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It begins to feel that every other week another senseless mass murder or act of violence in the U.S. plagues our television, phone, and computer screens.
Whether it’s multiple bombs being sent to public figures critical of Trump, a white supremacist shooting and killing two African Americans in a grocery store in Kentucky, an anti-Semitic white supremacist killing 11 people at a synagogue, or a man opening fire and killing two at a yoga studio.
If you’re anything like me, I am sure you’ve become numb to the pain. It is almost like we are being forced to watch a tragic film again and again to the point where we can all recite the dialogue in our sleep, and once the movie is overall we can do is shrug our shoulders and ask, “Well what can we do?” This, of course, is a rhetorical question that emanates from a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.
But today I will no longer shrug my shoulders and ask, “What can we do?”
Today I am going to address what I believe we can all do if we want to see substantial change.
VOTE
If you still think that voting doesn’t change anything or that your vote doesn’t matter, then you didn’t pay attention to the 2016 election results. I am well aware that violence will persist regardless of who is sitting in Washington D.C., but right-wing violence has been specifically emboldened, normalized, and tolerated by Trump and other Republicans. Because they tolerate this, we can all have a say in the matter by voting them out of office, and send the message that we will not tolerate leaders that are complicit in such violence. Voting is one way of being proactive. It is not everything, but it is something.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING
In April 2018, Nicholas Wesley Rose of Irvine, California, age 26, was arrested and charged with hate crimes after he told a family member that he wanted to kill people, Jews in particular. The family member then reported him to police and after they searched his home they found weapons and a kill list of Jewish community members.
Whether you are in a public area and see someone acting out of the ordinary, or you know someone you are concerned about, it is our responsibility to alert the proper authorities. It is not enough to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Had this family member of Mr. Rose gave him that, what happened in Pittsburgh could have well happened in Irvine.
DONATE
Find a cause (or several) you are passionate about, and donate to organizations working in that field. It doesn’t’ have to be money. It can be your time through volunteering, or it can be sharing a message via social media. There are hundreds of groups doing great work out there that need all the help they can get.
GET INVOLVED IN OTHER COMMUNITIES
I wouldn’t know about the values of the Jewish tradition had I not attended Shabbat services. I wouldn’t see the beauty in the Friday Muslim prayer if I didn’t attend one myself, and I wouldn’t have learned about racial injustice in the U.S. if I didn’t volunteer as an intern at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum of African American History and Culture. By getting involved with other communities, we can learn about their values and traditions, giving us a better understanding of our neighbors and possibly revealing our own biases, unconscious or not.
Getting involved is also a way to show solidarity. Now, maybe more than ever, we need to show solidarity with several communities and relay the message that they are not alone and that we have their backs.
EDUCATE AND HAVE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS
When you learn about something like systemic racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, or genocide, you begin to see how they are interconnected in our everyday lives. It is not enough to witness these patterns; we need to call them out when we see them. I encourage all us to acquire effective communicative skills and have difficult conversations. That includes having conversations with racist or misogynistic family members over the holidays. It will be hard and you will want to scream and shout, but change can come through conversation. Here’s a helpful video if you do seek to start having difficult conversations. (link here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSes3t3tcyw)
GET INNOVATIVE
Words matter. How we talk about other groups of people can easily manifest into violence. If words matter, then we need to use our voices to speak out. We need to fund and support grassroots organizations that not only condemn hate speech but also demystify stigmas around minority communities and other social causes. Not only that, but I believe we need to up the ante in these efforts. If it is going to be effective it needs to be centralized, organized, and strategic. We need to get innovative and collaborate together.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
If you need to cry, cry. If you need to binge-watch Netflix or your favorite comedy show, do that. If you need to exercise, exercise. If you need to sleep in, sleep in. Do whatever you need to do so that you don’t become overwhelmed. You need to learn how to swim before you save others from drowning, and it helps to know when your head and heart are in the right place.
Whatever you do,
DON’T GIVE UP
And if you do ever feel like giving up, here is something can recite to yourself.
I Refuse.
I refuse to believe that this is just human nature or succumb to the notion that we are violent animals.
I refuse to believe that nothing can be done.
I refuse to accept this abnormal behavior as normal.
I refuse to forget.
I refuse to feel numbness.
I refuse to remain silent.
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