Breaking Free
God bless the Palestinian people.
Which brings me to a new definition of "border" as put forth today by Luis Alberto Urrea:
BORDER, n. 1. An imaginary line imposed on an indigenous landscape by men who are not from that landscape; 2. A line that unites two different cultures and forms an unbreakable bond between them.
The first definition seems the most accurate, and helps explain why borders can be so disfunctional for the people living at odds with them.
The second presents an invitation and a challenge to see the people on the other side as connected rather than separated from our reality on this side. The more familiar you are with someone, the more commonalities you can find between the "other" and you, the less likely you are to fear them, and much less likely to see any need to hate them.
We all need to break free from something. For the Palestinians, it was hunger, need, and imprisonment. Perhaps we need to break down the walls in our mind that define our views of borders, and look at the real purposes they serve, reject the divisiveness of the line and embrace instead the unity that can come from meeting there.
Speaking of meeting at the border, John Moore of Nonviolent Migration is organizing a walk to show support for landowners along the border who are resisting the fence. If you feel like being civilly disobedient, or would just like to spend a few days walking and talking with some passionate people in the gorgeous Texas sun for a just cause, sign up and get on down there.
Which brings me to a new definition of "border" as put forth today by Luis Alberto Urrea:
BORDER, n. 1. An imaginary line imposed on an indigenous landscape by men who are not from that landscape; 2. A line that unites two different cultures and forms an unbreakable bond between them.
The first definition seems the most accurate, and helps explain why borders can be so disfunctional for the people living at odds with them.
The second presents an invitation and a challenge to see the people on the other side as connected rather than separated from our reality on this side. The more familiar you are with someone, the more commonalities you can find between the "other" and you, the less likely you are to fear them, and much less likely to see any need to hate them.
We all need to break free from something. For the Palestinians, it was hunger, need, and imprisonment. Perhaps we need to break down the walls in our mind that define our views of borders, and look at the real purposes they serve, reject the divisiveness of the line and embrace instead the unity that can come from meeting there.
Speaking of meeting at the border, John Moore of Nonviolent Migration is organizing a walk to show support for landowners along the border who are resisting the fence. If you feel like being civilly disobedient, or would just like to spend a few days walking and talking with some passionate people in the gorgeous Texas sun for a just cause, sign up and get on down there.
posted by janna | 12:40 AM
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