Heart’s Depth

It is often said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  But what of the emotions it entices.

At first glance, my lips parted as my heart smiled and my body filled with joy. My mind conjured up the innocence of children’s laughter and the carelessness of childhood. Immediately I thought, “how I miss the good old days.”

Unfortunately, my heart’s smile is betrayed by the very real possibility that this picture carries with it insurmountable sadness. Possibility that they are running in fear. Away from  gunmen who’d long forgotten the enemy - aimlessly shooting. Men who’ve turned killing into a sport.

Their parents preach of lineage and seek to instill in their children pride of such lineage. This pride has enabled warlords to take the lives of thousands YET no one seems to recognize the cost.

Those lucky enough to escape the suffering stupidly continue this crippling legacy of lineage. They fight for a disease that has forced them to live in foreign lands their hearts don’t recognize.

While we allow this disease to permeate every aspect of our lives, these children – their innocence, their future, their hopes their lives – are sacrificed.

‘Somalia Deep in My Heart’ and I vow to end the disease that has too long consumed us;

so that our children can once again experience childhood!

Our Children. Our Future.

Glorified Roman Holiday – Columbus Style

As I grow older, it is becoming more difficult to  what I learned through school and experience. I’ve always been driven by a social conscience that often dictates the way I react to situations that perpetuate racist or stereotypical attitude. As a result, such attitude tends to anger extremely fast. This is not to say I never succumb to stereotypical or even sometimes racist remarks; although I am doing my best to eradicate such poor use of language and misconstrued ideology.

This morning, during while speaking with a classmate, the subject of Columbus and his historical significance arose. This is a an African-American Politics class in which we were discussing the legacy of black inferiority in the United States. I pointed out the absurdity in celebrating and worse declaring Columbus Day a national holiday. While I understand and give him the credit for being on of the first document European sailor to come the Americas (not discover because there were other human’s who lived here before his ‘discovery’).  However, recognizing his influence in the birth of the US as a nation and celebrating him are quite different. Recognition is to affirm a historical fact. To celebrate is to honor, glorify or commend. We recognize Hitler’s leadership and impact in German as well as Jewish history. We recognize Martin Luther King’s leadership and impact in American history. However, majority of the people in Germany do not celebrate Hitler’s rule. On the contrary, majority of American’s celebrate Martin Luther King. For this reason, I associate Columbus’s ‘discovery‘ with extinction of millions of people indigenous to the America’s. We – meaning everyone who is not  a direct descendant of  the natives of this land – are benefiting from their loss as it has become a place to call home. A nation that has  become known as the most powerful nation in the world.

There is a dichotomy in the significance of Columbus in US history.

• As children we are taught everything depicted in the following image.

His glorified discovery of savage land. Ironically, teachers throw in a few lectures of the ‘noble natives’ that helped the settlers.

• As we get older, we learn the misery caused by his supposed discovery.

Recognizing Columbus’s contribution to this nation is legitimate and important. However, celebrating him inadvertently celebrates the cost of his ‘discovery’. Millions of Natives died at the hands of European settlers. Celebrating Columbus seems to me like a way of quite literally shitting on their graves. I commend Hawaii, Alaska, and South Dakota who choose to not recognize Columbus Day as a national holiday.  It is hard to fully understand.

– This is my opinion & not meant to offend anyone.

Equality Before the Law: Marriage

The sanctity of marriage is acknowledge in most cultures world-wide. Marriage offers people a means to express their love for one another in such a way that demands other people’s respect and acceptance.

Marriage serves as a tool to solidify relationships. In more ways than one, marriage validates a relationship.

Upon getting married, family, friends and neighbors are expected to congratulate the couple which acts as an affirmation of the union. Often spoken of as a  ’holy matrimony’.  The sanctity is often described in divine terms to suggest that it is a God-given right. A rite of passage.

The need for validation and acceptance is a human need. Everyone, regardless of who we are, seeks approval from others whom are  either close to us or those whose values we respect. These could be our parents, siblings, loved ones, friends, leaders, etc.

Yet, people seem surprised, even appalled that same-sex couples want equal recognition in marriage. Speaking ONLY from a legal sense, as per the US constitution, everyone is equal in front of the law. Denying constitutional rights to citizens of the United States has proven damaging to many US communities – specifically African-American and Native communities.

It is surprising the level of ignorance US public shows when asked questions that don’t necessarily adhere to the norms. Fear of difference and change is driving people to say and act inhumanely toward the queer community.

 

I wholeheartedly believe in treating others like you want to be treated – all religions and philosophies teach this.

 

If you don’t support same-sex marriage, fine. But DO NOT stand between the law and those its meant to protect. Regardless of ones believe system (although religions teach and preach tolerance) we should not stand in the way of the law but ALLOW equal protection for everyone under the law as stated in the Constitution of the United States!!

Nature & Not Knowing.

Taken = one of the best Syfy miniseries. Watching it made me think about many things – of course aliens abducting humans for scientific research, to gain what they lack – but also about human nature.

I kept trying to understand reasons for people’s bad actions. Is it fear of the unknown that drives us to do the things we do?

Then a terrifying thought came to me. Pushed to the edge, every one of us is capable of doing awful deeds.

Is that what we call human nature? Our instinct to survive?

I couldn’t help but think about how we allow some to make sacrifices with their own lives but treat such an enormous sacrifice like we do any other job. Police, soldiers, firefighters and any other profession where humans put their lives at risk. It’s much more than a job when someone defies their ‘nature’ to survive in order to safeguard another’s life.

Our need to love and create families with whom we share our hopes and dreams is how what allows us to fool ourselves into believing there is something called normal. It allows us to pretend like we are all the same. Allows us to ostracize those who don’t conform to our mirage of ‘normal’.

 

But we aren’t. We may have similar routines but all of us are individuals first then we are a family. Then a city and a country and so on.This is the only way I can explain why we are so willing to safe ourselves. Why the unknown poses excessive danger to our need for self-preservation.

This thoughts are the most pessimistic thoughts I’ve had. They are uncomfortable.

Khan Academy – “for students of all ages”

Khan Academy is absolutely fantastic!

My younger sister recently turned me onto this website called http://www.khanacademy.org. This site has numerous videos – over 2400 as the introduction states- that cover a good range of topics from math to history. These videos are available to anyone and everyone who is interested in learning something new or someone who just wants a refresher. The videos are mostly 10-15 minutes long, some are a bit longer and few shorter.

 

The man who started and developed this non-profit organization, Salman Khan, is absolutely wonderful at explaining and simplifying a seemingly difficult subject like trigonometry, Chemistry, finance and my new favorite Biology.

Check it out, its worth the second it takes to click on the link

Injustices of Human Judgment

After the group got on the bus, I ended up sitting across an older couple. When sat, I asked them to sit and they smiled at me. The train moved and after about 30 minutes or more when the train got to the other stop, the couple talked to the conductor who was returning from checking tickets.

The conductor then gave me a look that made me wonder what they said because they were all looking at me and the couple got up and walked off as soon as the train stopped. The conductor looked like she wanted to say something so I decided to ask if everything was okay. She then replied that she was “sorry”. I then proceeded to ask what she was sorry about. She replied that the couple did not want to sit next to me and she pointed to my hijab.

I got upset for a moment and then I said she did not have a reason to be sorry. My teacher’s friend overheard this and asked what happened. The conductor told her and she asked the conductor what the purpose of telling me was and whether or not the couple had asked her to tell me their issue with me. The conductor looked scared and replied that there is a problem with the Muslims because they are using our taxes. My teacher replied that I was an American student, doing nothing but contributing to their economy.

I was not even remotely angered by this experience but it was a lot more hurtful than I had anticipated. I wanted to tell them that being Muslim does not equate to whatever prejudices they held. The most hurtful part was that 20 other students I clearly came with did not dissuade the couple from their remarks.

This was on our train from Germany to Switzerland.