My Heart Cries For Freedom

About two months ago after teaching a class, I took this picture of graffiti on the walls of a refugee camp, on an an isolated road about an hour and a half from Athens.

It has stuck with me... "My heart cries for freedom".

Never do I remember a time in my existence on this planet when dignity and humanity seemed more at stake. Every day we witness murder, humiliation, belittlement, and disrespect towards vulnerable communities

News has drifted away from its purpose: informing. Instead, it has been captured by the clickbait-fuelled cycle of two-second attention spans, mainly showing opinionated, dehumanized, politically influenced pieces. We have been trained to become numb by the frequency of which deeply troubling headlines pop up on our phones.

Bing: "BREAKING: Mass R*pe of Minor Girls in Congo"
Bing: "Hunger in Sudan"
Bing: "Palestinian Journalists Killed in Airstrikes"
Bing: "Attacks on Hospital and Children"

Bing... Wait.. Hospitals being bombed? Mass R*pe of Girls? Kids murdered?

How have we become accustomed to this?

We become accustomed to this because our worldviews and understanding of life are shattered. Logically, our brains try to protect us, our souls. But we need to wake up and realize: this is a privilege. We cannot be deceived into numbness by the constant flood of horrors.

In times like these, when the frequency of the horrors plopping up on our screens exceeds our capacity to absorb, we must remember why we are here and what we believe in.

We have to continuously and tirelessly remember what we believe in: namely, the dignity of man is the inherent equal worth of every person, which forms the foundation of all human rights.

Let me repeat: for all!

Writing these words, troubling to the core, I don't really know how to conclude this reflection. But if you are out there and believe in the same, if your heart is crying for freedom, I hear you.

Now, it is not the time to stop numbly, but the time to stand up against what is wrong, to act in solidarity, to use our privilege, and to hold together. Beyond walls, borders, and division. Together, as one humanity.

Written by our founder: Claude Jonkmans