On January 6th, a group of domestic terrorists formed by White Nationalists and their counterparts in the Capitol Police department stormed Capitol in Washington DC. Their insurrection aimed at undermining democracy in the American Republic by overturning the results of the 2020 election. This planned and deliberate fascist attempt amounts to treason. And all those involved in this treasonous attempt should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. A judge and jury can determine the appropriate course of action.

That being said, this powder keg of events has been nurtured over time. In fact, domestic terrorism from right wing terrorist groups like the ones we saw yesterday were identified by the FBI as one of the greatest threats to America. The following testimony from the FBI Archives in 2002 talks about this matter in greater depth. To put in blankly, the actions of domestic terrorism from these particular groups should come as no shock.

How do Conservative and Radical Christians relates?

They are funding and fueling these terrorist groups. That is not to say that all Conservatives and Christians are bad or complicit. In fact, I have several Conservative and Christian friends myself. I respect them and their views. I even agree with them on certain topical issues, which I will not address here. But I am calling for all the moderate, liberal, and any reasonable Conservative and or Christian to condone these attacks.

Let us by very clear, you cannot place the blame at "Antifa" or Anti-Fascist groups. The actions of yesterday align for too well with Fascism to encourage the involvement of Anti-Fascist groups. The red flags were everywhere. In fact, there were "a large assortment of flags: American flags, Confederate flags, and Trump 2020 flags; the Christian flag, QAnon flags, and Don’t Tread on Me flags."

It is also worth noting that this insurrection was planned. In fact, the Black Lives Matter movement and its leaders advised their members, people of color, and others not to come out on January 6th because of these planned actions by these domestic terrorists. And went so far as to warn law enforcement that there were plans. Given the warnings, it makes the lack of security on that day very suspect and questionable. Which ought to be investigated.

An attempted coup on the Capitol should not be taken lightly. Americans need to wake up and understand what is going on around them. Read and understand your history. Know who your friends are, know who your enemies are, and know who the hypocrites are.

Make sure your actions write a historical narrative you can be proud of. To anyone who recognizes their mistakes and changes for the better, you have my deepest respect.

Be on the right side of history.

For the past year and a half, I have been on 3 continents and visited over 10+ countries in addition to engaging with individuals from 100+ countries throughout my masters program at Hult International Business School. The moment our courses got moved online, I booked a one way flight from Boston to California with several of my classmates booking similar flights globally.

What started in Wuhan has since spread infecting over 100+ countries and impacting the lives of millions. Most recently, the stock market collapsed dropping 20% and even with an injection of 1.5 Trillion Dollars by the Fed--it is still maintaining its downward course. We are facing a global recession. It is worth noting that the issues and problems that arise are not simply the result of COVID-19 or the Coronavirus. The problems, especially in the United States, are the result of severe disinvestment in the people and the very institutions that maintain and manage public health. This virus is merely exacerbating the problems you were already facing.

I want to use this opportunity to point of the failure of business and the utter lack of a social safety net for a vast majority of the population. Most Americans are one paycheck away from being on the streets. And the vast majority of student are burdened with debt and the limited job prospect make education an unattainable alternative. Our elderly lack the care they need. Hospitals, doctors, nurses, and caregivers are overburdened. But someone is profiting off of this and that is the problem I have. That 1.5 Trillion the Fed gave--who does that benefit?

This system is broken. I am bitter. I am angry.

But I am still hopeful.

The idea of borders being closed and social distancing being practiced means that we as society still care deeply about one another. I know that within this madness and what some may view as malarkey--people still care. And that is important to remember, because the reality is COVID-19 is just a baby test and how we react to this will have huge implications for future problems.

The real test is yet to come--climate change.

*You can read the article here as well: 
http://relieflab.irusa.org/orville-disaster-response-reflections/
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A few weeks ago, I had the honor and privilege of volunteering as a part of a Disaster Response Team aiding those impacted by the Orville Dam evacuations and the San Jose flooding. This experience opened my eyes and made me realize a few things—here are a few of my reflections and thoughts.
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​I have always believed in this notion, but it is something that I have rarely seen in action. Here I am defining religion as a way of life. A way of life which may or may not conform to a set of certain set of principles, rules, regulations, guidelines, regions, and/or identities. While volunteering, I had the privilege of meeting people from different religious backgrounds and walks of life. People who, on a regular basis, I would not have the opportunity to associate with. This included former members of the military, congregants of the Southern Baptist Church, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Atheists, Muslims, and everything in between. The only thing that these folks appear to have in common is their desire to help others. A duty which was not taken lightly.
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The response to these disasters was truly a village coming together. Our team brought up donations from the South Bay and the surrounding regions. People flew in from all over the country, leaving the comfort of their family and homes to sacrifice their time and energy. Supplies brought in from all over the USA provided food and shelter. Each person who donated an item, resources, or their time is a hero. What I realized is this: people have good intentions and even if they cannot physically be there, their spirit and well wishes can. I just want to give a shout out to all the volunteers who worked 12 hours shifts. It is mentally and physically exhausting, and they all have my utmost respect and admiration for doing it day after day.

While it is great seeing the community coming together like this, the real question is how can we prevent things like this from happening? Climate change will only worsen the impact of events like this and if we do not take precautionary measures, more people will be impacted in the future. From conversations I had with those who were impacted, I learned that there were very few alternatives. If we can come together to aid these people in disasters, what is preventing us from aiding them before these disasters occur? How can we work to provide alternatives?

These are not million dollar questions, these are the questions for over a million lives.

Cooped up, tied down
About forgotten.
Shared sentiments severed
By miles and miles of dust and roads.
 
Those paths less traveled
About forgotten.
 
Crumbling infrastructure--
Stranding each on opposite sides
So close yet so far
What can be done to fill this divide?
 
False promises, cheats, and lies
Triumphant losses suffered on both sides.
Could we, instead, throw out a line—?
 
Building bridges to help walk the line
The keystone being an open mind.
Have faith and pray, do not lose hope today
For tomorrow will be another difficult day.
 
The challenging task is yet to come:
Listen carefully before you are done;
Listen carefully to everyone;
Listen carefully for what is to come
 
Carefully listen as we may not see
Not zi, na see, Nazi…
 
Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.
 
Here we are suffering.
Here we are in pain.
Hear, we all need change
 
Settling for pennies and dimes,
Poisoning us is part of an elaborate design.
 
Let us educate and not hate.
 
Start by addressing a rural urban divide:
Without both, our nation will not survive.
United we stand, divided we fall
 
Yet, we fear one another—like a cancer
Killing our nation from the inside out
Here we are on the cusp of collapse.
 
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
 
Some fear for their livelihood—others fear for their life.
Their liberty and lives have been stripped, whipped…
Woefully ill-equipped
Yet still they rise.
 
I am amazed by you and your resilient sides
America, vow to give faith a fighting chance
And join me in our healing dance.
 
We could rewrite our wrongs seeing
Our left and our right to find what was
Left behind, bringing it all into the light
Doing what is right.
 
What is right is not always popular and
What is popular is not always right.
 
So choose your battles wisely
Be prepared to reap what you sow
One never knows how the wind may blow
 
Hurt no one, so that no one hurts you and do not
Commit injustices against yourself.
It is in our hearts and in our hands,
Reckon awakening complacent heads?
 
I know somewhere in between a heart skipped a beat,
Shh, listen carefully, can’t you see? It’s not just black and blue--
If we just open old wounds, our hearts, and our minds, only then
Can we get to the heart of the matter
 
Break. these. mental. chains.
 
Here is a thought—why not use our brains.
We keep thinking that we are ahead of the game…
Eventually the curtain will close, it was just an act
And all for show, our prayers and players
 
Could simply be played.
So remember we
 
Are judged by the content of our character:
Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight,
 
This could be solved within a minute.
Within a heartbeat, if all would listen
Then maybe, just maybe a renascent could rise
A new birth of freedom
 
A government of the people
By the people for the people
Could be for all the people.

Disclaimer: This article is primarily written for myself any of the advice or solutions given are first and foremost things that I am working on implementing within my life. You can think of it as me talking in a mirror to myself reflecting on society.

Within our society we have a system established that literally abuses the vast majority of us. These systems lie all across the board ranging from racism, police abuse, education and access to education, insurance policies, resource distribution, pollution, climate change, water quality, water distribution, our tax system, our current government practices, and even our internal reactions to those around us. What I mentioned does not even begin to scratch the surface. When was the last time you walked through a "ghetto" neighborhood and felt at ease, when was the last time you saw a homeless person and acknowledged their existence as a fellow human being, when was the last time you empathized with those less fortunate rather than blaming them for their circumstances, when was the last time you thought about where your tax dollars go, and when was the last time you had time to think about these things rather than worry about your simply surviving and providing for your family, and...the list goes on and on.

In my opinion, the main issue here is that we do not care about one another. It is basically like we are all fighting over pennies, while others sit on their stacks of money passing a cigar around enjoying the spectacle. Finding amusement in our misery. One thing that they do better than us is look out for one another. There is constant lobbying and reform promoted by them to protect them and their vested interests. And part of what they do is work to turn the rest of us against ourselves.

While reading the Qur’an, verse 73 of Surah Al- Anfal (Chapter 8) stood out to me and highlights the problems that we are seeing.

Everything I mentioned above falls into the category of oppression, persecution, confusion, and mischief. This is what we are seeing and the solution is right there.

We need to start being allies of one another.

We need to start being protectors of one another.

We need to start caring about one another.

And in order to do that, we must start by asking ourselves difficult questions. Why we hold the opinions we do? Why we act in certain ways? Why is that we do not care about one another? After asking why, we move on to addressing what. What is wrong with us? What does it mean to be an ally? What does it mean to be a protector? What would we want in an ally or protector? And finally how.

How can we be one?