Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Social Justice Challenge

This past weekend I enjoyed good food, a leisurely time with family and friends, buying books I really don't need, and two movies at the movie theater. I drank clean water. I ate more food than I needed. I slept and for two of those days I even got paid. I had shelter over my head the whole time and when I got a little chilly, I just covered myself up with more blankets. No one forced me to do something against my will. No one said I couldn't freely give thanks to God. I walked around with my face exposed and I had no fear of someone killing me over my race or religion.

This makes me one of the most fortunate people in the world.

One of the things reading has done for me is expose the cruelties and injustices that exist in our world. And not in a cold hard factual way like the evening news. But rather, by making the people who undergo suffering real. By bringing their environments to life so that I fear when they fear, grieve when they grieve, hope when they hope. I feel their hunger gnawing in my belly, their thirst is mine, their pain slices my own heart.

Reading is powerful.

But so often we read and let then let the knowledge sit. Since reading about topics of social justice is of great interest to me, I knew that I wanted to help with a social justice challenge. But I didn't want it to be one of those stagnant reading challenges where you post a massive list at the beginning and then shrug your shoulders at the end when you've only finished a book or two. So I'm very lucky to have two co-hosts, Natasha and Hannah, that feel the same way. The Social Justice Challenge is not just about reading though that certainly plays a part. The Social Justice is about reading and then doing.

I hope you'll hop over to the Social Justice Challenge Blog that Natasha did such a fantastic job of setting up and learn all about it. This is a challenge that could completely rock your world if you let it.

Just for the record, I'm hoping to do the activist level each month. I am so so excited about this challenge and I hope you've saved room in your busy schedules to join us.

PS Help us build our resource lists! Don't be shy to recommend books, blogs, or other media that fit into each monthly theme.



Amy

5 comments:

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Sometimes we take for granted how fortunate we really are.

bermudaonion said...

I'm adding this to my list of challenges to consider. I'm trying to be realistic in my goals. Ha! We'll see how long that lasts.

Jodie said...

Oh my Amy this is exactly the kind of thing I had in mind when I said I wanted to 'do something' about political prisoners, after reading 'The Lizard Cage', but I could not figure out how to take it to the next level that would really make it help people in those situations, rather than just help others learn about those situations. There really needed to be a 'take action' kind of element and I couldn't figure out how to incorporate that without just asking people to donate money so thanks so much for creating this challenge! I hope it will really help give us all concrete things we can do about the injustices in the world.

Beth Kephart said...

wow. once again you are part of something good and right. I have so much admiration for you, Amy.

can you run for president? someday?

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Hi Amy, I read the Social Justice post earlier tonight and I am really excited about being a part of this too. This will be wonderful for awareness and I love that the challenge is an active one where we actually are encouraged to do something about what we are reading about.

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I appreciate hearing your thoughts.