While the feelings of sadness and disappointment about Robin Williamss death are real (weirdly so, since I didnt know the man), Im also trying to be mindful of how Ive numbed myself to reports of everyday death, violence, and suicide right here in our community--deaths of people, often young people, and often black and Latino kids, who are bearing the brunt of gun violence, poverty, being targeted by cops and vigilantes. Sometimes we hear about specific stories, like Trayvon Martins, but mostly, the thousands more who die every year go unnamed in the news. I dont want to be numb about their lives being wasted, and about the grief and anger of their families. So Im starting a new tradition for myself. Every time I feel emotionally moved by the death of a celebrity, Im going to make a small donation to a community organization working on violence in our community. This time, I chose youthalive.org. They work directly with youth who are in the hospital with knife and gunshot wounds to help them find more choices in their lives besides violent retaliation. They work with kids in the community to develop leaders to do peer-education and promote nonviolent solutions to conflict. Im not posting this to be self-congratulatory. Im posting it cause I think its a useful idea, and I hope that my friends and family might join me in this tradition. I think about all the celebrities whose deaths Ive mourned, even slightly--Philip Seymour Hoffman, Davy Jones, Lou Reed, the most recent--and I remind myself to be a little less vapid and mourn the death of people who have less voice, and help more people to have a fighting chance to live, and to thrive. Peace and love.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 02:06:56 +0000
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