How About We…

Today should not be about divisiveness. It should not use Patriot Day as an excuse to push a personal set of beliefs or an agenda. It should not be an “I told you so” or a list of why you are right and everyone else is wrong. It should not be about terror and insecurity. It should not be about violence, about war, or about destruction. It should not draw the painful nostalgia of remembering “a simpler time.” It should not mock a stereotype or perpetuate petty one-upping.

Today should be about unity. It should be about love and hope and the future. It should remember those hundreds of people that ran towards and even into the World Trade Center after it was hit to help, and about those hundreds upon thousands that cried and prayed and opened their arms for strangers. It should be about honoring those that knew their own lives to be lost, but kept struggling in the hopes of being able to save just one more person. It should be about those that spent their last moments calling to reassure their loved ones, to express love. It should be an opportunity to call those people that you may have overlooked lately – it happens, we all get busy.

Today should be about thinking of whatever you call that thing you believe in: Nature, Science, Energy, God. It should be about hope for the future. It should be appreciations of how far we’ve come. It should be about determination that our future path will continue to improve, that the sun will come out, even if the clouds currently fill your sky.

Never forget. But never let hatred in your heart for those that oppose you outweigh love for the many more beautiful, bittersweet things in this world.

Back Within The Boundaries

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting the National World War II Museum in New Orleans for work. It’s a terrific museum, and they have some really exciting plans for future exhibits – if you can make the trip, I highly recommend going. I especially recommend seeing the film Beyond All Boundaries while you’re there; it’s a production that you truly experience rather than simply watch.

However, two conversations were also had that reconfirmed in my mind why museums like this play such an important role in our culture. The first came in the form of a talk about the museum’s founding. When the museum opened, many were skeptical whether there would be a draw to come to a museum about WWII. The only people they thought would come to see such exhibits were veterans, and WWII veterans are becoming fewer and fewer. The second came in a chat with a docent, who revealed that a guest had once said that he was a pacifist and that he thought the museum was “sick” and “glorified war.”

It’s Time for a Serious Discussion About Syria – The People

It’s Time for a Serious Discussion About Syria – The People

The President and CEO of my foundation has a new piece about how we can all help Syrian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons even without congressional vote.

The Humanity Of It All

I usually don’t like posting about the same topic twice in a row, but I was reading up on the humanitarian efforts in Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Jordan, and there seems to be a severe lack of mental health resources in the region. All of the organizations are working to provide food, shelter, clean water, all of which are vitally important, but without the mental health aspect, Syrians are not going to be able to recover. Everyone that has been displaced – even those that have not – is going through trauma now.

I saw the IRC is providing mental health services, but it seems to be concentrated only on women who are victims of sexual violence, not addressing the more widespread issue of being forced out of your house, away from your home, and being deprived of everything you once owned. Mercy Corps is providing interventions for children in order to help heal the trauma.

Back in June, Médecins Sans Frontières warned of increasing health problems as the situation worsened, particularly mental health. Unfortunately, MSF seems to be based in Tripoli, and there doesn’t seem to be much indication as to how far social workers are able to travel to visit those that cannot come to their hospital.

At this point in the crisis, yes material goods are going to be important. But there are so many organizations all working to that end, it seems as though it would be a good opportunity for an organization with experience in PTSD and mental health issues to step in and offer counseling for women, for children, for men, as well as for the aids working with the refugees throughout the crisis.

In addition, many refugees are Muslim. The Islamic faith puts great emphasis on the community. As a result of displacement, these strong communities are being ripped apart. Loved ones, friends, family, neighbors are all being sent in different directions. Global Islamic Foundations and Organizations that could mobilize to provide mental health resources as well as that spiritual guidance and direction, and to help people find new communities and support systems through this crisis.

It cannot be stressed enough how much trauma impacts every aspect of life and recovery, from productivity and ability to execute a job to physical health to personal relationships. If those directly involved in the conflict, whether they are refugees or those working to assist them, don’t receive proper care, there is no way, once the fighting is over, that Syria will be able to rebuild and prosper. These millions of displaced people are going to have to rebuild cities, businesses, road and infrastructure, in essence their entire lives. They need to have the emotional, spiritual, and psychological backing in order to tackle this astoundingly huge undertaking. Studies show that the longer you wait to intervene following a trauma, the longer it will take to heal. If you wait too long, you may never recover.

The Human Dimension

This violence in Syria is not new. The introduction of chemical weapons, despite the U.S. Administration’s bravado over their declared “red line” being crossed does not make this a new crisis. In fact, just last night I was going through my laptop hard drive to find a piece I had written in April of last year. My Arabic tutor had given me an article in Arabic about the ambassadors’ wives that urged Asma al-Assad to take a stand for peace in Syria. In my article, I discussed the impact it could have on the place of women in the Arab world as well as the humanitarian cause if Asma, a well-educated woman who formerly worked in investment banking, were to stand up and fight for a more peaceful world.

Then, out of curiosity, I wondered, “What is Asma al-Assad doing now? Is she locked away in fear?” What I found was disheartening. Reports suggest that the dictator’s wife has, indeed, been in a bomb-proof bunker, but instead of cowering in fear, she has focused on an obsession with her looks and a shopping spree. There is something sad and desperate in this, true. It has the signs, at least to an outward observer, of someone who feels trapped, and is indulging in the few things she found comforting as her world ends. It’s a painful thought, though it still does not ease the disappointment that this woman did not stand up for herself and seize hold of her situation, or at least at any point express sorrow for the women and children being maimed and killed during this civil war.

Meanwhile, In England…

The news is bleak and disheartening enough every day. Yes, there are larger issues; yes, there are things we need to accomplish; yes, there is tragedy happening right now somewhere. But we see all of that twenty three hours of the day every day now. I hold no absolutely ill-will for people taking thirty minutes, an hour today to be frivolous and rejoice at the birth of a healthy baby boy into an oft-romanticized royal family.

I remember when I was a little girl, when I would talk to my father about marriage, he would always joke that Princes William or Harry (it always alternated) were holding out for when I got old enough so that I could marry them and be a princess. There’s much talk now about “Don’t call your daughter a princess,” but it did me no harm. It was fun and romantic, and I still grew up to go to Wellesley College and to become an empowered woman.

That said, I wouldn’t trade places with the “Royal Baby” in the least. He is in direct line to the throne: even as a figurehead, he’s born into a world of constant media scrutiny. Celebrities choose their professions, understand the stress that comes with it. This baby had no choice in the matter – he was born into his profession, and now it’s up to him to decide how he wants to handle it. That said, it appears he will have grounded parents to provide guidance for him along the way, so hopefully he will gracefully grow and adapt within his station.

That said, congratulations, Kate and Will!

State of the Union 1

Formerly, news programming had to fit into an hour or two in the evenings or into an article-sized block of text. Now we have twenty-four hours of news coverage. You would think this would make it easier for people to be well-informed. However, it seems that many reporters can’t spare showing the full context of a ten-second sound byte. They show those few seconds, then extrapolate an argument, often entirely out of touch with the actual context of the conversation.

I feel like a hypocrite for ragging on social media, since I use it so often, but I feel it calls attention to people’s attention spans. They can’t spare the time to fully investigate something that appears on their social timeline. I can’t even express how much it irks me when someone posts a strongly biased article that takes a misplaced set of words and sets it in a context completely unrelated to the actual conversation in which it occurred.

My first Pet Peeve. And this pet is named “Kiite,” or “Listen!”

“Pay Attention!” might be equally accurate.

Does Anyone Have Lynne Thigpen’s Number?

Yesterday, Austria detained the president of Bolivia, apparently on the request of the U.S. authorities. Bolivian authorities blamed the U.S. for “bullying” tactics, while we (I use the term “we” very loosely) defended our actions in favor of finding Edward Snowden.

It’s fun and nostalgic to refer to our search for Snowden as a real life Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? I admit that even I have used the phrase. I was a child of the ‘90s, after all, and just ask my dad: he was forced to listen to my Rockapella cassette – yes, back in the days of cassettes – every day on my way elementary school. But what are the more serious implications of our search?