Thursday, June 11, 2009

Keep hope alive. Don't give into hate.

After yesterday's tragedy and a week and a half of grieving for Dr. Tiller, I have been feeling a bit blue. Sometimes it seems like there is so much hatred in the world, and there is so little we can do.

But we can never give up, and never let hatred and anger overtake us. We are activists, and we must work to make this world a better place. In the words of my heroine, civil rights leader Ella Baker:

"You have to go back and reach out to your neighbors who don't speak to you, and you have to reach out to your friends who think they are making it good, and get them to understand that they, as well as you and I, cannot be free in America or anywhere else where there is capitalism and imperialism, until we can get people to recognize that they themselves have to make the struggle and have to fight for freedom everyday in the year, every year, until they win it."

3 comments:

Laura said...

Absolutely! I am shocked by the amount of violence occurring in our country in a time where so much positive change is happening!

The worst outcome, which has happened to me, is to think ill of these murderers, and hope that they get hurt somehow too. By doing this, I am sinking to the level of Scott Roeder, or VonBrunn, which is unacceptable. By thinking this way, they are winning, and we can't let this happen. We must rise above, and promote love and acceptance to our peers and children, so that such outright hatred no longer exists.

Lauren said...

I think so many people forget about that "fight"-- we can never take our freedom for granted.

WendyM said...

Thank you, Emily. I needed that. And thanks for always having a good Ella Baker quote to throw out! :)