I have been struggling to swallow a mood of anger, sadness, and disappointment for quite some time now. (Thus the reasoning behind my blogger silence). I can’t watch the news without getting angry and yelling at the TV, or scroll through my Facebook feed without rolling my eyes and hitting the “hide- I don’t want to see posts like this” button.
The strange part is I am not mad at any one or anything in particular, so it’s difficult to put it into words. I’m mad at all of us. Myself included.
How are we, not as Americans or members of a certain religious group or political group, but we as humans, okay with watching what celebrity wore what designer to the VMA’s last week when last week thousands were slaughtered a few hours across the ocean?
The crisis in Gaza strip should terrify us and wake us up to want to do something to help our brothers and sisters so many miles apart. Instead it is covered in a 30 second segment on the news and then we continue on with who Kim Kardashian is marrying or what self-deprecating stunt Miley Cyrus pulled this week. How can Kim Kardashian’s social life even compare to the tragedies going on in the Middle East and Africa? How many seconds of airtime are given to the Gaza Strip each day in comparison with celebrity gossip? It makes me sick to my stomach that we as a population have allowed ourselves to be so mindlessly entertained by these things instead of paying attention to the bigger problems- let alone getting off of our arsenals and doing something to help.
My sweet oldest sister, Erika, has been my personal therapist while I’ve been trying to make sense of all of this and work through it. She lets me vent and cry and try to figure out a way to do more than just feel sympathetic. More than that though she doesn’t try to convince me it’s all okay or let me shy away from these huge, overwhelming tragedies. Instead she asks me some really hard questions and makes me think things I don’t want to think about. Like why thousands of innocent children have been beheaded and can I imagine if that was my wonderful nieces and nephews?
No I can’t imagine and quite frankly I don’t want to. I see my nephew Seth’s big brown eyes in every horrible picture of an ISIS victim I see now. I want to save them all. And I weep for the ones we couldn’t save. How can this be happening?
Erika and I have come to one very simple conclusion that I repeat to myself dozens of times each day now. This isn’t okay with me.
It’s not okay with me that every day 25,000 people (mostly children) die from drinking dirty water.
It’s not okay that there are 100 million children in the world who live on the street not knowing when or if they will eat again.
It’s not okay with me that the crisis in the Middle East has forced 22 million people out of their home and country. (That’s just slightly under the population of ALL of Texas, y’all. Can you imagine trying to help find food, homes and refuge for EVERYONE in Texas?). The death toll adds another 200,000+ to that number if our statistics are correct. In the middle of a genocide I don’t think accurate body count should be a huge priority so forgive my sources if this number is wrong.
The difference between me and them is simply an unfair accident that I was born in St. Joseph, Missouri and they were born elsewhere
.
I can no longer sit in my safe little cocoon, drinking my un-diseased water, not fearing for my life, and telling myself that it’s someone else’s problem.
It is OUR problem. I’m tired of the “we” versus “them” mentality that has become the norm. Why does it matter if it’s an African child or an Iranian child or an American child? I want you (whoever you are) to close your eyes to your stereotypes and biases. Close your eyes and just love them all.
It’s not okay with me to do nothing any more. I don’t want it to be okay for you, either.
“Surely faith without action is dead. Let Your kingdom come. Lord break this heart.” (Lincoln Brewster’s song “Power of your name”. Listen to it if you haven’t.)
Ethiopia countdown: 23 days.
Sources:
https://sites.google.com/site/rinconsogi/10-40-window
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-global-poverty
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrias-crisis-figures-deaths-refugees-and-damage-1110944222
The strange part is I am not mad at any one or anything in particular, so it’s difficult to put it into words. I’m mad at all of us. Myself included.
How are we, not as Americans or members of a certain religious group or political group, but we as humans, okay with watching what celebrity wore what designer to the VMA’s last week when last week thousands were slaughtered a few hours across the ocean?
The crisis in Gaza strip should terrify us and wake us up to want to do something to help our brothers and sisters so many miles apart. Instead it is covered in a 30 second segment on the news and then we continue on with who Kim Kardashian is marrying or what self-deprecating stunt Miley Cyrus pulled this week. How can Kim Kardashian’s social life even compare to the tragedies going on in the Middle East and Africa? How many seconds of airtime are given to the Gaza Strip each day in comparison with celebrity gossip? It makes me sick to my stomach that we as a population have allowed ourselves to be so mindlessly entertained by these things instead of paying attention to the bigger problems- let alone getting off of our arsenals and doing something to help.
My sweet oldest sister, Erika, has been my personal therapist while I’ve been trying to make sense of all of this and work through it. She lets me vent and cry and try to figure out a way to do more than just feel sympathetic. More than that though she doesn’t try to convince me it’s all okay or let me shy away from these huge, overwhelming tragedies. Instead she asks me some really hard questions and makes me think things I don’t want to think about. Like why thousands of innocent children have been beheaded and can I imagine if that was my wonderful nieces and nephews?
No I can’t imagine and quite frankly I don’t want to. I see my nephew Seth’s big brown eyes in every horrible picture of an ISIS victim I see now. I want to save them all. And I weep for the ones we couldn’t save. How can this be happening?
Erika and I have come to one very simple conclusion that I repeat to myself dozens of times each day now. This isn’t okay with me.
It’s not okay with me that every day 25,000 people (mostly children) die from drinking dirty water.
It’s not okay that there are 100 million children in the world who live on the street not knowing when or if they will eat again.
It’s not okay with me that the crisis in the Middle East has forced 22 million people out of their home and country. (That’s just slightly under the population of ALL of Texas, y’all. Can you imagine trying to help find food, homes and refuge for EVERYONE in Texas?). The death toll adds another 200,000+ to that number if our statistics are correct. In the middle of a genocide I don’t think accurate body count should be a huge priority so forgive my sources if this number is wrong.
The difference between me and them is simply an unfair accident that I was born in St. Joseph, Missouri and they were born elsewhere
.
I can no longer sit in my safe little cocoon, drinking my un-diseased water, not fearing for my life, and telling myself that it’s someone else’s problem.
It is OUR problem. I’m tired of the “we” versus “them” mentality that has become the norm. Why does it matter if it’s an African child or an Iranian child or an American child? I want you (whoever you are) to close your eyes to your stereotypes and biases. Close your eyes and just love them all.
It’s not okay with me to do nothing any more. I don’t want it to be okay for you, either.
“Surely faith without action is dead. Let Your kingdom come. Lord break this heart.” (Lincoln Brewster’s song “Power of your name”. Listen to it if you haven’t.)
Ethiopia countdown: 23 days.
Sources:
https://sites.google.com/site/rinconsogi/10-40-window
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-global-poverty
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrias-crisis-figures-deaths-refugees-and-damage-1110944222
