Being part of a city and being in the business of people, means always trying to reach out to all of those who make up the city and that don't understand one another in terms of neighborhood demographics most of the time... from all walks of life, we are all America and we are all Orlando in this respect.
(I write while respectfully keeping in mind all of my brothers and sisters in all parts of the world from Canada to Chile and the Caribbean and from England to South Africa, I'll keep fighting for you.)
So I have not blogged in the past couple of days because
like many around the world, I have been grieving for my community. Now I am not
talking about the Hispanic Community, the Jewish community or even the GLBT community,
I am talking about the world community that is tired of senseless violence against
innocent people that are just trying to live their lives in peace. Now I am also
not trying to sound like a naïve person that doesn’t know that evil exists
everywhere and that it is an innateness that lives in all people in every
corner of the world. I am aware. I am,
however, tired of crying and tired of feeling helpless. What I am mostly tired of
is feeling callous to the murders and brutality that I see on the television
almost daily from around the world. In a sense, my heart now only seems to go
through the motions of watching these senseless acts happen in the world.
But, you know what? I
am tired…it’s like ex-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
said, “Enough blood and tears, enough!” I know that we will not be able to save
the world but we can at least try. I am not saying this as a US citizen but I mean
we are the most powerful country in the world and in the world’s history, much
is expected of us and we must live up to our potential and responsibilities. As
we all know, extremists, left or right and politically and religiously, in
every country, are dangerous to others in some fashions. I feel that we must try to understand each
other and to really just get over our differences. Why must we feel that we
must be able to rule politically or religiously over another group of people?!
I mean can’t we be “wrong” in our own minds and lives?
This comes to mind because of the recent world events that
touched my life personally because I have strong ties to the US, Mexico and Israel.
My heart is still heavy but I daily think about these events;
- 43 disappeared Students protestor in Mexico
- Countless attacks in Israel most recently in the Tel Aviv Restaurant and
- Orlando
Recently, I was able to attend a community vigil in Houston
for the victims of the horrific event that took place in Orlando i.e. our back
yard. This attack still has the world reeling but hopefully it has brought us
closer as a community in Houston, the US, and the World.
The attack in Orlando seems to have hit the world hard and
Houston was no exception. I was able to commiserate with my community
and my friends at a local bar and GLBT nightclub and to listen to our local
elected officials come together in order to lend their support.
So with a heavy heart and bewilderment in mind because what
has been going on in the world, I attended what was to be a gathering like no
other in Houston.
I ran into old friends and met new friends, I cried, I laughed but most of all, I remembered
those whose were now gone.
So as I write, my heart still hurts because of the constant
attack on so many communities around the world. But I say this loud and I say
this true, I will fight for those can no longer, I will fight for what is right
and I will fight for love.
From Houston with love, #HappyPride2016
