Siena Iwasaki Milbauer: Hi, this is Siena Iwasaki Milbauer, co-host of New Narratives and New Narratives: Justice for George Floyd. Today, I’m here with a quick but crucial message about what’s happening in Afghanistan, and why we should all be paying attention and standing with the Afghan people.
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Siena: As many of you may know, Afghanistan is in a state of crisis right now. The United States military is leaving Afghanistan after more than 20 years of occupying Afghan soil in a long, costly, and controversial conflict. As the United States departs, the Taliban, a violent militia with a history of brutal discrimination against women and many other minoritized groups, has swept across Afghanistan, resting control from the United States-backed Afghan government in what feels like a matter of days.
These events have left millions of Afghans reeling, fearing for their freedom and their lives. Many are trying to evacuate from the country, and they are calling on the United States government to live up to their promise, to defend the democratic rights and safety of the Afghan people by assisting in those evacuation efforts. As folks living in the United States, it is very important that we raise our voices in solidarity with the Afghan people to demand that the United States indeed do its part to help evacuate and provide new homes for those most at risk.
This is a developing situation that changes every hour, so it feels hard to provide concrete suggestions for you. But what I know for sure is that it is crucial that we all keep our eyes on Afghanistan, that we listen to the voices, stories, and needs of the Afghan people, and that we use our voices to amplify what we are hearing from folks on the ground. Three ways you can do that are to 1) Learn more about the history leading up to the current situation in Afghanistan 2) Support organizations doing resettlement work and 3) Advocate for the admittance of refugees. As of August 20, 2021, you can also head to bit.ly/3z6DP0r for a list of mutual aid opportunities. And that link will also be in this podcast episode description.
For our Asian American communities, the images coming out of Afghanistan, bear a striking resemblance to what we remember so well, and so painfully, from the end of the Vietnam war. Once again, the United States has relied on military might to shape the world in its image. Once again this strategy has failed, and once again innocent civilians are paying the biggest price. Watching history repeat itself this way is beyond frustrating and heartbreaking. We each have a duty to call out what we are seeing, to stand with the Afghan people, and to hold our government accountable for its actions.
All of this can leave you feeling pretty hopeless. I know that I’m struggling with a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. But I have faith in individuals and in our communities to stand up for what is right. The arc of history can feel inevitable, but it is people who shape that arc. We have an opportunity, today and every day, to speak up for what is right and to take actions that make our world a better place. So today and in all the days to come, let’s stand with the Afghan people. And step by step, piece by piece, let’s work to make a world where something like this never happens again.
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