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Hello #ChangeMakers,
Like me, you likely read The Diary of Anne Frank when you were in school. And, like me, I am sure her words left a lasting mark on you about what it means to be a citizen of the world and the responsibility that we each owe to the other. When I read it, I remember feeling some level of shame about being part of a world that looked past the suffering of the Jews in Nazi Germany and failed to come to their aid, but I salved myself with the belief that, given the chance to behave differently in the future if presented with similar circumstances, we undoubtedly would.
Today, we find ourselves facing the opportunity to prove whether, in fact, we will. Bringing that point powerfully home was this editorial by Nicholas Kristof in today’s New York Times. Included in it is the photo of Anne Frank’s innocent, sweet face that has long since become familiar to all of us. And alongside it, a news-wire photo of a young Syrian girl, Rouwaida Hanoun, stunned and bleeding from the bombing that she, her family, and her community have come to endure as a part of their daily existence.
As the mother of two daughters and, now, the grandmother to a months-old baby girl, I cannot escape the maternal pull that the face of this precious, traumatized girl presents. Nor can I escape Mr. Kristof’s words, compelling us all to own the responsibility we owe to her and to the many like her who are fleeing their homes in a desperate attempt to seek refuge.
What, you might ask, can we as individuals do? Obviously, this is a challenge of global and monumental proportion and it will require a multi-pronged and widespread solutions-oriented humanitarian approach. But we each have an opportunity to play a part in creating our own small ripple leading to the ultimate response wave that is required. How? There are countless aid organizations doing work in the area; by donating a few dollars to UNICEF, you can help provide food, shelter and safety for children. By speaking up -- perhaps by sharing Mr. Kristof’s editorial today with friends and family to raise awareness. By listening with a critical ear to politicians and their proposals about how we should respond to this humanitarian crisis and expressing our thoughts about what we expect of them. And most importantly, by exercising our responsibility to speak where we can do so most powerfully – at the ballot box – and by electing leaders who recognize and respect our shared humanity and our duty to it.
At the end of the day, #ChangeMakers, this country is nothing more than an assembly of all of us as individuals. I have faith that you’ll do your part in assuring that our legacy will be one we’ll look back on with pride.
xo,
- Wendy
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