When we reached our destination, we all met for this rally type thing, where there were speakers, singers, and slam poets. I presented a poem there. Here it is:
I regret to inform you
you have been living in a lie
the world in which you reside is a disguise
to silence the cries as another child dies
bodies buried where you can't see
to keep from you and me
the truth
we live in a little sphere
no fears or tears in here
Now I know, ignorance is bliss
so normally I wouldn't diss our bubble
but look out at the rubble
that is the cost, all the people lost
eight 9/11s every day.
The souls of our shoes forged from the souls of kids
we swipe our cards, wiring our cash across the sea
sponsoring an endless holocaust.
We put gas in the tank giving cash to the ranks
of fighters, gunning down families
People ask why we don't care
but I think we don't dare
we are scared of being bared
of all we hold dear
Because to see the things that happen is to acknowledge that our ideal world
where atrocities like racism and slavery are a thing of the past
where equality, free education, health care, the right to water, food, even life
is ours to take
is fake
We say that the world has moved forward, that we are better off then ever before
yet look around past the glass
meant to protect you from the last gasps
of the oppressed
and see how wrong it is
The biggest economy in the world is death
buying tools to take away others' breath
spending trillions in dollars and thousands in lives
to do what could be accomplished by the rolling of a dice
laws are made to be broken, including war crimes
playing fields littered with landmines
and the guns held by kids in Sierra Leone
but that's far from home
here we stand
red, yellow, black, white
equal in our sight
as if that's good enough
we get health, food, water, plenty
we say it is our right
but honestly, no one is entitled to the beastly feast we consume 3 times a day
I guess this is what I am trying to say:
looking away is very profitable
but complacency turns us all into killers
so take a couple steps down in the ladder of riches
maybe buy that shirt second hand
and spend a couple bucks for fair trade
join a march, show you care
donate some money, give your share
because if we continue to cover our eyes
and believe the lies
things will never change
but if we open our eyes to the slain
and flush the untruth down the drain
maybe we could move forward again
We live in an imperfect, turbulent world of conflict. Every individual is different, with unique opinions, values, and ideas about how things should be run. With 6.7 billion of us (2008), it can get complicated. And it means that people can get it wrong, and sometimes they happen to be the majority. Which means that sometimes horrible, dark truths become a part of our everyday lives. Ancient Romans watched ragged, beaten prisoners kill each other. People kept slaves, shipped chained from across the ocean in awful conditions; human beings tossed around like trash. Our world is imperfect, but slowly moving forward. Sometimes this motion faces fierce resistance, but, like a massive glacier, slowly but inexorably plowing everything out of the way, nothing will stop it.
This is not to say that we can all sit back and not take action. If we did nothing, nothing would change. But i believe change is inevitable because that will never happen. No matter what, God gave us all at least a trace of humanity, of universal brotherhood, of love for one another, for humanity, that nothing can take away. When people challenge the status quo and stand up for what is right, it looks like a small, isolated group against the whole world. But in reality, change is how the world works. So while the status quo has numbers on its side, the revolutionaries have the future on their side.
As it stands, there are 300,000 children around the world who are, at this very moment, fighting in brutal wars. Sierra Leone's recent civil war employed 10,000 children as fighters. Parents, this may be difficult, but imagine your child wielding an AK-47, running into battle, shouting battle cries, and gunning down innocent people. Maybe they get hit in the melee, and fall. Now imagine all of their friends, all of your friends' children, and all the other kids that go to your child's school in this situation. You have no shoulders to cry on, because everyone else's child has also been taken away. But there is no time to think about this, only run, because the bullets are flying and you know that someone is gunning for you. Your own child.
This is the world we live in today. People have lived with horrible things by hiding them. Either by pretending they aren't horrible, and manipulating everyone into believing that what is happening is perfectly fine, or by hiding it from the public, and pretending the problem doesn't exist. I believe a combination of this is happening now. Many of us are oblivious of the carnage that is happening, hidden away across the ocean, as if distance somehow reduces humanity. But many people have still heard the statistic "3,000 children". The problem is that they see the "3,000", but not the "children". Or they see the world "children", but never bother to realize deep down inside that the word "children" is referring to real human beings, real kids like the ones you find in the classrooms, playgrounds, and households.
But this will fall. It is unlikely that the horrible things to thrown on our people will run out, but, with God's help, one by one, we will topple them all. Every single war, injustice, and oppressive force will see an end. One may argue that if there will always be a new evil oppressing the people of our world, that we are wasting our time fighting it. But it is not so much about the evil as it is about fighting it. Perhaps it is not just that we abhor awful things, but that we abhor not fighting them. I don't know if i am talking about everyone, or about just the minority of revolutionaries that get everything done. But i know that that is how i feel. We must stand. We must fight. And someday, in the end, there will be victory. Get on your feet and become a part of it.
(Here are some resources http://lmgtfy.com/?q=child+soldiers+sierra+leone
about child soldiers in Sierra Leone. Also, check out http://freethechildren.org/)
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