Does Free Will Really Exist?

I was sitting in church this Sunday. This day I was so in tune with just me and the higher power. I was in my own head giving thanks to the higher power for my life and the life of my loved ones. The pastor kept referencing free will. This idea that we all have 100% choice over our everyday actions given to us by god to choose a life that guides you either on a path of destruction or a path to everlasting life. Do I believe that we have free will? My answer is a flat-out no. In my views, no government system that exists on our globe fully gives humans that capacity for free choice because all practices are taught within systems and structures. There are always limits to how we dress, communicate, and exist around each other.

For centuries, women have been put into positions where our choice for free-will has always been constricted. Our visibility in this "man's world" is often controversial let alone our options for how we present ourselves, speak, and move through this world may result in violence, loss of life, or crippling living and health conditions. Presentation and gender expression, especially for women of color, has literally life or death implications depending on the environment and space, and often access to higher financial access or visibility. Based on America's capitalist system, in most instances, the more money that you have, this often provides a safe-guard to criminal hardships and health hardships. Based on the patriarchy, if you are a male, this will award you these safeguards.

Pondering these ideas and observing how my own system and structure operates within my own college community highlights the fact that free-will is still not a reality. I find myself as a young black female sitting in class listening to the guide of a male professor. Their lens and practical teaching style is brought upon me with the expectation that they are clear and simple to understand. But if we know anything about America's education system we know who these institutions were originally designed to teach: young males. I often wonder how long professors and teachers train on effective learning strategies for all students (including women and people of color because we all learn and achieve in a variety of ways).

Laws created in this land that we call democracy are often rooted in discriminatory, and often religious rooted "morals." Within these laws, if you are deemed as a deviant, then you will be placed in cages by the state, executed, or cast out without a home, shelter, or food, and often left to pitiful conditions. These cycles and systems do nothing or very little for our most vulnerable.

The language around these issues is critical. We cannot continue to engage in the same ways within the world if we want to see a world where free-will really exists. Of course, this does not mean that I advocate for people to harm other individuals. I do believe in the ability to have full reign on our actions, behaviors, style, presentation, lifestyles without threat of state violence, domestic violence, or violent language. Affirmations, peace, observation, respect, compassion, and clear communication can allow us to reach the freedom that we seek.

Because we hold religion so close (which I do believe has many positives but often deadly negatives in some more male-dominating religions), these doctrines make women the victims. We may even start believing that we should be servants, that we should be less then, that we should just listen, that we should accept less money than a man for the same job, that we should cook and clean for a partner everyday and night, and the list continues into infinity.

A world closer to freedom is one that gets closer to each individual’s choice over their own life. If we put a price tag on certain jobs, if we place beauty only on a certain body type, if we view some lives as dispensable, if we focus on what males only want and need, if we focus on what only one margin of people really wants, this can only lead to destruction. How do we get closer to this free space? Challenge yourself to do one or two things each day that breaks this cycle. It often feels scary to break these barriers you feel like you are the only one, you don't want to deviate from the system but this is exactly how the keepers of these systems want you to feel. Afraid of the cages (prisons, jails, surveillance and monitoring), afraid of the state, afraid of their condemnation.

Whenever I feel afraid to be "different for good" I reference a few folks. My family, the modern-day freedom fighters that I enjoy, and now Ida B Wells Barnett. (If you have not read her autobiography Crusade for Justice, pick it up and read it slowly and carefully). Be reassured that you are the now and you have time on your side to be all of yourself. Be the woman that stands up and out, do not accept others scraps, keep moving and being visible everyday, hold your head up high, smile, and thank the universe that you have another beautiful day.