In Solidarity
My parents left for India this morning after a long stay with us. I dropped them off at the airport but didn’t really get to say a proper last goodbye. Thanks to some bad scheduling on my part, I had to be on a Zoom meeting just as they had to go through security, so we had to make do with hasty hugs. That was hard. I sat quietly for a few minutes after the meeting was done, just watching people go by, arriving or heading off to different destinations across the world.
Airports so clearly embody how connected we all are, don’t they? When at one, I’m always reminded of how our ties of family and friendship and love and work have so many of us crisscrossing the globe, physically and virtually, on a daily basis. Back at my desk, I came across this recent reflection from Penny Opal Plant, an Indigenous rights activist and founding member of the Bay Area Rights of Nature Alliance, which expanded this idea of connection further:
“We all share water, air, and land on Mother Earth’s belly in one interconnected system which is why it is important to know what is happening in parts of the world where we don't live. We are literally all related.”
The emphasis there is mine. Penny’s words spoke to me because they so perfectly explain not only why we, at the Journal, try to bring you stories from across the world, but because they also highlight why we need solidarity movements everywhere possible. If we are all connected, all related, then harm to one is harm to all. And there has been so much harm lately. So I’d like to take some space today to acknowledge the deep pain of yet another mass killing of children and their caregivers, in Thailand this time, and to stand in solidarity with the courageous women of Iran who are fighting for their rights in the face of tremendous, violent oppression. These things add up, and they are heavy. Because of this weight, it is essential that we all work to carry the load together. That’s what I’m asking from you, our community, our readers, this week. Find a way to help carry some of this weight.
May the light of our shared connection offer comfort, and may that light prevail.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor, Earth Island Journal
Photo by Lina Trochez/Unsplash
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