SOCIAL JUSTICE MUSINGS
A Travel Journalist’s Dreams for Justice
Understanding People from Different Cultures
Today we continue to see fleeting pictures of war-torn faces in the news, yet the people’s lives are still far away from us and all that we know. We do not understand their loss or their pain, and it is difficult to acknowledge. But the stories of the Internally Displaced Peoples were our stories long ago. Hundreds of years have passed since we were refugees like them—since we chose to leave the safety of our homeland with the simple hope of a new life; fled due to religious convictions, famine, regime changes; or like the Iraqi Yazidis, became displaced from war. Remember that the IDPs are just like you, just like me. Their stories are our stories.
POETICS: Celebrating the Language of Poetry
Do not fear the unknown. Do not fear what the West calls them—the refugees—or assume that all refugees from Muslim regions of the world are violent rapists and terrorists. They are families—mothers, fathers, children. They are you, they are me, inhabiting the same home as all of us.
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“Unfortunately, it is in human nature to allow evil to mature, to stand up against humanity. It then destroys and kills. It launches aggression and breaks people’s lives. You and us have already fought together against such great evil. You and us already have the experience of defeating the evil that is generated by human nature. I’m not saying there will be no more wars after the war ends. No. It is impossible to completely erase evil from human nature. Yet it is within our power to guarantee with words and deeds that the light side of human nature will prevail” (Zelensky’s address to the British Parliament, February 8, 2023).
If I were Zelensky, this is what I imagine I would say…
I see you.
The light in your eyes.
Your soul knows rest.
You have no fear.
You wear compassion for my country like a flag and embrace us with open arms and kind words.
I thank you for that.
Now, if you would but listen…