"LISTEN TO ME"

How many children, students, men, and women in the world scream this in their heads everyday? Do you? I have before.

My summer school teacher's name is Ms. Boyd. She works at Santa Monica High. In American Government, we talked about civil rights and how treatment of minority groups has improved over the decades through riots, sit-ins, boycotts, legislature, speeches, charismatic leaders, brave souls, and exposure. When asked, "Did all of MLK's dreams come true? Do we still face segregation today? Discrimination? Racism?", we all agreed that although there have been major strides taken, people are still facing racism all across the nation.

I guess I'm writing here to vent today. Ms. Boyd began to share about how many of her students are affiliated with gangs...how they jump at the opportunity to be in gangs to make themselves feel good/protected. There are students in gangs, homeless students, illegal immigrant students, drug-dealing students, students who share a one-room apartment with 10 other people, and so on. Then, she told us that two of her students were killed in gang shootings this past year. That means, that while I was crying over tests and stress, two high school students were killed. They were shot because some other racial gang didn't want to be the weak minority group of the city. Their life here ended-no more college, no more marriage, no more family, no more success.

What were their names? What ethnicity were they? What were their dreams? What were their accomplishments? Did they know the Lord? Who knows their story? Who cares?

Today, I'm so saddened by the fact that most of the people in my class (myself included) will probably forget about these two students. Meanwhile, it's really not just these two people. It's hundreds of youth just like me who happen to be placed in neighborhoods, schools, ethnic groups, gangs, businesses, and situations like that...instead of going to Peninsula High in PV, studying to go to a prestigious college like all of us. They're finding drug-users because they can't get a job, while I'm blogging on my netbook and about to go practice the violin. They're being threatened and forced to be involved in violence, while I go home to study and talk to people from my youth group and Christian club and whatever the heck.

When my class heard, and later when I told a couple of friends, my mom, and my cousin, all those two students got was "That's sad." All those kids get is "That's sad." Sure, we've never met them and we can't do anything about the lives that have already been lost, but "THAT'S SAD"?! REALLY??? And we move on to cry about the World Cup. We move on to talk about TWILIGHT. We move on to complain about the weather. We move on to go shopping. Nobody hears. Very few who hear actually care. I don't know about you, but if I was God, I would not be pleased.

I wrote this because I'm afraid of forgetting. I'm ashamed of how I've forget everyday, and I say, "My life sucks." Ms. Boyd is lucky, because she's always being reminded of how blessed she is, and she's in a position that directly allows her to interact with the broken, the hurt, the weak, the lost. Hey, wake up. So are we. I know you've once cried, "Listen to me" when you felt like no one cared. Well there are people all around you, both people who are fortunate and people who have nothing, and they need you to listen to them.