There are a lot of us that live extraordinarily comfortable
lives. Some of us get no such
luxury. In our world we live with excess
and security most of the time, especially if we have the best
circumstances. I have been lucky. I grew up in a financially secure environment
in predominantly white neighborhoods with little to no violence. Not everyone is so lucky, especially if they
are different.
Truthfully I have had a good life. Lately I have been reading about a string of
homophobic attacks that have maimed and scarred people. Like the attacks on the men that resulted in
them being set on fire for being gay right here in the United States. I have also seen a video of a nameless man in
an unknown African country, beat in the street and set on fire. Events like this upset me, even make me
cry. It breaks my heart to see what
another human being is capable of doing to another human being under the guise
of morality and motivated by hate. I just
can’t help but think about it. At times
it keeps me up at night to see what the world is coming to.
But thinking is not enough.
If you are reading this it is probably because you are one of my close
friends, a follower of my twitter or Facebook pages, and know me
personally. Now take a moment to picture
me being set on fire. Picture me being
repeatedly kicked and punched. Listen as
you hear my ribs break, my gasping for air, unable to even cry out for
help. Now picture doing nothing to stop
it. Stand there and watch as my body is
being shattered. Do you feel
anything? Truth is every victim of hate
crimes has at least one friend or family member out there. What do you think they feel when they visit
him or her in the hospital after being beat within an inch of their lives?
Sometimes I wish I could be beat within an inch of my life
so I can truly feel what its like to feel pain.
All too often I think about how horrible my life is, how meaningless it
is in the grand scheme of things, how badly it sucks. I forget that it could be a whole lot
worse. Maybe being lynched would snap me
out of my lethargy of self-loathing and give me something to believe and fight
for.
I think too much about these people and what they have gone
through, but as I already said, thinking just isn’t enough. It’s time to fight.
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