No Good Deed/Have Courage and Be Kind

I wrote this a few months ago...

See anything wrong with this picture? Well, it doesn't include the people who have died starving in India. And, the police officers who were murdered in New York are also not pictured. Actually, there are a lot of unfortunate souls not shown looking down on earth. So the real question is: was the march in France bad? was in unfair? was it insensitive to the rest of the world?

My answer is NO! The march in France was an amazing show of unity amongst a community of people. This was the largest march France has ever seen. This was a good thing! Why do people have to put a bad light on such a great accomplishment?

This cartoon poses the question, "An unequal world?" Well, quite frankly, yes. But would you rather have it be equally bad than unequally good? Would the artist still be upset if no one had shown support for anything? I would much rather live in a world where people try to do the good that they can, even if they can't save the entire world, than in a world where people try to make everybody's lives equally troublesome. There is always negative news, why can't we properly celebrate when we receive good news?

In the play Wicked, Elphaba sings the line, "No good deed goes unpunished." What would happen if this was always the case? People would be less inclined to do anything selfless.

We can work to make the world more fair. We can bring awareness to injustice. But we can't do it all at once. The March in France was to commemorate those who lost their lives to injustice. It is for the cause of equality that it occurred. Can we not be happy about the event? Problems that are long standing will not be solved over night, or all at the same time.

More Recently...

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

In the news more recently, I have seen complaints about the lack of coverage on violent white deaths. One girl was killed by an illegal immigrant who was allowed to go free by the police so that he would not be deported by the federal government, another was killed in a "random act of violence". Although my heart goes out to their families, highlighting the bad and the violent in the races is what is tearing this country apart. By all means report the news, but do not sensationalize. Demanding that the media equally cover these stories next to the white violence ones is not the way to prove that we are "equal" or that we are also "victims". Instead, it just proves that evil exists in the world. Why can we not change our focus? We should be celebrating the good that comes from all sides.

Those that were shot in the Charleston church received far less coverage than the rioting towns of Missouri. And yet, the one video that I did see highlighted the forgiveness freely given to the suspected shooter by the victim's families. That is courage. That is strength. I hold those people with the highest respect for holding onto their beliefs and showing love at times of trouble instead of hate.

In the new Disney Cinderella movie, Ella promises her mother that she will always "have courage and be kind". That's what I demand to see more of in the media. Not equally bad things, but a variety of the good and the great. These things give me hope and help me to have courage too.