An Ode to Black History Month and Terrible Earthquake
It has been the beginning of another new year and this time around it began in U.S. I used to do a review of the year passed by and assess what is in store for the present year. The last year was nothing short of consistent activity in continuation with earlier years. I couldn’t have done it all back in India but change in location helped me to continue the work unabated. The relocation to U.S. made me fixated in a house but I used the remaining time to good effect. In common terms, the year was ‘rocking’ as earlier and by virtue of U.S. this year might as well be ‘rocking’. I might march along the same vein in the near future without many changes in modus operandi. While I continued in a lower level earlier, I am accelerating, climbing the altitude and reaching next levels as I move ahead. The last few months are an indication of climbing up the level and I don’t think I can reach any higher. It is dangerous sometimes to work from this plane of operation. This is easier to see, easier to say and opposite to be and make. On the whole, this year might just continue as any of the years in the recent past with particular onus on taking home more positives than otherwise.
The first month in the new year has passed and we are in February. The month of February is known as Black History month, and I am here to write on this very topic and people. There are several reasons 1. Service 2. Similarity 3. Supporting the roots.
Regarding the first reason of service, back in India, I am very much into several social initiatives to support the weaker sections of the society. I used to volunteer for several of these causes which gives a fillip to disadvantaged people. This has been one of my immersive activities in the last decade. India is a land of opportunities in this space and the space is about uplifting marginal and poor people. While I work to serve the nation, I serve its bottom 50% more. While you work in tandem with the government, by strengthening it, the beneficiaries are the people who receive help in various forms from the government and its leaders. Thus, the country is served in real terms rendering a helping hand to a number of people. Thus, it is all about the direct and indirect service you do by yourself and through other channels affecting the lower strata in the home nation.
If you want to enact the same in the U.S., the people best served are the African Americans. More than 13 million U.S. children live in poverty, and the nation is failing to equip many children, particularly in communities of color. To impart a spirit of service to fellow citizens and volunteerism, I saw that Martin Luther King Jr Day of service is observed on the third Monday of January every year. The day is marked to reinforce the noble ideals of human service with people across the country participating in projects and activities which benefit their communities. By coming together to serve others, people can help to create a more just and equitable society and continue Dr. King’s legacy of non-violent social change. When the bottom 50% of the country is content with their lives and probed to get along with the upper legions in all the social parameters, we can say the nation as a whole is happy, healthy and blessed.
The bottom half of the country comprises of a majority of people from Black and Hispanic households which is known to one and all. There are wide-spread disparities in terms of income, wealth and other indicators of economic and social well-being of this group. For instance, bottom half of the country has a net worth of just 2.5% of total U.S. wealth. While I live in a good, well-off locality; it doesn’t mean the entire country is as such. I may represent the best of the nation with below median of the country requiring serious help. The best of the nation must assiduously work towards helping the rest of the nation through direct and indirect means. The government's role to keep these lower circuit in a place of content cannot be understated. While capitalism runs through the country, the government must be socialist in doling out the welfare measures for the vulnerable sections. Thus, people of color and all other poorer sections must be lifted out of their circumstances and given a hope, aspiration and a shot at a bright future. The black history month should serve this very cause of a typical black person in becoming a shining light to the country and world.
Considering the second reason of similarity, the Blacks and Indians share a striking similarity and can connect with one another easily. The similarities lie in how they work, think and react to societal changes. Both Indians and Blacks belong to an oppressed category of people. The oppressors being a common English or white or European people. I share an oppressed, slave mind inclined towards a Black than their masters. Hence, I feel naturally closer to Blacks than I understand the Whites. Not just individually, but our own national figures also rose to their highest status under similar circumstances. A Gandhi was born out of a white suppression, a Nelson Mandela, a Martin Luther King Jr was born out of the white suppression and a fight for civil rights. The most prominent Indian leaders and Black leaders share similar stories and ideologies. It is on this bedrock of similarity; the races have come this far and be a beacon of light to the world.
Sharing this similarity has in me the desire to contribute myself to the causes of people of color. It is not just me trying to help but the other way round as well. It is a well-established fact that U.S. is a breeding ground for legendary black men and women. These men are the gateway for me to U.S. in the last two trips. I am working for a client company in U.S. where a number of people of color managed me, has a black CEO and a significant proportion of work force belonging to people of color. The people who aid you in your rise to space; you call those people home. These people will make the individual building blocks to construct something out of my life.
If you search for great black men, you may find one or two in Africa but a countless number of them in U.S. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, Barack Obama, Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, W. E. B. Du Bois, Michael Jordan, Thurgood Marshall – these are some of the striking names of men of color. Barring one or two, every other rise to their legendary status in the land of U.S. It would be spellbound and a wonder to look at the greatness of the country in leading iconic action for equality and ending racial discrimination. The progress of these people in U.S. is a great story and hope for equality all around world. These legendary black men and women are a great addition to their community, to U.S. and to the world. I am extremely passionate at the notion of equality, and this should strike a chord in India and treat every person without any discrimination. The addition of these people makes the country ‘whole’ in rendering a job to serve the interests of everyone. More than me serving them, it is their service which has me uplifted. My selfish goal to serve the people is also to get the service back from the people who can help me. Thus, the rise of these people and their contribution to the country needs to be reminisced in the month of black history.
The third reason is supporting the roots. Like Indians living in America having roots in India, the blacks living in U.S. also have their roots in Africa. The rise of these groups living in a system of U.S. should not forget their roots. If my case is considered, I served my home nation beyond my potential by virtue of the assistance received from U.S. My role and virtues have been amplified to serve the root nation better. There should always be a vent for these group of people living in U.S. to support and strengthen the roots. Similarly, the people of color should tend to the dark continent of Africa without leaving it behind while making new lives in U.S. Africa should also rise along with the rise of Blacks in U.S. The dark and struggling countries in Africa needs to look up to their men of the same ilk and make progress parallelly. That should be the rationale behind the young nation of U.S. in improving the oldest continent and thereby adding up to its own sustainability index.
The dark continent, however, lags in many indices like human rights, education, poverty etc. and faces an array of challenges including human conflicts, insurgencies and rebellions. The time for a change has come and all the progressive people of color in U.S. need to serve back their home nations and bring them on par with others. These people need to be proud of their identity, race and work to give back to their mother. That will herald the real equality in the world by eliminating darkness and bringing light into lives in the oldest continent. These legendary people need to grow along with their home countries by harnessing the superpower of U.S. in right causes.
This is my ode to these people in the month of Black history who contributed a lot to this country and my little service through this form. Fight for the betterment and rights of oppressed has led to national progress as well. History has constantly reminded us of this fact very often. Let us harness this potential today to create a bright future of tomorrow. There is always a dream today for a better dawn here and elsewhere.
In this time, a havoc has struck the nations of Turkey and Syria after an earthquake rattled these nations. On 6 February 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey, as well as northern and western Syria. The first earthquake was the strongest earthquake in Turkey since 1939. Together, the earthquakes are the deadliest seismic event in the history of modern Turkey, and the deadliest in Anatolia since the 1268 Cilicia earthquake; in Syria, it was the deadliest earthquake since the 1822 Aleppo earthquake. The earthquakes were followed by more than 2,100 aftershocks. As of 19 February, over 47,400 deaths have been confirmed: over 41,000 in Turkey, and over 6,400 in Syria. Collectively, the earthquakes are estimated to have caused US$84.1 billion worth of damage, ranking them the fourth-costliest earthquakes on record. It is the deadliest natural disaster in Turkey's modern history. In this period of horrible devastation, these nations require a lot of support and prayers from everyone else to cope with the humongous loss.
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