No Kid Hungry

"Internet technology brings more to our fingertips than downloadable music and sophisticated video games. It brings the opportunity to learn and know how other people live across town and across the world. With that comes a responsibility to engage as a citizen, locally and globally, in new and more powerful ways.... If the poor are invisible to us now, they are invisible by our choice, our lack of curiosity, our lack of civic engagement and commitment. Social media can’t ensure social justice. But it can affect the invisibility that is the first barrier to achieving it."
~http://tinyurl.com/kjqbhy

What an incredible opportunity that we have because of the internet. This widespread access to information has created the Invisible Children revolution, in which many high schools have formed chapters to fight the use of child soldiers in Uganda. It has formed a movement around the book Not For Sale to fight all types of slavery, including slavery that still exists in the United States. It has created an awareness of poverty and water issues that have organizations like ONE, Oxfam, and Heifer International working to solve those issues.

Twitter and facebook are possibly the latest additions to the great opportunity to widely disseminate information. With a small comment of a description, I can post a link to an article that provides more information or an opportunity to work for change. And I can follow organizations such as ONE and Catholic Charities and Not For Sale to learn about their projects and their campaigns. We can form coalitions of those asking for our government to do something and those willing to do something themselves. It enables grassroots movements to take hold.

And that's a great responsibility. We have no excuse for not addressing issues of poverty. We have no excuse for not addressing injustice. The poor are visible. The oppressed are visible, if we are only willing to stop ignoring their plights. Whether we want government action or individual action, we can stand up and say "Not this time!" This time, I'm not buying cheap goods on the backs of sweatshop laborers who have no other options. This time I'm not buying into oppressive economic systems. This time, you don't get to earn record profits from the sweat of children. Not this time!

I, for one, am glad that I have the opportunity to know about these issues that I help to contribute to. So that way I can work to reduce my contribution to everything from environmental devastation to the abuse of workers. I'm not perfect, but by knowing about it and about alternatives, I can start to do better.