May 25, 2017

An Open Letter (and Middle Finger) to ISIS: You Lose

littlelivesbig@gmail.com Terrorism and Hate, Travel all love, freedom, good vs evil, heroes, love prevails, love trumps hate, manchester, no hate, open letter, terror, travel 4 Comments

Like many of you, I’ve been spending the past few days just trying to process— process what happened in Manchester earlier this week, and process what is, unfortunately, our new reality.

I sat in my fourth grade classroom while the Twin Towers were struck and, consequently, crumbling to the ground in the teeming streets of New York City on September 11^th, 2001. I was practicing arithmetic just a couple hours away with my classmates in New Jersey. The phone was incessantly ringing, and students kept getting picked up early by their parents. “That’s weird,” I thought. My parents never came.

When the school bus pulled up to my stop that afternoon, my mom stood waiting for my sister and me. That is when I knew something was terribly wrong. I soon learned the horror that unfolded earlier that day— it was a lot, of course, for a fourth grader to wrap her head around. But I understood.

There were bad guys who were hell-bent on killing Americans.

They didn’t know us. They didn’t have to. They just hated us. Why? Because we’re American. Because we’re different than them. I knew all about “bad guys”; but growing up watching Disney movies, I figured the “good guys” always had to win in the end, right? 

As I watched the TV screen and overheard conversations in the days that followed, I quickly realized that this was not a situation where a prince could just gallop in on horseback and save the day. But, what I did see, were brave men and women risking their lives— many sacrificing their lives— to protect and save perfect strangers who were in danger. Those men and women were the good guys. They are heroes; and my family knew one of those heroes (RIP Gerard Nevins – NYFD, Rescue 1).

The fourth grade me was terrified and filled with hate. How could people do that to other people? I continued to hear more about Al-Qaeda and its ring leaders as the months and years marched forward; I hoped and prayed that justice would one day be served.

Fast forward to May 2^nd, 2011. Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda’s frontrunner, was killed. I was now 19 years old and a student at Towson University in Maryland. Word spread like wildfire (like it always does) on social media, and my friends and I immediately jumped in the car and ventured out to our nation’s capital where we met thousands of other young, college students from the region. We swarmed the white house with red, white, and blue paint on our faces and American flags in our hands, chanting “U – S – A, U – S – A!” The fourth grade me rejoiced.

Today. May 25^th, 2017. I am now 25 years old. As if Al-Qaeda wasn’t enough, we now have to deal with shit from ISIS. I have grown, changed, and matured a lot in the past 16 years. And you know what? I have a message for these d-bag terrorists.

Here is my open letter (and middle finger) to ISIS:

 

Hello.

You don’t know me and you don’t care to because I am from the land of the free and home of the brave: the United States of America. I live in a country where freedom reigns and I can wear what I please, say what I feel, worship how I want, and write open letters to assholes like you (thank you, First Amendment).

I wasn’t in the United Kingdom this week. I wasn’t in Egypt on Palm Sunday. I wasn’t in Pakistan in February. And I wasn’t in Istanbul on New Years Day. But when you attacked those people, you attacked me too.

I didn’t know any of the innocent people you senselessly murdered in Nice on Bastille Day or at the Christmas market in Berlin. Yet, you killed my friends. You killed my people. See, everyone who walks this earth is connected. We all have this human bond. It’s in our blood. We’re mammals. We have instincts. We have compassion. We have a conscience. We’re more good than bad.

As a first grade teacher, I have to teach my students spelling patterns and grammar. And although “I comes before E, except after C”, I have to make sure my students understand that there are always exceptions to every rule. And you, ISIS, are the world’s exception. You don’t have compassion. You don’t have a conscience. You’re more bad than good.

Unlike the fourth grade me, I am not terrified or filled with hate. In fact, I am the opposite. More than ever, I am empowered. I am free. I am strong. And I want you to know: you lose.

You decimated our beloved Twin Towers. We built an even taller tower. One World Trade Center, also known as Freedom Tower, surpasses the Empire State Building and is currently the tallest building in the USA and the sixth tallest in the world. You lose.

My younger sister stepped off a boat and onto French soil on January 9^th, 2015. Just two days after twelve journalists were shot dead in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. She didn’t turn back. She didn’t hide. That day, she embarked on one of the most incredible trips of her life. You lose.

Do you believe in coincidences? My sister, once again, arrived in Paris— this time less than ten days after you killed well over 100 civilians in coordinated attacks in the northern part of the city. You couldn’t stop her. She wasn’t afraid. You lose.

On March 20^th, 2016 I traveled through Belgium on my way to Amsterdam. On March 22^nd, my phone was flooded with texts and phone calls from loved ones asking if I was OK. They were worried because you thought it’d be fun to send suicide bombers to a packed airport and metro station in Brussels. I continued touring around Europe. And before I say you lose (because, you do), I want to ask you something.

Are you happy? What are you trying to accomplish exactly? I have been trying to understand your warped mentality and distorted beliefs but, fortunately, I can’t— because I’m not like you. I’m better than you. We all are. It’s us against you. And— wait for it— YOU LOSE.

We aren’t living in fear. We aren’t changing our routines. We aren’t backing out of get-togethers or canceling trips. We’re making more travel plans. We’re living smarter. We’re living larger. And we’re enjoying every second of it.

Manchester. The fact that the perpetrator was born in 1994 baffles me. He’s younger than me. He’s a kid. He targeted kids. How can someone have so much hate in his heart? Or maybe that’s the problem— there is no heart at all. Is it really possible to be in so much despair or lead a life so meaningless that you’re driven to end the lives of others? You feel you have no other choice?

I don’t get it. And I don’t have to. Because you mean nothing to me. You don’t dictate my life. You don’t get to have any say in how, when, or where I do things. You have no jurisdiction over my thoughts or feelings.

While you’re out attempting to instill fear in us, just remember this… Fear isn’t in our vocabulary. We’re fearless. We’re courageous. We’re confident. We’re hopeful.

We’re more good than bad.

We aren’t going to run away and we aren’t going to give in.

We’re lifting each other up. We’re lending a hand. We’re supporting each other. We’re holding onto each other and we’ll be damned if we ever let go.

 

You lose.

 

We are Manchester. We are Paris. We are Brussels. We are New York. We are Berlin. We are Istanbul.

 

We are humanity.

 

And you lose.

 

Sincerely,

Little Lives Big

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God bless all of those who lost their lives or loved ones. When they attack some of us, they attack all of us. I stand with you. I stand by you. We are one. Fly high, angels.

 

 

 

 

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