Parenting

This Is What It Looks Like To Protect Each Other

by Maria Guido
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

An image of solidarity in the midst of the Dallas shootings is shared on social media

A peaceful protest ended in bloodshed yesterday as snipers opened fire on Dallas police officers who were working the protest. Five officers lost their lives. A truly horrific act of violence.

As images began to circulate of the terror, confusion, and fear — one image stood out from the rest. It’s a photograph of a group of people surrounding a baby in a stroller, presumably protecting the baby from any more gun violence.

In the middle of the horror, in the wake of nightmare, amid the outrage and the call to arms is this moment of humanity: People, black and white, surrounded a baby stroller in Dallas as the gunfire broke out. This is the better nature of our angels. This is who we are and who we should strive to be,” Nate Homan, former reporter at Boston Metro wrote on a Facebook post he shared of the image.

What a metaphor for the solidarity that we need to better humanity as a whole.

If we can’t look at adults and see their worth and absolute right to life, how about we turn our attention on children. We need to make the world better. We need to do better.

Humanity is recognizing pain exists, even if it’s not yours.

Humanity is mourning loss of life and recognizing it is sacred.

Humanity is looking at your neighbor who looks nothing like you and saying, “You are important. Your life matters. I am with you.”

Just like these people of all different ages and colors are swarming around one life to protect it, we have to do the same for each other. We have to recognize each other’s humanity or we’re doomed to these violent cycles repeating themselves.

We would never look at the child in the stroller and begin digging for all the reasons it just may not deserve to be protected. If it died, we would never attempt to make sense of its senseless death.

Alton Sterling’s death was senseless.

Philando Castile’s death was senseless.

Every officer who lost their life last night died a senseless death as well.

This is what we owe each other as citizens of the world: to recognize we are all worth saving.

We have to be this image.

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