boston, texas, and places beyond

friends, there has been much to be sad about lately.

by now, you have seen the heart-stopping video; the panic in it is palatable. i'm sure your entire office stopped to read every new update just as mine did.
the explosions were horrific, and the events that have unfolded afterward are terrible.
my heart is heavy for the three that died and the hundreds that were hurt, that's a given. but what i was hoping we could discuss are the actions of others after––both the good and bad.

the good are the hundreds who aided victims by tying tourniquets, comforting the scared, continuing to run straight to the hospital to donate blood after running 26 miles in the marathon, wheeling the injured to medical attention, and all the folks who offered up their homes and hearts to the displaced or lonely.

but the bad, the bad sings a sorrowful song so familiar it rings in my ears, pounds in my head, and aches in my heart.

• why did someone tackle a young man who was injured and running from the very same bomb that so many others were hurt by and running from?
• why did cnn report that folks should be on the look out for a "dark-skinned or black male with a possible foreign accent" when no one knew (and still don't know) who was behind the attack?
• why was a man, who was leaving a mosque in queens, threatened with a gun?
• why was a 17 year old accused of being the bomber?
• why was a mother called a terrorist?
• why was a man in new york beaten and called a 'a (expletive) Arab'?

Ibrahim Hooper, council national communications director, said the council is urging Muslim individuals and Islamic institutions to review advice on security procedures contained in its "Muslim Community Safety Kit." 

• why does there need to be a Muslim Community Safety Kit?

of course, i know the answer to these questions. 

as if there wasn't enough hurt this week, last night there was a large fertilizer plant explosion in west texas where as many as 35 could be dead and hundreds injured. and as i type this now, i see updates from friends about a shooting in boston as well as possible explosive detonations; a bomb exploded in a coffee shop in baghdad killing 27; 30 workers on a farm in greece were shot after disputing unpaid wages; 42 people were killed in a series of car bombs in Iraq; there is some serious shit going on in syria; and the us senate rejected background checks for gun purchases and banning semi-automatic weapons modeled after military assault rifles (because it would have just made too much sense). 

there is much to be sad about, my friends.