06/30/2025
Lately I have been struggling to keep HOPE and FAITH. I have also been wondering about the future for our children and the forthcoming generations. Even COVID-19 doesn't seem that bad anymore. Who would have thought?!
In the midst of so many injustices, it has become hard to BELIEVE. It seems like a wave of hate is overtaking us.
It seems like we have forgotten to be HUMAN. Have we forgotten how to care for our EARTH? Have we forgotten how to care for our BROTHERS and SISTERS? Have we become a "material" species? Is it all about money and personal gain? When did we disconnect from the suffering of the marginalized and oppressed? As an EDUCATOR, it is extremely painful and excruciating. I feel powerless sometimes...
But then I look at my baby boy. I look at his JOY, his innocence, and it reminds me why I am here. It reminds me that I have a choice. And that life is composed of many of these choices.
In the midst, of all the horrors of the world, each and every one of us can choose to be a vector of HOPE, of JUSTICE, of FAITH, of SPIRITUALITY, of CONNECTION, of PEACE, of COMPASSION, of LOVE, and of HUMANITY. I know it feels good to intellectualize and to debate, but maybe the HEALING of our HUMAN species also needs us to speak more in the language of our HEARTS and to DIALOGUE. Maybe we need to be POETS and engineers of HOPE.
Professor Souleymane Bachir Diagne speaks to the fact that the African philosophy of UBUNTU is a gift to the world. He translates it as "to create HUMANITY together" and "to make HUMANITY together." Humanity is not something passive. It is an action, a mission, and a commitment. It is our sole purpose. In the current darkness of our world, it loudly resonates and shines bright!
In these times of despair, more than ever we need to carry UBUNTU!
More than ever, let us be engineers and creators of humanity together! Let’s do it in our conversations, our conflicts, our jobs, and in the way we DEFINE ourselves. Let’s create humanity together in the way we imagine this new world that is emerging.