The world is a bit sad, innit? read a quote my friend recently posted on instagram. A bit funny if you read it in a British accent, but the truth nonetheless. Just a few days ago, a photo of a burned body went viral on social media. Captain Gasore, the Congolese man in the photo, had been lynched because he was a Tutsi, which is apparently now a crime in the DRC. A day later, a video of a naked woman from Tshopo Province, DRC being beaten by a group of men with big batons circulated. Nathalie, the woman in question, died after being raped, tortured, and dehumanized. While addressing the nation the following day, instead of being angry about these inhumane crimes, President Felix Tshisekedi rambled on and on for hours, praising himself and his team for doing the bare minimum. This is just a simple example that demonstrates what humanity is faced with - the animosity and hate in our hearts, the persecution from the powerful, and certain leaders who refuse to take action. Unfortunately, Tshisekedi's warmongering is just a small part of what keeps me up at night. This year alone, we have witnessed wars in Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine, and upheavals in Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan. The list goes on. War breaks out, we panic, we condemn, we post on social media. Before we get a hang of what is really going on, another war breaks out, beginning a new cycle. There’s little fires everywhere, in Africa, in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia. We often feel powerless. These wars, the political game that comes with it, all of this insanity can be exhausting, but we mustn’t look away or lose our empathy. What we often see happening to others, far far away, might in a blink of an eye happen to us and those we love. No one is immune to human suffering. We can’t just stay quiet as we watch another human being getting burned because of who they are. Captain Gasore is one of many Tutsi who were burned alive simply because they are Tutsi. Personally, I will never fully understand nor process the fact that after they killed them, the killers ate their flesh and recorded themselves doing it. As global citizens, how can we witness such atrocities and proceed with business as usual? Where is the outrage? Why are we letting humanity slip away from us? I want us to act, to be angry - at the right people and at the right situations. This kind of anger spurs action from all the global citizens with conscience, with the intelligence to question the information they are fed, and with the courage to confront injustice. We must, to the extent that we can hold leaders who encourage such horror as described here accountable. These are the Tshisekedis of the world. The seeds of Genocide can not be allowed to sprout in our region again. I urge you to take a stand. To deliberately seek accurate information in digital spaces filled with untruths. To speak up, post and refuse to allow others to distort our innate goodness. We can all make a difference in the issues that matter to us. For you, for me, for us, for all Global Citizens. The author is a socio-political commentator
