A riot
is the language of the unheard.
Martin Luther King Jr
From when we first arrive and announce ourselves with a wail, until we gasp our last words in leaving… being heard is important to us. “I am here! Hear me!”
To ignore someone, is to pretend they don’t exist.
To be someone, is to exist… and resent the insinuation that we don’t.
No matter how firmly someone denies our existence, they cannot prevent us from trying to catch their attention. It starts with a child’s annoying tug on our clothes, and ends with undeniable attacks on what we value. The strategy is exactly the same, pay attention to me. “I am here! Hear me!”
The effort we make to gain recognition is determined by the height of the barriers in front of us. It’s the difference between raising glasses in friendship and raining Molotov cocktails in frustration.
From teenagers who rebel as they come into their own, to the powerless who will do anything to bring attention their plight. The cause is the same. They’re here, and demand their voice be heard.
The sirens we hear in the night, are the cries of children grown tall, who’ve never gained their voice.
