What To Do When the World is Burning

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -MLK

Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. Dallas. Orlando. Saudi. Baghdad. Istanbul. Dhaka. Sandra Bland. Brussels. San Bernadino.

For the last several days, weeks, and months, it feels like we wake up to a new tragedy either here at home or somewhere abroad. My heart is breaking, and I no longer have words to express what I'm feeling as I process the chaos and tragedy that is plaguing the world. This has gone on far beyond sending "thoughts and prayers" and slacktivist efforts to "stand in solidarity" via the internet while sitting back in the comfort of our homes and going about business as usual. This is deeper than that. This is...well, this is personal.

I am a born-and-raised heterosexual American Muslim with Indian heritage...I am not Black, or LGBT, or a cop, or Iraqi, or Turkish, or Bangladeshi, or Syrian...but I am human. The same blood that is flowing through streets and cities around the world runs through my veins. I am blessed to have never been hit directly by such tragedy, but I am more aware now than ever of my status as a racial and religious minority in this country. My lighter skin, easily-pronounced name, and lack of a headscarf provide me with some degree of security as I walk through the world, however fleeting or false it may be. So, how, then, is this personal? Because if I am not part of the solution, I am part of the problem. If I am not part of the solution, I am part of the problem.

The world is burning, and I worry for the safety and future of the students that have walked through the doors of my classroom. Their beautiful hues of black and brown make them walking targets in a time when skin tone determines the degree to which they are perceived with suspicion. Their milky white tinge shields them from those same paranoid, uncomfortable glares as they walk through their neighborhoods at twilight, blissfully unaware of how easily their reality could have been quite different had they been born with more melanin.

These tragedies are not new -- prejudice and injustice have been alive and well for centuries, well before Europeans discovered invaded North America and claimed it as their own. Anyone who has studied history could easily rattle off a never-ending list of instances of fear and prejudice fueling violence and injustice. With the exponential amounts of racially-fueled violence afflicting us, what can we do? What can we as Americans, as minorities, as citizens, as educators, as humans DO?
1) We can pray. We can look into our hearts and find whatever God or deity we believe in, and we can ask not for a magical solution to end the violence, but for the courage in ourselves to stand up and make a change. Then, we can push ourselves to do more.

2) We can teach. "With guns, you can kill terrorists. But with education, you can kill terrorism." (Malala Yousafzi) Kids today have more access to information than any generation before them, and while they may use it primarily to play Minecraft and watch Beyonce's lastest music video, they will be exposed to this stuff. Talk to them. Let them be part of the conversation. Listen to them. Talk to our white children about the social leverage they have and how they can use that to be an advocate for their lesser-privileged peers. Talk about racism, talk about Hitler, talk about Jim Crow, about ISIS, about war. Talk about democracy and civil duties, about holding our elected officials accountable, about our first amendment right to peacefully assemble and protest.

3) We can act. Black American right now were never given a choice; they have been thrown into this fire and forced to think, to speak, to act. The rest of us? We have a choice. We have a choice to sit back passively and let our country disintegrate, or to do something about it. Let's hold our government officials accountable to do the job we elected them to do. Let's write emails and letters, make phone calls, march in protests, and flood the media until something changes. Democracy only works if we do our part; if ever there was a time to remember this, it is now.

4) We can love. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." (MLK) Love lets us see the humanity and goodness in people. Time and again, life has taught me that it's incredibly difficult to hate someone once you have heard their story. So let's share our stories and listen to each other. Let's talk to our neighbors and our coworkers and understand their stories while recognizing that we may not be able to relate to their experiences, but we can certainly try to understand them. Let's learn to love one another first and foremost as humans.

In the wake of today's news, our hearts are hurting. We are disheartened, we are angry, we are frustrated, and we are mourning. Let's mourn together...and then let's ask ourselves a critical question: are we going to be part of the healing and rebuilding, or are we going to passively allow for the dissolution of our humanity? Because if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.