Protest and Sacrifice
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What I want to do
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I asked a friend of mine working in the media if he knew of any journalist who would be interested in my project to go to every country in the world in order to burn my passports to protest injustice at birth and end global apartheid, if any prominent person would pick this up.
He replied: “Burning passports is not an action/protest.” It is not?! Then what is? Of course my burning them alone would not be a protest; even though if it was Bill Gates, or George Clooney, or Angelina Jolie or bla bla bla, I suppose that would be worth the news! So basically it comes down to who does it instead of what is done. I believe that is wrong, if something is important it should be important whoever does it or whoever says it; but I also understand, that's how the media works. Anyway, going back to the point... My burning passports alone would not be a protest, but a hundred thousand people burning passports would be! So the task is to find that crowd. In a world of 7 billion, with migration at the top of the agenda, with so many people suffering from this #GlobalApartheid and #InjusticeAtBirth, it shouldn't be that difficult to find that many people. I mean I know, I have searched the whole wide world to find people who think like me. Not to much avail. There is the openborders.info and a couple of small groups who advocate open borders. There are let's say 300-500 people who express this idea as openly as I do. Yet... I believe, actually I am sure there are so many more out there who think like us but who do not speak up. So the point is how do we get those people to raise their voices? I know it's difficult and dangerous to do such a thing in the current environment when fanatics, fascists, nationalists are on the rise. But somehow it has to be done. I/We need to figure out a way to make these people speak up. On afterthought... My mind keeps processing words that pass through it. So burning passports is not a protest... Then what is? Should I burn myself instead? Would that do? Oh, I know... Why don't I just find a migrant who is ready to sacrifice himself? I mean they are dying like flies anyway. There should be someone who would be willing to give up his life in advance! I might offer them money, about a 10.000 Euros to help his family would probably do. Or I can tell them I'll be adopting their child. Oh wait, mentioning a child... It would be such a sensation if a woman burnt her child! Wouldn't you agree? Would that make a good enough story for your newspapers? Oh, wait a minute... I know, that would be unethical. To ask anybody to do such a thing. So should I simply burn my own child?? What do you say my dears? Are you out of your minds? Are you f...king crazy? So many people have died already because of this #GlobalApartheid. So many are still dying every day. So many people have already gone on hunger strikes, so many people have sewn their lips in protest. There have already been self-immolations in detention centers. And you tell me that burning passports is not a protest and expect something more to carry this argument -against #InjusticeAtBirth, for #FreedomOfMovement- to your newspapers?! Seriously?! 
PS: When I told my husband about this, he said “Why do you mention burning your child? Nobody told you to do such a thing.”
“Eh no, I'm not saying that they did. But they say that burning passports is not enough. So what is enough?” “Okay, so just say 'I'll be burning myself,' or ask 'Should I do like the Tibetan monks or Jan Palack?' That's enough. The image of burning a child is too extreme, it won't be contributing to your cause.” “Why not?” I asked. I still couldn't understand. “Children are dying too.” “Yes, you can refer to Aylan.” “Aylan's was such a sterilized photo, people should look at the real photos if they dare!” “Okay but why do you need to talk about burning your child? Burning yourself is an act of sacrifice, you are doing it to yourself. Burning someone else is an act of violence.” ! Well, I couldn't disagree more with that statement. Sure, burning someone else is an act of violence. But burning my child would be so much more of a sacrifice for me -or I'd say for any mother- than burning myself! My husband had to agree with it. “That's true,” he said. Of course it is true. I lost one baby, I know what that pain is, burning my daughter would be the last thing I would do. If I ever came to such a point, it would show ultimate desperation in my life, and I'd burn myself with her. All people want is to live a simple decent life. That's really not hard, it shouldn't be hard to achieve if we do not act like imbeciles. “Like Abraham and Isaac,” Carlo went on. “Even though it is not exactly the same.” No, it's not. But it is always someone asking us for a sacrifice to prove something, be it devotion, be it an expression of the extremity of despair and giving us credit accordingly. |
I will be going to every country in the world only to burn my passports even if not a single soul in this world cares about it. Yet, I'm sure there are people out there who care. I consider them as family. I'm curious as to how big a family I have. I would also like to meet my family members.
What you can do
If you'd like to be a part of this endeavor and can contribute financially, please contact me , use Patreon or just click below and make a donation. Any money I may make apart from completing the endeavor would be donated to charities working for children and refugees.
Thank you. If you cannot contribute financially, but you'd still like to be a part of this endeavor, please sign your name below and join the League Of Unreasonable Minds for a bit of moral support. |
At the end of his TEDxMidAtlantic talk "Our democracy no longer represents the people. Here's how we fix it", Harvard professor Larry Lessig says:
“It is an embarrassment to our traditions that in 2015 we have movements that need to assert that black lives matter, how could that possibly be?”
I look at the freedom of movement exactly the same way:
“It is an embarrassment to our humanity that in 2017 we have movements that need to assert that it doesn't matter where people are born, that we are all people, how can that possibly be?”
Seriously... Do we really need to sacrifice ourselves, give up our lives or suffer through so much for basic rights as in women's suffrage or fight wars to end injustices like slavery? Do we really need to do this in the 21st century? Have we not civilized a bit at all?
It's so sad to say “We have not.”
PS: To support and be a part of this endeavor, Strike at The Root
“It is an embarrassment to our traditions that in 2015 we have movements that need to assert that black lives matter, how could that possibly be?”
I look at the freedom of movement exactly the same way:
“It is an embarrassment to our humanity that in 2017 we have movements that need to assert that it doesn't matter where people are born, that we are all people, how can that possibly be?”
Seriously... Do we really need to sacrifice ourselves, give up our lives or suffer through so much for basic rights as in women's suffrage or fight wars to end injustices like slavery? Do we really need to do this in the 21st century? Have we not civilized a bit at all?
It's so sad to say “We have not.”
PS: To support and be a part of this endeavor, Strike at The Root
