HuffPo: "The Fierce Urgency of Now...

...Why We Too are Shaima Al Awadi" by Pamay Bassey:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamay-bassey/shaima-alawadi_b_1394640.html

Excerpt:


So now we are left to ask ourselves -- how can we make sure that her death was not in vain?

The answer is: We must do better.

Martin Luther King, Jr. talked of the "fierce urgency of now." I believe that there is a fiercely urgent need for us to take the time to learn about people who look differently than we do, live differently than we might, worship differently than what is familiar to us. Because violence is often rooted in ignorance and fear. Ignorance about those who are different than us. How they live. How they worship. Fear of those people because somehow, the differences between us may make us less certain about our own place in the world.

Fear, as they say, is False Evidence Appearing Real.

Exposure is the kryptonite of ignorance.

Love and hate can't occupy the same space.

There must be more people in this world who value diversity rather than fear it. There must be less people in the world who think it is okay to allow their feelings of fear to turn into hateful acts of violence -- like taking a tire iron to the head of someone who needs to "go back to their country," because of their ethnicity, religion, or way of life.

We must do better. Now.

This is an excellent, excellent essay. As one who doubts this was a 'hate crime,' this essay is still of great value.