Light and Shadows
One of my greatest desires as an editor is to facilitate an exchange of human insight and ideas, to, in effect, serve as a sounding board for the opinions and realities of the politically charged time in which we now live. That people are so divided in recent political elections, at home and abroad, seems to reflect on the human desire to seek, seemingly elusive, pathways to a better life.
Having grown up rural, and poor, I developed an early empathy for all people, especially those who struggle on the fringes. It is challenging being born in a time and place that does not favor or support our attempts to rise above the circumstances of our birth. It is even more frustrating when instead of having pathways to a legitimate life – that is bound by the same laws and rights as those around us – we are faced with blockades that disregard all the obstacles we have already overcome.
These reflections could, hypothetically, be about many groups across time. Be they Irish, Chinese, Hispanic, Middle Eastern or First Peoples – who, as a group, still struggle to find equal footing in our social, economic and cultural quagmire. Equality is an illusion – and a belief worth fighting for. As U2 so eloquently puts it, in the song lyrics from “Crumbs from your Table,” on their How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb CD,
“Where you live should not decide
whether you live or whether you die.”
Ironically, the groups that are often targets are the ones trying to escape that very fate. The most recent targets of anti-immigrant sentiment are Hispanic peoples, from Mexico, South America, Central America and elsewhere. The proliferation of terrorism has also resulted in targeted hatred and violence directed at people of Middle Eastern descent, grouped, by ignorance, into a single category, judged by the ill deeds of a few, despite originating from a multitude of different countries and regions. Such shortsightedness disregards the individual belief systems and moral sensibilities we each possess.
Recent US government attempts to undo the progress – steps taken to safeguard basic human rights for all – made by past US administrations in areas such as health care, immigration and LGBTQ rights have heightened fears, and in some cases increased prejudices and violence. That people who have spent years living and working in the United States will lose the opportunity to become legal citizens, in a land that was built, continues to be built, on the labor of immigrants, is particularly troubling.
Many people I have spoken with, people who have never seen themselves as activists, are feeling the need to speak up and act. Trying to remain impartial, to create balance within the pages of Owl Light News, I, at times, say less than is needed in the hope that others will speak up more. As more people step forward to contribute articles, stories and opinions, I am hopeful that differing views will lead to more discussion, and that discussion, in turn, will lead to greater understanding and acceptance. People rarely speak up when they agree.
I truly believe that we can only bring about positive change by speaking up about what we believe, what we know in our hearts to be true. Owl light is an imperfect light, when shadows can play tricks with our eyes as darkness yields to light, or light to darkness. It is better to speak up and risk miscommunication than to remain silent and allow darkness to triumph. Democracy is built on the belief that many voices are better than one, or a few. By listening and reflecting on many voices and points of view, perhaps we can shine a clearer light that puts human dignity and justice before rhetoric and hatred.
D.E. Bentley
Editor, Owl Light News