Be The Media. Be There For The Kids

There are were only two newsy personalities I follow(ed): the late Anthony Bourdain and Rachel Maddow. Maddow breaks down the political news of the day on cable TV’s MSNBC, an unabashedly progressive network.

Back in the day she used to mix cocktails once a week at the end of her show. She is funny and smart and presents the facts, however hard and complicated, in a way that makes them understandable. She connects the dots. Last week she broke down and cried when she tried to read the late-breaking report that the ICE opened prisons for babies and toddlers. That was too much even for Rachel.

Remember Sarah Palin and her descriptions of “lamestream news?” That was her description of the usual sources of vetted news: the major print and broadcast media. The idea was to give greater credence to her words than to truth and facts. That phrase is now “fake news,” which is anything you don’t want the public to believe. Nowadays, though, we have easy access to social media — and phones — so we can fact check anything we are not sure of.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”(George Orwell, in his novel 1984)

“If you see something, say something.” (New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority)

On Wednesday night, local cable news station NY1 showed footage of girls being led into an East Harlem, New York building. It was confirmed that they were seized at the border. NY1 followed up on a tip. Someone saw and said. It led to us learning that these children are right in our city.

And in cities across the nation! They are moved around in the middle of the night, their faces shielded, dispersed in a country they don’t even know.

This begs the question: How did they get on any airline, when we have to show ID to board an aircraft? Several commercial airlines have already asked the government to stop using their airlines to ship children, so we know they were flown everywhere.

Watch. Notice. Record or photograph.  Maintain your high moral standards. If you think that separating families and scattering the children thousands of miles away (a few hundred are here in New York State), or housing them in prison camps or abandoned stores is wrong, it’s still wrong after some hell-bound politician says it’s patriotic.

Bloggers, of course, have a platform. We may not have as huge a reach as big media companies, but we are an interactive bunch.

There is a movement growing to demonstrate on June 30 against these forced family separations. Here’s the link to the site, where you can search for events near you if you are in the United States:  https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/search/?source=ndwa. I was heartened to see locations on Long Island, east of New York City!

I would love to know if any readers are planning to attend, and I do hope it’s a big success. We were all kids once so it’s easy to imagine the terror the family-separation victims feel.

EDIT: I now see that demonstrations are also planned in Berlin; Kitchener, Ontario; London; Munich; and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.