Stand Up

I don't quite know what to say tonight, though I find the urge to write is stronger than it has been in a long time. And tonight, here in my apartment in a city that is kinder than most, in a country safer than many but not without its own misgivings. I sit here tonight in a nation enduring one of the most important political races of my generation, in a country engulfed in a financial crisis and in a world where children are being enslaved, in which genocide is occurring and where women all around the world have absolutely no freedom. I sit here tonight in my own comfortable life, in my privileged world and I write. I write because I don't know what else to do, I write because it is the only way to tell the world what I think, and to tell the world to stop sitting by and looking out the windows of our own lives, but to look around us and stand up for what we believe. I write as an Arab girl, as the only little blond girl in a sea of brown hair, I write as a young girl growing up in a country that many do not understand, under the green flag with the sword. I write as a Catholic, trying to find her faith in these chaotic times and as a woman entering a shaky job market soon. I write as a young woman, as a friend and a daughter, as a girlfriend and as a niece. I write as a sister, but most of all, I write to speak for all those of us without a voice. I write because it's the only way I know how to touch so many.

And as I sit here tonight, listening to those Arabic words that once were commonplace in my young life, I cannot help but write of our world and the state of it. I cannot help but write of the ethnic cleansing in Burma and the financial crisis here at home. I cannot help but write of the terrors of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or of the thousands of women, millions of women around the world that have no rights, that have no words to speak. I write for the girls that grow up not being able to voice their opinions, for the little boys that are given a machine gun at 8 years old. I write for the old women that have to watch their daughters and granddaughters bought and sold like slaves and for the good men that, no matter how hard they try, cannot fight hard enough for the rights of what their countries truly could be. I write for all those in our own country that have no idea of what occurs beyond our borders, let alone around the world. I write for those that have never seen the deserts of the Middle East or felt the terror of a war come into their country. I write for those Muslims that pray to Mecca and for all those Catholics that hold highest above all, tradition. I write for the child in an inner city school in New York that has no chance at affording college, and for the 60 year old woman still working because she can't afford to retire.

I sit here and write because I think these issues need to be known. I think that we are in a world where we can't just sit in our own little bubbles and pretend that nothing bad is going on. We are in a time in history in which our voices must rise to the skies, in which we must open our minds to different cultures, different religions, different ideals. We must agree to disagree and realize that we don't always have the right answer. I sit here in this dark room tonight, looking out the window at my own future, coming shortly and swifter than I ever imagined and I write. I write to give a voice to myself. I write to give a voice to all those around the world tonight that perhaps are sitting in the dark too, wondering how their voices will ever matter. I write because they do matter, I write because they are worthy to hear our voices rise for them, they are worthy of more than some of us.

I write because we are not alone in this life and we are not alone in this world. I write because perhaps in my words, the words of others will be heard as well. Perhaps in my words, others will hear them and others will stand up with me to fight against the injustice in this world. Right now, all I can do is write, but someday I will do more. For now, hear my words as I write them. Hear them and stand up for your beliefs, stand up for a cause, stand up for us all.