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“My father says that trying to stop hate is like trying to stop the tides,” Rashid said. “The best thing you can do is take advantage of it. Don’t stop the tide from flowing. Build a hydroelectric dam and make electricity instead, enough to power ten thousand houses. That’s how you stop hate.”
“Her intentions are always above reproach,” I said. “It’s left for others to deal with the impact of those good intentions.”
In my parents’ time, simply being acknowledged as worthy of notice, as having your own history and worth, was enough. That’s not enough for me. I want to be included and celebrated. I want nuanced and plentiful stories to be told about my people, and I don’t want it to mean something when one of us breaks through, because there are so many of us breaking through, all the time, in every field.
“If the people are changing, that means we’re still alive. Only living things change,” he always said.
Muslims believe that when you make du’a, or sincere prayer, for something, one of three things happens: (1) you are granted your request, (2) something bad that was headed your way is deflected, or (3) the good thing you asked for is kept for you in heaven.
I wondered if the people who had drawn their crooked symbol on our window knew that the swastika was actually an ancient symbol of good luck, and that it originated in India. I wondered if the person who had so effortlessly demanded that my family return to the home they left decades ago knew that the symbol Hitler had appropriated for the Third Reich was a religious shorthand for positivity.
“You want to hear me retell the stories you tell yourself about people who look like me.”
“Then you tell me your favorite color so I can send you flowers, your favorite place so I can take you there, your favorite book so I can read it just so we can argue about it. I know you want to work in radio, and I plan to cheer you on every step of the way. I might even listen to TSwift, if you insist.”
“Best is not for this world, Hana Apa. Better is all we can hope for in this life.”
There is nothing more powerful than being able to make up your own mind about something. Nothing headier than reaching out your hand and saying, This. I choose this.
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is neither created nor destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another. That law will get you every time, so make sure the energy you put out into the world is positive. Otherwise it will turn the other way and then turn on you.
