Outrage is like the dissonance of a musical piece, leading to resolution and a satisfying climax. But when the dissonance continues without end, we have to find our own mini-resolutions, our own small satisfactions, to be able to sustain involvement with the piece.
The level of disgusting greed, of attacking the vulnerable, of undermining of our institutions of democracy, is incredibly dangerous. So what do we do to get our footing, to carve out a small success that will provide us encouragement to continue fighting?
I think the answer comes from the discord, from the attacks themselves. The actions of the reigning idiocy are bad because they hurt people. So we find the people hurt, and connect to them, and strengthen each other. And we ask our leaders to express leadership on small issues that have small wins, to lend their voices. We amplify not only the outrage about the idiots in charge, but the problem-solving by the hardest working on our side.
If children are hungry, you feed them. HEPAC, an amazing neighborhood cooperative in Nogales, MX does exactly that in an innovative organization with support from volunteers in Arizona. They offer border education tours to law students and others, and use the proceeds to buy food supplies. Then a cooperative of women volunteers cooks all morning and makes sure every child who comes in, eats. The kids are also helped with homework, and given a safe and encouraging space to relax. Then in the afternoon, the women sew colorful aprons, purses, shopping bags and other items that volunteers take up to be sold in churches and shops in Green Valley and Tucson. The earnings from this are theirs, and provide an incentive to volunteer in the tight-knit group. This group is a win, a healthy, joyful assertion of hope. So I’m writing about them here, to amplify their success.
Refugee kids are resilient, and determined. If you visit the Amani International Learning center here in Tucson, AZ, and ask which kids want to work rather than play, you will be swarmed with young children ready to read, write and do math. Open from 7AM to 7PM daily, every day of the year, this school is run by former refugees — highly educated, determined women. They would like more volunteers, and it turns out its not hard to recruit volunteers on the Volunteer Center of Tucson website. Sahra Hirsi, the founder, speaks multiple languages and is called on by refugee families to troubleshoot issues from eviction to job hunting, all the while running the school and searching for resources to help the children catch up academically. Connections to the community benefit Amani and the kids, but the women running it are so busy doing the work, that they have no time to market their amazing work and ask for help. So it helps that people find them, and tell each other.
Those organizations that make the most noise and ask for the most contributions may not be the ones we need to help. Scott Long, a civil rights worker in Egypt, asks us to read this report: The Trap: Punishing Sexual Difference in Egypt, created at great risk the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). But Scott also notes, “Dalia Abd el Hameed and the EIPR produced this report without the aid of foreign "partners." I have one recommendation. If you want to know what is happening in Egypt, don't turn to ARC International, or Outright Action International, or the Human Rights Campaign, or any other Western organization. They may do great work elsewhere, but their claims of knowledge and "partnership" are false. They risk nothing where Egypt is concerned (none of their staff ever had to go into exile for their work and courage) and they know nothing. And, emphatically, do NOT turn to me either…..You can start by consulting the EIPR, the authors of this report.”
And now in Honduras, the Voice of America and our state department, surprise surprise, are undermining democracy in the recent elections. Even The Economist points out the likelihood of cheating in the Honduran election. If our government is going to prevent people from Honduras from coming here, how is it that we can stand by while they try to stop them from the right of self-determination and choosing their own leaders? The Honduran people may need support. And they can’t wait for us to replace our government with a responsible one. I don’t know anyone in Honduras, but I hope some of us may reach out. Our traditional journalistic outlets are overburdened, and may not have the staff to cover this right. And maybe, those working for democracy in Honduras might need some kind of support from us.
If we had reached out more during the Arab Spring, just maybe things would have gone differently. But that’s another story. Its not too late for this one, and for many groups and people right now.
I know many readers here already are doing many powerful things. And I hope you write about them, to encourage others! It seems to me we need a new form of citizen journalism, a journalism of personal involvement. Not only saying ‘they’ are doing something but ‘I’ am doing something, and ‘we’ and ‘you’. Despite the steady stream of discouragement, we are far from powerless.
We can do something, we can do it now, and we can amplify each other’s work.