A friend of mine recently emailed me a big time "thank you" (as I'm on a list of voudou folks who are, literally, located around the world) and C. was thus thanking me for giving him an "insider's view" of what is actually happening as, he noted, I'm one of the FEW who has ACTUALLY SEEN, TALKED, TOUCHED, ETC. THE VICTIMS OF THE HURRICANE KATRINA AFTERMATH! I guess when you, therefore, have an "up close and personal" view it's hard to "maintain one's sanity." I guess, also, as an award-winning journalist, I realized that I will ALWAYS be a "journalist" and thus it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to be passive or uninvolved in any major news story, esp. when it is in my own backyard and, also, when I have been alerted to the FACT that I may, no doubt, have some "new students" --- starting tomorrow, who hail from Xavier U., Tulane and other New Orleans based or area universities who are among the evacuees and, obviously, cannot return to school for the college education they've paid for. I'm happy and proud to be as passionate and activist based as I am as I truly believe I'm part of the army of folks on this planet who are DETERMINED to make a difference. That's why I became a journalist, among other things. That's why I "get involved" while others sit on the sidelines. I've been on the "front lines" or scenes of plane crashes and, among other things, had to live, therefore, with the horror of looking up at a tree and thinking, "Oh, that's a doll up there. .. oh no, that's not a doll. .. that's a dead baby. . ." or stepping over a dead body of a teen & standing next to police tape chatting with cops as I take notes to find out the details on who shot the kid in the eye and why. . . In other words, I KNOW what my purpose on this planet is all about. I think it's one of the primary reasons that I can and do write with such passion. Maybe even the only reason why I've won any number of awards as a writer, may be the only reason why I'm CONSTANTLY put in a position to care and do something about what I see to be senseless atrocities. . . Reminds me of a poster that I had hanging up in my room (I'm the youngest of seven and my oldest siblings were, for all practical purposes, black militants while in college during the 1960s. ..), alongside the poster of Angela Davis. It was a poster showing a lot of impoverished people (of ALL races, ethnicities, etc.) and the message was/is: IF YOU'RE NOT A PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU'RE A PART OF THE PROBLEM. I'm grateful that that poster graced my bedroom walls. Shoot, I bet it's still there, right where I put it as a child in my old bedroom in Fort Wayne, Indiana. So happy that I learned that message at such an early age.
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I have no CHOICE but to "care" as these folks r n my "backyard" and some will be my STUDENTS!
Date: 2005-09-05 10:19 pm (UTC)I guess when you, therefore, have an "up close and personal" view it's hard to "maintain one's sanity." I guess, also, as an award-winning journalist, I realized that I will ALWAYS be a "journalist" and thus it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to be passive or uninvolved in any major news story, esp. when it is in my own backyard and, also, when I have been alerted to the FACT that I may, no doubt, have some "new students" --- starting tomorrow, who hail from Xavier U., Tulane and other New Orleans based or area universities who are among the evacuees and, obviously, cannot return to school for the college education they've paid for.
I'm happy and proud to be as passionate and activist based as I am as I truly believe I'm part of the army of folks on this planet who are DETERMINED to make a difference. That's why I became a journalist, among other things. That's why I "get involved" while others sit on the sidelines. I've been on the "front lines" or scenes of plane crashes and, among other things, had to live, therefore, with the horror of looking up at a tree and thinking, "Oh, that's a doll up there. .. oh no, that's not a doll. .. that's a dead baby. . ." or stepping over a dead body of a teen & standing next to police tape chatting with cops as I take notes to find out the details on who shot the kid in the eye and why. . .
In other words, I KNOW what my purpose on this planet is all about. I think it's one of the primary reasons that I can and do write with such passion. Maybe even the only reason why I've won any number of awards as a writer, may be the only reason why I'm CONSTANTLY put in a position to care and do something about what I see to be senseless atrocities. . .
Reminds me of a poster that I had hanging up in my room (I'm the youngest of seven and my oldest siblings were, for all practical purposes, black militants while in college during the 1960s. ..), alongside the poster of Angela Davis. It was a poster showing a lot of impoverished people (of ALL races, ethnicities, etc.) and the message was/is:
IF YOU'RE NOT A PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU'RE A PART OF THE PROBLEM.
I'm grateful that that poster graced my bedroom walls. Shoot, I bet it's still there, right where I put it as a child in my old bedroom in Fort Wayne, Indiana. So happy that I learned that message at such an early age.