I love Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. It embodies, to me, the good in us all, the visceral hope we all have for mankind. My favorite line, "I hope that one day my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
I hope the same thing for my five. Injustice is everywhere but I am still hopeful that when it comes down to it, judgement on any one individual will be fair and right. This is naive, I know...but I can dream.
I stopped watching the news after 9-11. Before that I spent too many hours holding my little Laura and weeping. The television was on day and night for 2 weeks. Like most of us, despite the horror I couldn't tear my eyes away. It is a sophomoric form of rubber-necking, this need to gaze upon tradgedy even though it keeps us up at night. Then something in me snapped and off the television went. I couldn't take one more image. And I stayed away until hurricane Katrina hit my once-hometown of beloved New Orleans and it started all over again. I don't know why I do this to myself. I wept again the day after the storm hit as the levees gave way and that city was drowned, as the little children stood stranded and frightened on the overpass waiting for anyone to help, as our government floundered with this rescue mission. We can get troops to Iraq faster than we rescued those folks.
But I digress. After the Katrina debacle and submerging myself again in sadness, I started to have panic attacks, and sat Patrik down and told him that the nightmares about water were wrecking me, that we had to move and get away from water...that our very lives depended on it. Off the tv went. And I slowly moved on and past that fear. There was no more news again for me for a long time.
Life isn't fair. But I truly believe that each of us wakes each morning with the best of intentions. And it all starts with childhood. A terrorist was not born a terrorist. He was made into one. Children are our clean slate. They are the future of the world. And though I realize that a parent can simply do everything right and still have their beloved child turn into a monster, the odds are greater that this will not be the case. If a child grows up secure and loved and not in a life fraught with injustice at every turn, his future bends in his favor. His future has hope.
I watch the news every now and then. I try to be objective about what is going on in the world right now but it isn't easy. I will keep putting one foot in front of the other , I will love and hold my children as often as I breathe, and do my best not to be ignorant or judgemental of humanity. And I hope as a reward the same will be done unto me and mine. It is the same dream as Dr. King's, and just as color-blind. Justice for all is a grand dream indeed.
I hope the same thing for my five. Injustice is everywhere but I am still hopeful that when it comes down to it, judgement on any one individual will be fair and right. This is naive, I know...but I can dream.
I stopped watching the news after 9-11. Before that I spent too many hours holding my little Laura and weeping. The television was on day and night for 2 weeks. Like most of us, despite the horror I couldn't tear my eyes away. It is a sophomoric form of rubber-necking, this need to gaze upon tradgedy even though it keeps us up at night. Then something in me snapped and off the television went. I couldn't take one more image. And I stayed away until hurricane Katrina hit my once-hometown of beloved New Orleans and it started all over again. I don't know why I do this to myself. I wept again the day after the storm hit as the levees gave way and that city was drowned, as the little children stood stranded and frightened on the overpass waiting for anyone to help, as our government floundered with this rescue mission. We can get troops to Iraq faster than we rescued those folks.
But I digress. After the Katrina debacle and submerging myself again in sadness, I started to have panic attacks, and sat Patrik down and told him that the nightmares about water were wrecking me, that we had to move and get away from water...that our very lives depended on it. Off the tv went. And I slowly moved on and past that fear. There was no more news again for me for a long time.
Life isn't fair. But I truly believe that each of us wakes each morning with the best of intentions. And it all starts with childhood. A terrorist was not born a terrorist. He was made into one. Children are our clean slate. They are the future of the world. And though I realize that a parent can simply do everything right and still have their beloved child turn into a monster, the odds are greater that this will not be the case. If a child grows up secure and loved and not in a life fraught with injustice at every turn, his future bends in his favor. His future has hope.
I watch the news every now and then. I try to be objective about what is going on in the world right now but it isn't easy. I will keep putting one foot in front of the other , I will love and hold my children as often as I breathe, and do my best not to be ignorant or judgemental of humanity. And I hope as a reward the same will be done unto me and mine. It is the same dream as Dr. King's, and just as color-blind. Justice for all is a grand dream indeed.
1 comment:
This beautiful.
I love you,
Mom
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