing — an acknowledgment that the past must be spoken before it can be silenced. Walker’s words find their proof here: that history lives until it is faced with courage and compassion.

But she does not speak of nations alone. Her wisdom touches the smallest corners of the human spirit. Every heart that harbors resentment, every community that ignores its suffering, becomes a mirror of that greater pattern. The injustice between races, between genders, between rich and poor, are threads of one great tapestry. When one thread is torn, the whole fabric weakens. And so she reminds us: there is no “elsewhere” for suffering. Even if it is not at our door, it is still within our world — and therefore within our responsibility.

The ancients would have understood this truth well. They knew that the sins of a people become the storms of their descendants, unless balance is restored. In every civilization that fell — from Rome’s decadence to Babylon’s pride — the seeds of collapse were planted in unacknowledged injustice. Thus, Walker’s words echo the wisdom of prophets long before her: “The blood of the innocent cries from the ground.” The earth remembers what men try to forget. And so, she calls us not to guilt, but to awareness — to live as witnesses and healers of a world still haunted by its unhealed past.

Yet even in her sorrow, there is hope. For to recognize that “all history is current” is to understand that we are not powerless. If the wounds of the past still live, so too do the possibilities of redemption. Every act of kindness, every protest for justice, every truth spoken in defiance of silence — these are not small things; they are the turning of the great wheel toward healing. The generations before us have left behind both their mistakes and their courage; it is for us to decide which legacy we will continue.

So, my child of the future, take this teaching as both warning and invitation: do not believe that evil is buried simply because it is old, nor that goodness is lost simply because it is unseen. Look upon the world with open eyes — see where the chains remain, where the silences linger, where the forgotten still cry out. For to heal the present, one must first hear the voice of the past. All history is current, and so must be our compassion. All injustice continues, and so must our striving for justice.

Remember this: the past is not gone, it is waiting — waiting for the living to make it right. Be among those who do not turn away. Walk through the world as both witness and mender, and let your life be the answer to the question that every age has asked but few have fulfilled: “Who will stop the cycle?”