Global Dialogues

Our bodies have been made to be political playgrounds for the wealthy, the politicians, the leaders. People see each other as physical manifestations of political ideologies—the woman, the South Asian, and the Muslim. Never the human. The political divisions that separate us as communities and label us into boxes have failed to encapsulate the truth that lies at the heart of the human experience. As people, we inherently experience life in its glory, in loss and grief the same. Despite the geographical and intangible borders that distinguish my experience as a Muslim woman from Pakistan from those of women across the world, our truth remains the same: we are made to feel powerless and passive in a world dominated by the voices of a select few. In a world quickly heading towards chaos and polarization, the most radical change we can make is to hold on to our empathy and soften our hearts towards one another.

In the past few years, Pakistan has been at the frontline facing climate disasters that have annihilated communities, destroyed houses, separated families; War, hunger, and instability have plundered across the ‘The Global South’ from Palestine and Syria to Venezuela; Children in America have witnessed their families torn apart after mass deportations across the country. The threat to our communities is not just the corporations and the governments, but it is exacerbated by our continuous otherization of one another.

As an international community, our responsibility lies in solidarity and sincerity towards each other and each individual cause, as opposed to viewing one another as an “other” separated by physical borders and social hierarchies. I believe the biggest danger we face today is not solely the myriad of problems humanity faces, but the possibility that we are becoming too polarized to the extent of apathy. To come to any plausible resolution for climate issues, conflict, and for potent threats requires that we see each other not as labels, but as people.How do we decolonize ourselves, our minds, and our bodies? 

How do we reclaim our autonomy as civilians with the power to enact social change and mobilize our communities? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves in our pursuit of rewriting what it means to be human. It is necessary to celebrate the diversity that surrounds us and the resilience of our indigenous cultures and histories. At a point in time where cultural barriers, linguistic divisions, and religious differences have been exploited to further divide and provoke instability, these factors should be the anchors that connect us with our identity, while still promoting our desire to create meaningful change around us.

Marium Ishan (C'28) is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.