I opened Facebook on my iPhone tonight and was welcomed with:
- an attack in Nice, France;
- the murder announcement of a missing 5-year-old girl;
- white people arguing about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Last week it was the:
- senseless deaths of two African American males, Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling;
- senseless deaths of 5 police officers in Dallas, TX;
- bickering about #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter.
Last month it was the:
- deaths of 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, FL;
- right-wing religious groups spouting hate speech from their soap boxes at the funerals of victims impacted by the Orlando shootings;
- lenient sentencing of Brock Turner;
- injury of 239 people and death of 41 others during an attack at Istanbul Ataturk Airport;
- bombings in Iraq, killing at least 292 people.
And I feel like someone has just taken a sledge hammer to my heart, smashing it into a billion pieces.
This world sucks. Humanity sucks.
The inhumanity of humanity seems particularly bitter today.
And despite my best efforts to stay rational about how news cycles work, knowing that the bad stuff gets WAY more coverage than the good stuff, I’m struggling. I’m struggling because love needs to be louder. I know it’s out there, but why can’t it speak louder than all of this other garbage?
So tonight while I check on my daughters nestled in their beds, I am going to remind myself of the love. I am going to actively remember that:
- For the one sick individual that kills a child, there are thousands of people mourning with the victim’s family, demanding justice.
- For every person impacted by a lunatic that chooses to drive over people at a celebration in France, there are dozens of people who run to the aid of others.
- For every right-wing group that takes to their soap boxes to spout hate speech at the mourners of the Orlando massacre, there are ‘angels’ there to block them.
- For every event where a police officer incorrectly targets someone or misuses their authority, there are thousands of other officers doing AMAZING things in their communities.
- For every fear-inducing, hateful act, there are loving acts.
And tomorrow when I wake, I am going to act.
I’m going to start by extending kindness to my neighbours, hoping my actions will be marked by generosity and love instead of fear and hatred.
I’m going to hold my kids a little closer, and teach them empathy and compassion by my actions not by empty words.
Love is a verb and I (we) need to show our children and communities that it’s still there.
You with me?
Brandi's Soapbox 