"i refuse" means what?

Figure 1 - Mbeje A. 2020. "i refuse". Platinum Piercing 

I had a lot of word phrases that could have been used for this jewellery piece like "i believe"and "i resist", but I choose to use "i refuse". 

The reason why I decided to use "i refuse" on my PlatAfica bangle, I was busy doing research on Zakes Bantwini's career, I came across this quote from Israelmore Ayivor “Refuse to become a victim of your circumstances and give a lift to your potentials each and every day against the wish of any obstacle you encounter!”, after reading this quote I was able to understand his tribulations that he had to face in order to achieve in his career and goals as a musician, from having a child at the age of 14 years.

Despite facing the challenges of being a teenage father and also have to matriculate in high school. He had to refuse, resist, and believe.