The March

A fine day for a march, as for once, it wasn't raining. During the time of gathering for the march, we heard Dr. King's speeches, Nina Simone's songs, and then we heard from the Tigray Community of Oregon. Their spokesperson said something like this: "There is a horrible genocide going on in Tigray, and most of you don't know about it. You know about Ukraine. You heard about Rwanda. But you don't know where Tigray is, and you don't know what's happening there. Our work is to tell you about it. It is a war in which rape is a weapon. It is a war to exterminate the Tigray people. Please read Omna Tigray to learn more. Our elders and our children are starving. Everyone looks the other way. We ask you to help us. Those who could not escape need food, medicine, aid. Please don't look away." 

I rested for a while on a bench next to a Tigrayan elder, and she told me her sister, her daughter, and her nieces were all raped by groups of soldiers and then killed. Her son helped her to escape, but she dreams about them every night. As I listened to her, I was moved to tears, and we embraced. I'm not looking away.