Preview

Other than a vague awareness of election night in 1976, when I was five, the first news story I was aware of was the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran, and the hostage drama whereby more than 60 hostages were held there.  I remember Walter Cronkite signing off the CBS nightly news, telling us how many days the hostages had been held. I remember that minutes after Reagan took office, they were released, and the rumors that circulated. Years later, the Iran-Contra scandal came to light, and Ollie North became a national hero. Meanwhile, the Iran-Iraq war had ravaged the middle east, and many of the weapons used were ours.

When I went to high school in the 80's, every Halloween SOMEONE went to school with a dishrag on their head and a robe and a toy uzi or homemade model of a bomb. We discussed Guddaffi's 'line of death' and our bombings as we awaited out moments of glory or humiliation in Gym Class.

I was raised by parents who took it upon themselves to educate their children about the history of the civil right struggle in the United States. My mother is from Mississippi, my father from Texas. They left when I was an infant in the early 70's. I remember mom sitting us down, showing us a book that told the story in text and photographs, explaining what happened. Showing us the documentary series "Eyes On The Prize". They wouldn't allow us to grow up to be bigots. That's where I get much of my morals from.

Of course, when the attacks on the World Trade Towers happened, I like everyone was horrified. I remember the flags coming out, everywhere. I was living in California by then, and I remember it was the little stores.... package stores or what-have-you, that always had a flag in the window when the owners were brown and came from a certain part of the world. They weren't all Muslim of course. The Muslim families kept their flags on display, but also one store, I know, was owned by a Sikh family. Another, Hindu. But they understood that Islamophobla was a fire that would consume them as well. This all happened during the early days of transition for me.

For the past few years, coping with anxiety, I've been in a bit of a bubble where no news could get in. Recent events have penetrated.

In my own life, of course I've had with my own civil right struggles (remind to tell you of "Transgender Rage" and the memorial event at the Castro Theater, inspired by Rita Hester). I have more questions than answers.... perhaps I have no answers at all. But it seems to me that fighting for civil rights is an ongoing process. Clearly, the past few months have ably demonstrated that.  And it seems that none of these struggles happen in isolation, because humanity isn't isolated one from another. Even when it seems like we are.

It’s always tricky to write from the point of view of a member of a minority group to which I don’t belong. But, in some ways, when I get started it’s less tricky than I think, because we all have those common experiences, common motivations, no matter how different it looks from the outside.

For Basanti here, I relate to her. I’m not someone who passes, who can take off an item of clothing and to some degree hide what I am. But I also know the power of being visible. I can relate to hearing, seeing these hateful things in the culture, and knowing (or hoping!) that in a small way, being visible in my walks through the world is by nature confrontational. It makes people confront their biases. And it’s hard. It’s really, REALLY hard and it can be soul crushing. But I think and hope that in some way, being visible makes things better. It feels like a curse to me sometimes, but I think in many ways, it’s a blessing.  A painful, hard blessing, but a blessing nonetheless.

I’m really grateful, Nestor, for your response.  If I’m able to reach out and say something true to people beyond my experience, that’s a gift I can’t take for granted.

You know, when I started my webcomics, I would have probably said I was an Atheist. Or a half-baked Buddhist. Over time, I’ve returned to the religion I was raised in. The problematic name “Christian”, that has caused so many wounds…. I’ve seen the goodness, and kindness in the words I read as a child from Jesus, and I can’t allow those who would use the faith to harm to have the final word.

In the #IllRideWithYou hashtag, I saw an islamophobic young Christian man harassing a Muslim woman. She referred him to Mark 12:30-31.

“30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.”

I told her she knew Jesus better than he did.

I know many of you are atheist, and that’s great too. I don’t think you should judge a person by what they profess to believe, you should judge them by what their beliefs guide them to do in the world, and I’ve know there are atheists who gave been guided to behave in exactly the ways I feel my faith calls me to behave. I’m grateful for your forbearance when I talk about these issues. I know people of faith are not always kind, and some of you have been hurt deeply, and I don’t mean to apologize for anyone who hurt you.

You are my neighbors. Muslims are my neighbors. Sikhs and Hindus, people from Western nations and those from the East. Those from the Northern hemisphere, and those from the Southern. Humanity is my neighbor, and what I take from the passage above…. And I know many will disagree…. Is that loving God IS loving my neighbors, and loving my neighbors IS loving God. We are all one people. We are all responsible for each other. We all have to choose to be guided by love, by what Abraham Lincoln beautifully phrased “the better angels of our nature”.

I guess I’ve rambled on, from point to point. Thank you to those who’s borne with me to the end. Please know that even when I fail to act lovingly, I love you all. Please give some love to someone else today.