Thank you for another important and well stated essay. As a person whose skin happens to be "white" I failed to learn about so many ordinary people who stood up and fought for freedom, not just their freedom but freedom for all of us. The white-washed history I grew up learning in school failed these ordinary citizens. Thankfully, as I have gone through these past 60 years I have strived to find and hear these stories and grasped their important message, that every person matters no matter their color and if we want freedom then we have to be willing to stand up for freedom despite what might happen to us for using our voices. These stories from history are even more relevant in these times of gestapo like forces attacking every day citizens just trying to live their lives and often standing up for the freedom of others even if those others don't share the same skin tone as them. I have often asked myself what I would have done if I had lived in the 1940's as hitler was committing mass murder and dragging neighbors, coworkers, and friends into the streets then sending them to their deaths or what I would have done in the 1950's during the Civil Rights era. Would I have had the courage, morality, compassion, and humanity to stand up and join the fight. I appreciate your essays because they remind me how much ordinary citizens can do by simply caring enough about others to stand up and say, "This has to stop and I am willing to do my part to help it stop." We all have power, but it's wasted when we don't use it for good.
Thank you for another important and well stated essay. As a person whose skin happens to be "white" I failed to learn about so many ordinary people who stood up and fought for freedom, not just their freedom but freedom for all of us. The white-washed history I grew up learning in school failed these ordinary citizens. Thankfully, as I have gone through these past 60 years I have strived to find and hear these stories and grasped their important message, that every person matters no matter their color and if we want freedom then we have to be willing to stand up for freedom despite what might happen to us for using our voices. These stories from history are even more relevant in these times of gestapo like forces attacking every day citizens just trying to live their lives and often standing up for the freedom of others even if those others don't share the same skin tone as them. I have often asked myself what I would have done if I had lived in the 1940's as hitler was committing mass murder and dragging neighbors, coworkers, and friends into the streets then sending them to their deaths or what I would have done in the 1950's during the Civil Rights era. Would I have had the courage, morality, compassion, and humanity to stand up and join the fight. I appreciate your essays because they remind me how much ordinary citizens can do by simply caring enough about others to stand up and say, "This has to stop and I am willing to do my part to help it stop." We all have power, but it's wasted when we don't use it for good.
Thanks, Judith! Always appreciate your support and perspective.
I love meeting people through your eyes.
Thanks, Shari!