Hey Everybody! As I move into the final nine weeks of my junior year, I can't help but smile because that means it's almost summer :) yet at the same time, that also means I'm almost a senior.. yeah that's scary. To get my mind off how crazy and stressful my senior year will be, I'll write a journal entry for my critically-acclaimed journal, Krazy Thoughts By Kit. For the past couple months, we have been discussing defining moments within a generation. It all started out in the Silent Generation up to Generation Z. We have viewed many documentaries and discussed how this particular event affected the people of that time. This journal is being dedicated to two events that captivated the world's attention and forever changed Generation X and Y: The Tank Man and The Rwandan Genocide. But, before I delve into these lively and oh so gleeful topics, I must answer last weeks question. Last week's question was:
1) If you had to, what cause would you die for?
Honestly, I would die for my country. I grew up with being proud to be an American. Despite all the screw ups and there have been a lot of them, I would still die honorably if it meant protecting my country. Within my family, we have had a lot of people serve in the military, and this has kind of instilled this profound belief in me that I, if needed to, should give back to my country. Now, that doesn't mean on my 18th birthday I am enlisting and going to fight off in God knows where, maybe I give back to my country in a different way. I'm hoping to pursue medical school when I graduate high school, and perhaps I can give back to the nation that gave me so much through helping people fight cancer and other diseases. I just want to be able to give back my country, even if it's my life.
If it's worth dying for, it's worth trying for
Speaking of dying for a cause, I move into my riveting topic of the Tank Man. In 1989, it seemed that the whole world was in revolution. In divided Berlin, the wall came crashing down, signaling the beginning of the end for the USSR and their massive communist state, but another smaller yet equally impactful event was occurring in the communist country of China. A massive protest in Tiananmen Square led by thousands of people protesting against government corruption. This timeless event leads to the harsh government action, but one man stood up against the oppression, and he would forever be known as the embodiment of this fight for freedom. One man's lone defiance against tyranny would forever change history, and captivate a generation.
Man versus Machine
This famous and infamous photograph epitomizes how one small action can permanently sculpt history. To me, this little image shows how one's small action can create this chain reaction, leading to massive reactions. Great now I'm sounding like Rachel's Challenge :/ you know it seems like you can never get away from that stuff!!.... Anyway, back to the journal and away from my little tangent. But really, this man's actions are amazing! After thousands of people lost their lives in Tinanmen Square because they defied the government, here he is, standing in front of the military's tanks, not faltering from the spot. He would not allow these tanks to pass by him, if they attempted to go around him, he would move into their path again. Can you just imagine what was going through his mind!? He's standing in front of tanks that could crush them, yet he won't back down! It's almost casual for him, holding his bags and oh yeah, I'm going to play chicken with some tanks you know, its causal. And he was not doing it for some fifteen minutes of fame, he was not doing it so he could be paraded around like some minor celebrity or that the international world would glorify him: he did it because it was right. That is what really stands out to me. Tank Man just did what felt right, and he knew what the Chinese government was doing was wrong, and he stood up for the rights of the millions of Chinese people. What it means to me
I believe that Tank Man does not only stand for freedom, but he stands for all those who could no longer stand. Communism had already existed within China for a while now, and people were always trying to fight against this tyranny, yet their voices were silenced. Those who did not support the state quickly found themselves six feet under ground. Tank Man, though he may not have known it, stood for all those who could no longer fight. Also, his actions gave hope to all those who continue the fight against oppression and corrupt government.
China's got a few skeletons in its closet..
There is so much we can pull from this act of bravery. For starters, this action shows people everywhere the profoundness of nonviolent demonstration Yeah I mean you alwayyyys hear about "civil disobedience" and " nonviolence" when you talk about Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr., but does anybody ever think of the Tank Man in this context? Not really, but we really should. Also, we can learn about how oppressive China's government is. After this photograph was taken, Chinese agents came into the hotel room and searched the entire room for the roll of film that contained this photo, because they were afraid of this getting out. Even now, most Chinese people do not even know about the Tank Man. If you tried to look up the Tank Man on Google in China, you would not find that photograph. That fact alone really makes me look down on China. How could you conceal something like that from your own people?! Every nation has it's dark moments, yet they don't always try and hide them. If anything, they make sure their citizens learn about it, in order for its people to learn about what happened, and learn from their mistakes. China trying to cover up Tinanmen Square is like us trying to cover up slavery or trying to cover up the use of internment camps in WWII. But do we do that? NO. We constantly learn about both of those subjects and countless other dark moments in America's history. Therefore, isn't it the right of the individual to know the history of the nation they reside in?? Wouldn't you think that you should be allowed to know about the place you live in, and make your livelihood in? Well, apparently China doesn't think so, and they believe that hiding everything from their people would be better instead. Whatever China, throw that skeleton into your closet, even though the whole rest of the world knows about it!
Rwanda's Darkest Hour
Sorry I just got a little heated there, but I can get very involved in my journals! What can I say, I am a writer for the people. Now, I have to delve into an eh... pleasant topic. We're moving a head about five years to Rwanda, a country in Africa that experienced one of the greatest genocides in history.
The African Holocaust
Its 1994, and Rwanda is going through tumultous times. The two main ethnic groups of Rwanda, the Hutu and Tutsi, are going for each other's throats. Following the assassination of the Rwandan president, the Hutu's saw this as their time to eliminate the "troublesome" Tutsi's. Within three months of the start of the killings, over 800,000 Tutsi's will have died in a massive genocide, while the majority of the world stood by and watched.
As the conflict within Rwanda escalated, the UN stepped in and attempted to help by sending troops and peacekeepers into the conflict. Commander of the operation was Canadian-born Gregory " Gromo " Alex, and boy, when i got to Rwanda, I had no clue about what kind of ride I'd be in for.
Up Creek Without A Paddle
For starters, I received next to no outside help in regards to aid and supplies. The UN gave me the bare minimum amount of support that they could. They basically gave me some troops, and then left me to my own devices.
The Kids Aren't Alright
Yet, if I thought this slap on the wrist was bad, boy I had no idea what was in store for me. Because this was a conflict nobody really wanted to get involved with, the UN gave the soldiers strict guidelines about what they could and could not do, so basically, they were there to stand and watch innocent people being hacked to death by the machete of injustice. I knew this was wrong, and I really did want to intervene and help the Rwandans, but I wasn't allowed to. I had to sit back and helplessly watch defenseless women and children being slaughtered like cattle in the jungles of Rwanda. However, I refused to go down without a fight. In attempts to save some lives, I used UN convoys to move Tutsi's out of Rwanda to safe locations; however, it could save only so many lives.
Fightin' for the Dyin'
In this no-win situation, I did whatever I could. I tried and tried to help the situation, but every time I appealed for outside aid, I quickly met defeat. Nobody wanted to get involved, and nobody wanted to call it a genocide either. After the U.S. had their asses kicked in Somali, with two Black Hawk helicopters shot down and Marines dead, they were extremely reluctant to offer any aid to the growing crisis in Africa. Yes, at one point they did recognize that people were being killed in Rwanda, but that's it. He toiled away in a God-forsaken country while everybody at the UN headquarters put on a real concerned face then went back to bed. I really have no idea how I could still hold my head up and continue to try and help the Rwandans when next to nobody else would.
Just try
I tried doing the best I could in a no-win situation. If I had received more help, I would have potentially saved many more lives, but because most people in the outside world did not understand the circumstances of the conflict, they could not offer any assistance. However, should the circumstances really matter when you could be saving lives? Apparently, that doesn't matter. I really admired the work of all the Rwandan officers I had beneath me, they are the reason why I didn't lose faith in the mission. They understood how bad the situation was, yet they didn't stop trying to help their people. It's really astounding to see this sort of dedication and determination in a hopeless situation. I find that I can't really condemn any one person in this situation, it would take too long to hold all those responsible accountable for their actions. On the face of many Hutu's were faces of anger and revenge, yet they were blind to what they were doing. This shroud of anger and deception by their leaders covered their eyes, and they could not see the damage they were inflicting. I cannot condemn them because they had no idea what they were doing, but I can condemn their leaders. Killing off their own citizens, it's something I will never understand. 
Which one's worse?
For the last part of this journal, I am going to attempt to answer my own question regarding the Ghosts Of Rwanda documentary we watched. I had asked " how does this genocide compare to that of others throughout history?". Of course, this genocide is much smaller than say the Holocaust or of the Cambodian one in the 1970's, but what it doesn't surpass them in body count, it does surpass them in audacity. For the other two genocides I listed, we sort of knew about the treatment of the Jews, and he didn't really know a lot about what was happening in Cambodia, but we knew a lot about what was happening in Rwanda, and we stood by and let it happen. This genocide was one we could actually prevent, we had the ability to stop it, but we didn't. We sat on our butts and let over 800,000 innocent Rwandans die. How is that fair? How is that right? IT ISN'T. We knew damn well that people were dying in Rwanda, yet nothing happened. Good move America, good move.
Now, I hope you very much so enjoyed my journal, because I really need to go!!! But, before I leave my captive audience, I leave you with a question:
1) Is it right to stand by and let people die when you know you can help?
Now, I must go everybody. Have fun this weekend, and come out and support James River Crew Team as we host our home regatta!! :D So, bye y'all, and this is the end of another Krazy Thought by Kit :)
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