If it seems the world is descending into chaos, it’s not. It’s trying to right itself from the grips of corruption that has plagued it for far too long. While I talked about oppressed people standing up against police brutality around the world, today I want to inform you about communities who are literally fighting oppressive governments like Black Americans have been doing for generations. But I won’t focus on us this blog. I want to direct our attention to what’s happening in other places around the world. Places such as Tigray, Palestine, Myanmar, Turkey, China.

Two things can be true at the same time.

What does that mean in this context? It means that people can be oppressed and the world can be silently watching thinking everything is okay and it’s just a little skirmish. Well, not this time. Not anymore. The voices of oppressed communities worldwide are speaking out in support of freedom for themselves and others.

Here are the communities I want to shed light on today. These are people who have been under a thumb, often silenced and on the verge of genocide if not already there.

The Uighurs (Muslims) are in China. Rohingya are being run out of Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh. People in the Tigray region of Ethiopia are fleeing into Sudan. The Kurds in Turkey being attacked. And what the entire world is watching now are Jewish Zionist bombing innocent women and children in Palestine.

As someone who comes from a community that has fought for freedom and our rights for centuries, my heart hurts for all these communities and the ones I don’t know of who are doing the same. To witness violence on a daily basis for just being who you were born to be. To be subjected to silence when you speak up for human rights violations. To be moved out of your home as if you don’t belong. These are heartbreaking traumatic situations the communities I’ve mentioned above are experiencing. And have been for far too long.

When I’ve watched the news (I prefer foreign media or at least PBS NewsHour) the past few months, one song kept coming to my mind. I couldn’t remember the name but I knew it was a Bob Marley song. I’ve heard it probably just once before.

🎶Get up stand up for your rights🎶

That’s what I’m seeing the Asian American community finally doing in full force and coordinated efforts nationwide.

And that’s what we’re seeing other communities coming to the aid of the above mentioned communities. To defend them as they are literally being bombed with hardly any way to protect themselves.

Now before we continue, I do want to make it clear that every single situation has it’s horrible people or groups. However, we allow the bad apples to determine the consequences of everyone. And that’s not justice. Not justice at all.

So forget the horrible, evil people. Think about the lives that are being uprooted, ruined and traumatized because of them. They are the ones who matter right now. They are the lives we must speak up to protect. They are the lives we especially as Believers are to help.

Back to the song. The song is a fight anthem in my opinion. Bob Marley is telling people to not give up. No matter the situation. To get up stand up for your rights. It’s scary. But necessary. For those who can’t hit the streets. There are lots of other ways to support. Here’s an important way you can help. Put pressure on your elected officials to help find reasonable solutions for each of these situations. To help create a cease-fire. To find a way for the communities to be able to rebuild their lives and get the mental health support they’ll need.

The world is watching the bombing in Palestine. The fact that the British government just decided to take the Palestinians land and give it to Zionist to create a new state for Israel is something that baffles me. And the other Arab countries keep quiet because they were able to obtain their independence if they supported this theft.

The world should be watching what’s happening in China. They are as bad as the right-wing in Western countries who only want people who look like them, think like them and believe what they believe to exist. The Uighurs (Muslims) are literally living their life but the violence they fear comes nonstop.

The world sees what Turkey is doing to the Kurds but no one is coming to help. No one is saying anything. They’ve asked for their own state (country) so they can live in peace and govern themselves. They are spread out across several countries and are harassed and harmed in each one of them.

The Rohingya have been fleeing for years because they would be killed if they stayed in Myanmar. And that’s causing a difficult situation in Bangladesh. Right now one of the biggest refugee camps housing the Rohingya has over a million people living in cramped, unsanitary living conditions. With the recent coup that took place in Myanmar, there’s probably not a chance they’ll ever get to go back home. So the Bangladeshi government built up an island to house some of them. There’s been more jeers than cheers for it. I’m just an outsider looking in but the international community has a lot to say about how Bangladesh is handling the situation when their support is almost obsolete. These people can’t go home nor should they live in a refugee camp forever. Yes, the island can use more work but it’s something to help the Rohingya at least attempt to live in peace.

Finally, we’re to the Tigray region in Ethiopia. I wanted to share them last. My heart hurts for this one. The current President is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and his military is attacking people in their own country. The region of Tigray has opted to become their own country. And you know people hate losing land Western countries divided up without considering the existing people who lived there before these new borders. Now this is the most recent situation as it picked back up November 2020. And escalated quickly.

I don’t know all the ins and outs of each specific situation. I do know from experience working with refugees in Houston that the U.S. media barely tells us what’s truly going on on the ground. From experience I know the horrific stories shared with me about life in a battleground or refugee camp. From experience I know how hard and long people are working to get to a safe place. From experience I know I don’t need to know all the details to know what’s right and what’s not.

My message to oppressed communities worldwide, in the words of Bob Marley…..

🎶Get up stand up for your rights🎶