Senseless

I wrote this on February 4th but am now posting it. Unfortunately the sorrow and brutalities continue....

Today I read an article about an Egyptian woman who was brutally killed as she went to mourn the dead at Tahrir Square. All she wanted to do was to show her respect and mourn the dead. Words cannot describe what my heart feels. A travesty? A tragedy? Horror? I don’t know what words can be adequate for the pain in my heart. I do not know who she is personally but at the same time I feel like she is my sister. She is a human being, and that is enough for me to mourn her senseless death. That is enough for my heart to break at the thoughtless extinguishing of her life. That is enough for tears to be shed for one lovely life that is no longer in this world. That is enough.

And the greater tragedy is that she was not the only one to be senselessly killed since the beginning of 2015. Recently we have seen the end of life for the Jordanian pilot and the Japanese reporter, among numerous others. There are also those who remain unnamed in Nigeria, massacred at the hands of Boko Haram. If the year is to begin with the cruel bloodshed of my fellow human beings - my brothers and my sisters for all intents and purposes - what do we look forward to? What do we say to our children who see such images of hate? What do we have to say for us as human beings living in the 21^st century as we brutally end other peoples’ lives?

Human Rights Awareness Through Movies

Every day there are human rights violations occurring around the world; someone is suffering at the hands of someone or some institution. The biggest in the news recently has been the turmoil in Syria. It is certainly a shame that so many innocent lives have to be claimed due to a struggle for political power. People have a right to voice their opinion without getting killed, and they have a right to life, life that someone else has no right to take away. And let's not forget the women in Pakistan who were allegedly killed for "singing" at a wedding because they were not "behaving" according to the conservative traditions of the tribe. Tragic.

But sometimes the news does't impact us as much as the movies we see. Movies make us laugh, move us to tears, touch our hearts, and provoke us to think more than we ever realize. Movies convey values and ideologies in a context where we we can relate; or they enable us to project ourselves into those contexts so that we empathize with what's going on as well as with the characters. I think documentaries and films are an integral part of creating human rights and social justice awareness among people.

So here are some upcoming films in the Long Island area that are related to social justice issues and human rights:


Gasland: this Saturday (6/9)  from 7-9:15, in Babylon, free admission. The movie looks at the controversial issue of fracking.

The Harvest: next Wednesday 6/13 at 7:30 pm, in Huntington, $15 including a reception. This movie looks at the plight of migrant child farmworkers in the US. This film is actually from the same director as The Dark Side of Chocolate, and he will be there in person.

Human Rights Watch Film Festival - New York: June 14 - 28 at the Lincoln Center in New York City, sponsored by Human Rights Watch. Films feature a variety of human rights issues; go to the page for more information on the movies.