We Have People at Stake: Centering Humanity Beyond the Headlines
When we read the headlines, I think it’s easy to lose track of the people at the center of the story; to intellectualize so we don’t have to feel it so much. To ignore that we all have a common, shared humanity. To forget that in the face of harm:
We have people at stake.
That every person experiencing harm in our world is a person.
If it’s not happening directly to us, we can interpret every event as something happening “out there.” And if it’s “out there,” we can protect our emotions and our softness; we can avoid or distract ourselves from the feeling of overwhelm and helplessness (or hide ourselves inside the feelings of overwhelm and helplessness); we can comment about Trump, about poll numbers, about the legality of it all.
But for folks directly impacted, these aren’t available options.
As ICE inhumanely invaded that apartment complex last week in Chicago, folks there cared for each other the best they could. It was about the kids, the exhausted and violated neighbors who still had to go to work the next day, the lost and bashed-up memories, the trauma, the fear.
Folks living on South Shore Drive didn’t open their phones to see what was happening; they saw the bodies, the cries of the children, the smashing through of windows, the helicopters above repelling down agents of despair.
They knew they had people at stake.
In 2014, I sheltered-in-place as a 27-year old man came onto my Seattle Pacific University campus and opened fire, injuring two students and killing one other.
Following the mass shooting, folks outside our community saw pictures of the shooter, read headlines about his motive, questioned gun laws and policy, and looked into SPU’s security protocols.
And on campus and in Seattle, we of course did that too: we investigated the shooter, we scoured the internet for information, we talked gun control policy and campus security.
But the bulk of our time and energy went to the people: the students and professors who were traumatized, the families who were terrified, the life that was lost. We mourned together while lifting up the heroes of that day.
Eleven years later, whenever I hear about a school shooting or, as an educator, engage in a school shooting drill or training, I remember that day and I know: we have people at stake.
When we view events in the news as something happening “out there,” distant one-liner headlines and impersonal analysis become our lens through which to make sense of it all.
As Krista Tippett writes, “We are meaning-seeking creatures. When we only see the news as breaking stories, we miss the story of being human.”
But when we view events in the news as something happening in our community — in our country, in our state, in our city — it becomes easier to see people.
And this is a perspective shift we can all make, regardless of our embodied intimacy with the event itself.
An invitation for you to try this week:
Before you read any news articles, before you click on the headlines, say out loud: “We have people at stake.”
Notice how that shifts your connection with the event, with the folks impacted directly, and with your sense of urgency in how you respond.
And then ask yourself: What is one thing I can do to support them right now? Maybe it’s learning who’s organizing locally. Maybe it’s a donation. Maybe it’s checking in on someone you know who’s scared. No action is too small.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear. You can email me at hello@andrewglang.com.
