2015. What a year it has been. Just when it seems like we've been exposed to all the craziness this world has to offer, yet another headline appears that makes us remember that there is always room for more mayhem.

In the past few weeks, the world has very much been exposed to this mayhem.

On the night of November 13^th and into the early morning of November 14^th, there were six separate attacks on different venues in Paris, France that resulted in the death of over 100 innocent lives and left many more individuals wounded as well.

Within minutes, this tragedy became headlines all over the globe. People all over the world watched the aftermath of the attacks unfold and fear began to increase with each passing minute. The Islamic state, known to most as ISIS, would eventually claim responsibility for the attacks and would address the world in a video with the promise of future attacks on other major areas around the world.

The response by people all over the world was truly a sight to see. In sports matches all over, teams paid their respects to the losses in Paris with moments of silence and the flying of the French flag. In addition, various cities around the world lit up their national monuments with the colors of the French flag in support of the Parisians.

Of course with it being 2015, the presence of the terrible events were very much a hot topic on social media, with the hashtags #PrayForParis and #StandWithParis trending on Twitter and Facebook. People also began showing support by changing the filter on their Facebook profile pictures to a filter featuring the French flag covering their current profile picture.

Personally, I found all the various forms of support for Paris to be incredibly refreshing and a great way for people to stand together in a dark moment for mankind.

Despite the horrors in France, in another part of the world, similar events were taking place, but have seemingly gone unnoticed by the media.

In Africa, the terrorist group known as Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigeria since their formation in 2002. Recently, during the same week when the tragedies occurred in France, Boko Haram staged yet another attack on the already suffering Nation.

On November 17^th, over 30 individuals were found dead after an attack on a market in Northeastern Nigeria. Sadly, nearly 100 more victims were found to be injured. The attacks were quickly attributed to the group Boko Haram (numbers according to reports by the Global Terrorism Index). A few days following this attack, two young girls were sent as suicide bombers and consequently killed 15 people, along with causing injury to about 80 other civilians.

As a result of their latest attacks, Boko Haram was named as the world’s most deadly terrorism group on November 18th based on the numbers taken by the Global Terrorism Index, surpassing ISIS. This is a testament to the power and destruction that this group possesses.

As the past week progressed, I began to notice the lack of attention being given to these attacks. While the world was fixated on the attacks in Paris, the terrors in Nigeria were sadly being left in the background.

At first I was perplexed. Why does no one care about what is happening to these poor people?

Then the light bulb came on.

I’ve always known the media plays an incredibly vital role in molding the minds of the public and consequently causes their attention to be steered in a certain direction.

I believe this power that the media holds is the sole reason for the lack of attention and empathy shown to the horrors that are happening in Nigeria and on a larger scale, in Africa as a whole. Majority of people have seemingly become desensitized to tragedy in Africa because of the already poor image we have of Africa. The death and tragedy is basically expected to happen. The perception of Africa has become synonymous with affliction and catastrophe.

Majority of the images of African culture and civilization that are presented via most media vessels are those of the starving kids, destroyed towns and other dismal scenes exposing the poverty that many parts of the continent suffer from.

The truth is that yes, Africa is hurting. The poverty that many Africans face is an awful thing and I believe it is important for the global community to be aware of the situation. However, where the media is failing is by continuously misrepresenting the actualities of life in Africa.

Africa, like any other place, has beautiful towns and cities. Many individuals speak various languages and dialects due to the combination of colonization and the remaining aboriginal culture still alive and well today. Africa represents a very important part of human history and has sadly been represented as a place that is congested with sorrow and despair.

At the end of the day, no form of support is bad. People shouldn’t feel badly about supporting Paris and those who are adamant about the events in Africa should not feel sourly towards those who have failed to give proper attention to the events in Nigeria.

We all have to realize that we are a global community. Whether two people are harmed or 1000 people are harmed, it should be given attention and should be treated with the same care.

Yes, death is inevitable and these terrible things are sadly not going to stop anytime soon but the one thing that we can do as a people is to make the world take notice. We have to show the youth that there is hope in this world. We must teach them that even if someone in their class might share the same religion or come from the same area as the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, that they are not representative of these people.

When you take away all the complications and distractions that we face in life, we are only left with one thing: compassion. That is our greatest asset. In the words of the great Mahatma Gandhi, “Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one based on fear”.

I believe if we all live by these words, from an emotional standpoint it could do wonders for the state of mankind. There is always going to be evil and terror in the world, but the only way we can see past this is by using the emotional power that resides within us all and come together as a one.

Who knows? Maybe, just maybe, one day we will all see eye to eye and we will know world peace. Even if it's just for an hour, a minute or even a second.