“Your passion in the fight against injustice must come from the love of your people and not simply the hatred of your enemy. It must come from a purified core, otherwise you are only replacing one injustice with another.” —Hussain Makke
I was scrolling through my Instagram like normal when I read this saying, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was so truthfully and eloquently put together.
Many events and incidents have occured over the past few years. The loss of Kobe Bryant, the sanctions against Iran, the fires in Australia, the list goes on. The world has known and seen more tragedies than ever before, and everything seems to get confusing for people. Most people seem to have lost the power to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, especially with news headlines that claim one thing even when reality proves otherwise.
Some have sought to think about and seek their rights and not the rights of others, or their freedom and not the freedom of others. When someone fights our beliefs and our core values we want to fight back, ultimately causing more disorder and chaos. Humanity has become reactive to media. We shout out, we hate, and we get angry and scared. We need to take a step back and realize what is happening and react the right way, and we can do so by seeking knowledge and understanding of the truth. It’s essential to understand the importance of standing together and fighting for one another. Demanding rights requires patience, time, strength, and a crowd of people supporting each other, restoring broken ties, and surpassing differences. Sometimes, even with silence, we can fight.
You were born to be a free human. You are special and you have a purpose here. Let us stand together, unified and strong against the odds. Please take every opportunity to help your friends and fellow people. Don’t hold a grudge. Open your heart to people. Let us not be scared and allow fear to trap us and prevent us from coming together. Let us not be influenced by media and the crowds, and let us all be different and colorful, to help bring life meaning and beauty. “So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. —MLK