What do we do with the issues we are faced with?

How do we begin to understand them, to confront them? How do we make sense of this world that surrounds us and everything that unfolds within it? How can we truly see and absorb it all, the hate, the peace, the strive, the inspiration? It's the simplest of answers, we listen.

I listen.

I hear the cries. Another innocent was killed.

I listen.

I hear the silence of the privileged as they turn the other cheek. Crazy how loud their silent voices can be.

Someone should tell them remaining silent is choosing a side.

I listen.

I hear the outcry of the public. The system has failed them again.

I listen.

I hear the announcement of paid leave and assertion of an investigation.

I listen.

The life of the fallen means nothing to them. They must protect their men regardless of their acts.

I ask. Who will protect them?

I listen.

She is being ignored again, undermined, discredited.

Please know, I'm listening.

I listen.

The winds are blowing harder, the water is rising faster, more homes are being destroyed .

I listen.

They're denying the effects, the cause's existence.

I listen.

They're lying to us again.

Telling us everyone matters to them.

I listen.

They're telling us who to hate. Who is the cause of our tribulations, of our sorrow, distorting reality, spreading hate.

I listen.

Thinking of our past, remembering that "when we oppress anyone we oppress ourselves."

I listen.

He continues, defending the wrong side, lacking awareness of wrong and right, the true meaning of freedom, and oppression.

I listen.

He wants to build walls, to build fear of our neighbors.

I listen.

They're telling us what we should believe, who we should believe in, and who we have to answer to if we don't.

I listen.

They're tearing apart the faith of others, the ones that don't align with their own.

I listen.

They're so afraid of what they don't know.

I listen.

I'm trying to imagine the world Lennon spoke of.

I listen.

"No hell below us. Above us only sky."

I listen.

My thoughts of peace are interrupted. Words of hate flow through.

I listen.

They have come out of the shadows. They're not afraid to say the things they do, to hurt others.

I listen.

Hurting for the targeted, the stereotyped, the downtrodden.

I listen.

They don't understand. The ones they target make us better, stronger.

I speak.

We must rise above. We must show them the world does not change without our voices, our efforts.

I stand.

Let them see us here. Let them hear us.

Maybe, they will listen.