Welcome to Witness: Introducing Resources, Establishing Direction and Encouraging Action

A professor once asked me, how many people died on September 11, 2001? About three thousand, I replied. No, he said, over seventeen thousand people died that day from malnutrition. I do not, by any means, intend to mitigate the horrors of that particular day, or any other traumatic and violent event like it. Merely, I hope to excavate the tragedies that we have grown immune to and accept as the collateral damage of the status quo. In a world of informational ADD, it is solely the crises exploding into chaos that are recognized by the press and given credence, often addressed once possible solutions lie within a range of terrible and unsatisfactory options. Our planet is in its eleventh hour, its survival contingent on the choices our generations make. Ninety six percent of the conflicts raging on today are waged with small arms and light weapons that cost less than a loaf of bread. Terrorist networks and organized crime are joining forces to fund activity through illicit drug trade and credit card fraud. The earth’s lakes and rivers are turning to desert. People are hungry and homeless, while world population goes nowhere but up. The state is losing power to all of these forces, and it is therefore up to global civil society to take action. That is you. The first step towards action is knowledge. Here you will find the disregarded stories of struggling diasporas, unending warfare and genocidal practices that are the daily realities of millions around the world as my upcoming posts will show.

In order lend legitimacy to my impassioned argument I will supplement my own relevant coursework and research with current and compelling online resources ranging from personal accounts of women in conflict zones, to the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission. The work of committed NGOs such as Amnesty International and CARE will reinforce the action-focused element of this blog and provide respected and recognized information. The task of mending this broken planet cannot be undertaken faithfully without the voices and participation of the local individuals and communities most directly impacted by poverty, war, and environmental decay. To this end, I search through websites like Jeunafrique and blogs such as Forgotten Diaries. In assessing the relevance and credibility of the websites I will be looking to for guidance and support throughout my blogging ventures, I have followed the Webby Awards criteria that evaluate the content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience of a site. When searching through the blogosphere, I abide by IMSA criteria and consider who the blogger is, what type of materials he/she is referencing, whether or not the blog is established as part of an online community, if the content is covered thoroughly, how sophisticated the writing is, the currency of the posts and whether or not there is a clear bias or position that is taken. These sources and many more can be found on my Linkroll.

It is in the interest of the powerful to subjugate; and subjugation can only happen when there is silence, complicit ignorance and passivity. I am here to make some noise and hope that you, too, will fight the good fight in whatever capacity moves you in order to–finally–heal, develop, and move forward in our shared humanity.