3.19.2010

this is not who we are.

"Because men with hard faces do violent things, because fanaticism seizes and shrinks minds, is no reason for the rest of us to abandon our song."

mmmmm. That's a quote from this beautiful short story I read entitled This Is Not Who We Are by Naomi Shihab Nye. It's an Arab-American woman's memoir, expressing her grief over the image her culture has impressed on people's minds. Though I am not Middle Eastern, I can see how the people of those countries would feel sorrow for their cultures during these times. Too often we judge an entire country or group of people by their government or the fanatics. We forget about the simple men and women who do not mean any harm, who only want to live their lives in peace. The author states, "I am simply an Arab American in deep need of cultural uplift to balance the ugliness that has cast a deep shadow over our day" . I've provided a link to the full version of the story below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=wKmKh7slk6wC&pg=PA401&lpg=PA401&dq=this+is+not+who+we+are

In other news, I am now officially a creative writing minor. woohoo!