I appreciate you comment. I offer solutions but they aren't what people generally want to hear. There are plenty of people offer solutions based on policy changes and certainly that is important. However, we can change policies all we want but until we address the root causes within the nature of humanity, nothing will ever really change…
I appreciate you comment. I offer solutions but they aren't what people generally want to hear. There are plenty of people offer solutions based on policy changes and certainly that is important. However, we can change policies all we want but until we address the root causes within the nature of humanity, nothing will ever really change. Many have said my essays have helped them realize they aren't alone and that they express things they couldn't express themselves and it has helped them gain more strength. These are dark times and many people are discouraged, so if I can do that, I am really grateful. Personally, I have seen how you can change the world one person at a time, by setting an example that inspires others. You might look here to find some of those solutions: https://khmezek.substack.com/p/warriors-in-the-time-of-covid or
https://khmezek.substack.com/p/covid-and-the-greater-good: Back in the late 1990s, I don’t remember exactly what year, I was invited to the Reebok Human Rights Awards in Boston. It was an inspiring event. Someone from an African nation—I don’t remember which one—won an award for their bravery in printing a newspaper advocating freedom. By receiving the award, this person could well go back to his country and be imprisoned or killed. A woman who ministered to the mentally ill homeless in New York also received an award.
After the ceremony, a few of us went to a nearby restaurant and talked about the wonderful event. As we left the restaurant and began to walk back to our hotel, we saw a man wandering aimlessly on the other side of the street. He was naked.
It was a freezing April day, and the man was blue with cold. People passed him by quickly and without comment. They never looked directly at him, just made sure to create a wider distance as they passed.
For a moment, our group watched in stunned silence and then everyone continued to walk back to our hotel. I couldn’t join them. I thought of the ceremony we had just attended. If we could not help this man, our claims of caring about others were meaningless.
I found myself walking towards the man. It was a little frightening. He was like some alien, fallen from another world, and I had no idea how he would react to me. I took off my coat, and he paused in his muttering to watch me. When I tried to move close enough to give it to him, he drew back and cried, “Don’t come near me!” as if he were a dangerous, unclean creature, concerned he might hurt or contaminate me. He told me to put the coat on the ground and move away. This I did. He then went and picked up the coat and put it on. He thanked me, calling out a blessing that somehow was deeply spiritual and touched my soul.
The moment of our connection passed. The police drove up, got out of the car and grabbed the man to take him away. One of the officers asked me if I didn’t want my coat back. I said of course not, it belonged to the man now. She shrugged cynically, as if I was some kind of bozo, just like he was. He was put in the police car and they drove away.
I stood uncertainly for a moment. The strangers passing on the street were looking at me in the same way the police officer had done.
I began to walk back to the hotel, feeling like a fool. How could I have been so naive? Perhaps the police officer and the others who regularly traversed this street had encountered this man before—perhaps walking around naked was something he did on a regular basis. What would happen to him? No doubt the police would let him out, he would lose or sell my coat, and end up in exactly the same situation again. My gesture had been pointless.
I was a single mother, struggling to start a creative writing for incarcerated youth in Los Angeles. I’d been invited to the awards ceremony by a wealthy individual who had paid my way. I couldn’t afford another coat. What was wrong with me?
As I was about to enter the hotel, a young woman came up to me. “Excuse me,” she said. “I just wanted you to know I saw what you did. That took a lot of courage. Thank you so much. I’m a college student and you’ve really inspired me.”
My heart flooded with gratitude. Yes, I had done the right thing. I had listened to my heart. I shouldn’t have needed such reassurance, but it helped to know that my actions did indeed have consequences and had spread a little bit of good in the world.
The young woman went away and I never saw her again. But just as I had inspired her, so she had inspired me.
My point is that it’s easy to do nothing. And even when we do stand up, it’s easy to doubt ourselves afterwards. Most people will not praise you for doing the right thing. Rather, they will resent you for it. They will try to bring you down. But by standing up instead of fading into the background we encourage others to find some courage too. We may never know how big an impact we have had. But even a little bit is better than nothing.
What will we do if the day comes when we will have no choice but to comply or unplug? Noncompliance could mean our children being taken from us. It could mean being relegated to second class citizens. Called heathens. Put into interment camps.
Forced to flee into the forest like the boy in my woke fairytale.
Climb the wall, run down the hill and into the forest. No matter the cost, do not let them steal the essence of who you are. Your DNA.
I appreciate you comment. I offer solutions but they aren't what people generally want to hear. There are plenty of people offer solutions based on policy changes and certainly that is important. However, we can change policies all we want but until we address the root causes within the nature of humanity, nothing will ever really change. Many have said my essays have helped them realize they aren't alone and that they express things they couldn't express themselves and it has helped them gain more strength. These are dark times and many people are discouraged, so if I can do that, I am really grateful. Personally, I have seen how you can change the world one person at a time, by setting an example that inspires others. You might look here to find some of those solutions: https://khmezek.substack.com/p/warriors-in-the-time-of-covid or
https://khmezek.substack.com/p/covid-and-the-greater-good: Back in the late 1990s, I don’t remember exactly what year, I was invited to the Reebok Human Rights Awards in Boston. It was an inspiring event. Someone from an African nation—I don’t remember which one—won an award for their bravery in printing a newspaper advocating freedom. By receiving the award, this person could well go back to his country and be imprisoned or killed. A woman who ministered to the mentally ill homeless in New York also received an award.
After the ceremony, a few of us went to a nearby restaurant and talked about the wonderful event. As we left the restaurant and began to walk back to our hotel, we saw a man wandering aimlessly on the other side of the street. He was naked.
It was a freezing April day, and the man was blue with cold. People passed him by quickly and without comment. They never looked directly at him, just made sure to create a wider distance as they passed.
For a moment, our group watched in stunned silence and then everyone continued to walk back to our hotel. I couldn’t join them. I thought of the ceremony we had just attended. If we could not help this man, our claims of caring about others were meaningless.
I found myself walking towards the man. It was a little frightening. He was like some alien, fallen from another world, and I had no idea how he would react to me. I took off my coat, and he paused in his muttering to watch me. When I tried to move close enough to give it to him, he drew back and cried, “Don’t come near me!” as if he were a dangerous, unclean creature, concerned he might hurt or contaminate me. He told me to put the coat on the ground and move away. This I did. He then went and picked up the coat and put it on. He thanked me, calling out a blessing that somehow was deeply spiritual and touched my soul.
The moment of our connection passed. The police drove up, got out of the car and grabbed the man to take him away. One of the officers asked me if I didn’t want my coat back. I said of course not, it belonged to the man now. She shrugged cynically, as if I was some kind of bozo, just like he was. He was put in the police car and they drove away.
I stood uncertainly for a moment. The strangers passing on the street were looking at me in the same way the police officer had done.
I began to walk back to the hotel, feeling like a fool. How could I have been so naive? Perhaps the police officer and the others who regularly traversed this street had encountered this man before—perhaps walking around naked was something he did on a regular basis. What would happen to him? No doubt the police would let him out, he would lose or sell my coat, and end up in exactly the same situation again. My gesture had been pointless.
I was a single mother, struggling to start a creative writing for incarcerated youth in Los Angeles. I’d been invited to the awards ceremony by a wealthy individual who had paid my way. I couldn’t afford another coat. What was wrong with me?
As I was about to enter the hotel, a young woman came up to me. “Excuse me,” she said. “I just wanted you to know I saw what you did. That took a lot of courage. Thank you so much. I’m a college student and you’ve really inspired me.”
My heart flooded with gratitude. Yes, I had done the right thing. I had listened to my heart. I shouldn’t have needed such reassurance, but it helped to know that my actions did indeed have consequences and had spread a little bit of good in the world.
The young woman went away and I never saw her again. But just as I had inspired her, so she had inspired me.
My point is that it’s easy to do nothing. And even when we do stand up, it’s easy to doubt ourselves afterwards. Most people will not praise you for doing the right thing. Rather, they will resent you for it. They will try to bring you down. But by standing up instead of fading into the background we encourage others to find some courage too. We may never know how big an impact we have had. But even a little bit is better than nothing.
What will we do if the day comes when we will have no choice but to comply or unplug? Noncompliance could mean our children being taken from us. It could mean being relegated to second class citizens. Called heathens. Put into interment camps.
Forced to flee into the forest like the boy in my woke fairytale.
Climb the wall, run down the hill and into the forest. No matter the cost, do not let them steal the essence of who you are. Your DNA.
Continue to speak the Language of God.
Thank you so much.