"Why do we care if a little girl returns to Cuba or not?
The question is not meant to be provocative, or rhetorical. It's something I've been thinking about since the case now before Judge Jeri Beth Cohen became public.
Every year, thousands of children fall into the foster care system, a bureaucracy that doesn't so much manufacture heartbreak as it does institutionalize it.
Every day, children are lost, abused and shuffled around. Why then so much attention to the plight of one little girl?" — Ana Menéndez, column, The Miami Herald, September 23, 2007
"I've arrived at the conclusion that if the girl's father really wants to take her back to Cuba, go right ahead. Please. Leave us alone already. I'll be shocked if Judge Cohen rules for the girl to stay. That may sound insensitive, but let's face it, one girl's return to Cuba isn't going to change anything regarding Cuba. Neither would her staying here accomplish much in the larger picture." — Robert Molleda, Babalú editor @ his satellite blog, 26th Parallel, Sept. 20, 2007
Why so much attention to the plight of one little girl?
ReplyDeleteBecause she's our little girl, born of our land, and our suffering, yes a lot of children do fall through the cracks, but you must start by saving one at a time.
Vana:
ReplyDeleteWell said, Vana. Alas, we cannot save all the world's children from natural and manmade disasters. We can and should, however, assume responsibility for the lives of those who, at such a young age, were made victims of historic wrongs committed by others long before they were born. This child deserves freedom no less than any adult and much more than those who are complicit in her victimization whether actively or passively. As Martí said, those who witness a crime being committed and do not denounce it, consent to it and should be held to blame for it.
Much to my humiliation, I have been "out of the loop" with Cuban-American current events, and thus only recently came to comprehending the gravity of the situation about this little girl.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, the controversy that has surfaced in Cuban-American Blogdom is still nauseating
"That may sound insensitive, but let's face it, one girl's return to Cuba isn't going to change anything regarding Cuba."
That quote alone is at the crux of my continuous disappearing/reappearing act (of frustration) in Cuban-American Blogdom.
Our BLOGS aren't going to change anything regarding Cuba, and yet many who agree with the above quote write them.
One woman's CD isn't going to change anything regarding Cuba, and yet many who agree with this quote bashed Estefan until the bashing was banned.
One TV Show is not going to change anything regarding Cuba, and yet there are posts and hissy fits about the stereotypes this work of fiction may portray.
TV shows, CDs, and blogs, nonsense and fluff in the end, and yet for some reason there are people who prefer to focus on these topics while ignoring the plight and freedom of a human being.
I don't get it. And I haven't been getting for the past 2 years.
What's the point of wanting to change Cuba, if we can't AT LEAST do it by bringing to freedom one soul at a time?
I will be praying for this poor girl, who has to return to the lion's den
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ReplyDelete