#OrlandoUnited. How do we all cope with such a tragedy, a massacre of 49 beautiful people who were simply dancing, owning authenticity, and being free? How do we cope with the targeting of 320 people, 49 who died, and 53 who were wounded, and the rest traumatized simply for wanting to have fun in a gay night club? How do we all cope with the loss, the void, the emptiness, the shock caused by such a mass killing founded on notions of hate? How do we ensure that the shooter’s message of hate is silenced with his death? How do we allow love to pervade and show our support to the LGBTQ community?
The answer is simple- We must remember ALWAYS to NEVER forget. WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER TO NEVER FORGET. This massacre occurred on June 12 and one might think, “Isn’t she writing this blog a little bit late?”. Yes I am writing this blog many weeks after the massacre and this was intentional because I’ve realized that time makes us forget the impact of tragedy. Time, they say heals, and it does by desensitizing those of us directly removed from the horrors. The terrorizing tragedies that shock and harm us become faded and distant memories to those of us who have no immediate connection to the attacks. We forget. The loved ones of those dead and the survivors remember, but the rest of us, we forget. How many posts, tweets, blogs, etc. did you see when the Orlando massacre first took place? How often did you see #OrlandoUnited the week following June 12? This week, right before the 4th of July, how much news is being given to the Orlando tragedy? Not that much or not enough- the scarcity of news helps us forget to remember. Think back to 9/11, each American old enough to remember the attack can tell you where they were when it happened. I was sitting in my high school band class, wondering why we weren’t playing, when Mr. Crone (my teacher) walked into the room and said, “For some reason tragic news like this is always shared in band class”. He then described the terrorist attacks. I can’t remember what he said, I just remembered the pulsing disbelief, fear, and sadness that overwhelmed me. America, or at least my part of Pittsburgh, became a ghost town where everyone hid in their homes, afraid of another attack. We, Americans, claimed we would never forget. How many of our youth, not living in NYC or related to those that died in 9/11 know details? How many of us actually sit and remember what happened on the anniversary of 9/11? From my observation, Americans treat it as just another day. Again, we forget to remember. Today we lost, Elie Wiesel, a profound writer who memorized the Holocaust and made others remember through his books. He remembered, wrote what was painful, and shared the terrors he experienced. When others wanted to forget he made them remember. Europe, Europeans, remembered World War II for quite some time, paralyzed by the genocide and demolition of almost an entire continent. The European Coal and Steel Community (what is now known as the European Union) was created shortly following World War II in order to economically and politically integrate European countries. The hope was not only to recover what was left, but to rebuild a better Europe through unification. A singular European identity, at one time, was embraced and believed to be the means to prevent war between European nations. Last week, on June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Seventy one years after World War II, survivors like Elie Wiesel, have died and Europeans are accustomed to the modern cities that replaced the old. Again, we forget to remember. Early this morning, another terrorist attack took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Twenty hostages were killed, including six Italians and one American. Isn’t it telling about human nature that I can tell you the nationality of the deceased who share my own nationalities, but I can’t tell you those of the other 13 that died? We live in a world divided by nationalities, religions, race, etc. We also live in a world that unifies us under these arbitrary labels. We live in a world that inflicts terror on those deemed different. Different is arbitrary. Nationality is arbitrary. Race and Religion are arbitrary. We give meaning to things that divide humanity into parts. These divisions create terror and war. We bear witness, feel immediate pain/shock/horror/sadness, we share how we feel immediately following the attacks, and then we start forgetting. These attacks are then repeated, hate is perpetuated, divides are bold-faced, and attacks are repeated. How do we cope? How do we recover what is left? How do we rebuild? I believe integration of all is the answer, along with abandoning what divides us. Not an absence of identity, but an appreciation for what is different and a sharing/bonding through those differences. I still believe in European Unification. I still believe in World Unification. First though, we must remember always to never forget the terrors that happened when people based their decisions on hate, power, or greed. We must remember always to never forget those that died and survived the Holocaust and World War II. We must remember always to never forget 9/11. We must remember always to never forget those that died in Orlando and those that survived. We must remember always to never forget the victims that died today in Dhaka. We must remember always to never forget those that experience and die from terror everyday so that we can create a world without attacks. In closing, this blog is dedicated to all those that have experienced terror and died in Orlando, in Dhaka, and throughout the world. This blog is also dedicated to Elie Wiesel.
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