When I came home from work on Wednesday, March 22nd, the conversation with my mother felt familiar. When she fumbled over what city had been hit with a recent terrorist attack and then asked what happened, I recounted that the story was generally the same. Somebody, or a group of people, decided to spread fear and hate through violent means in headline-grabbing ways.
No matter where, no matter who, no matter how I am incredibly repulsed by these attacks- these violent attacks. What is equally repulsive is how often this is happening and the cycle that takes place following these terrorist attacks. News breaks, images, and videos are released, hashtags are typed out, speculations are made, death toll increases, and either a few hours or a few days later we receive the name of the person or group responsible.
The thing that bugs me the most, other than the terrorist attack itself, is the immediate response from politicians. The responses that often downgrade a city or region as "vulnerable" or the more sensationalized phrases such as "completely shut down the city." That only makes my stomach turn more. This happened following the Westminister terrorist attack when Fox News political pundit Walid Phares tweeted that "One man can shut down a city" in response to the individual who acted alone last week.
Here's the reality: London was not shut down. Of course one must consider the semantics of this sentence, but to claim that one man has shaken an entire city is baseless and disgusting to Londoners. I am glad they responded verbally and visually to prove Phares wrong. Many shot back at Phares including Tom Chivers who tweeted, "The "London is shut down, city in fear" the narrative is immensely insulting to Londoners, who have seen a lot worse. London is very safe now." To immediately insinuate that everyone is in fear only fuels these terrorists. It's what they want.
In response, London has come together to show that no foundation is stronger than love and nothing will keep the soul of this capital city from dying out. This can be said of the other cities who have suffered at the hands of terrorists. Just consider the way our country honors and commemorates 9/11.
Just like Londoners, we as global citizens must not show fear in the face of violence. We must move forward in love. Let's take the extra few seconds to hold the door open for someone. Let's actually smile and thank the people who deliver our pizza or bag our groceries. Let's not forget what makes us who we are: a community.
We will #NotBeAfraid.
