Blog 5 - Global Solidarity

Michael Hsu

7/15/19

Blog Entry #5

This week, we traveled to New York City for our seminar program on migration, and we went to the Church Center near the United Nations (UN) for our programming. A lot of our focus this summer has been on faith and justice within the domestic context. However, this is probably the first time where we have learned the intersection of faith and justice within the international context. I was reminded of a quote that was discussed during one of the sessions, “Someone’s global is your local and someone’s local is your global. We need to be able to connect issues that are happening overseas to issues happening at home and build solidarity with one another globally.

At least to me, when I think about the UN, the first thing that comes to my mind is its mission to end all wars and foster peace in the international community. Although that was why the UN was initially created, it is not the only type of work they do. Income and wealth inequality have not only grown in the US, but it has grown around the world. Billions of people are currently living in poverty, and many don’t even have access to necessities, such as clean water, adequate food, and decent housing. Many people also don’t have access to universal, quality education and healthcare. Many NGOs are doing work around these issues, and it was very cool to listen to the speakers talk about the work that they do and how we can all work together to solve these issues.

We took a tour of the UN headquarters, and for me, it was just fascinating. I felt like I was stepping inside so much history. When the tour guide talked about how the UN was created after World War II and the Holocaust, I just connected so much of those events to what’s happening today. The US is still involved in what it seems like never-ending wars. People at the Southern border are being held at concentration camps, just like Jewish people were. As the one of the main organizations that brings the international community together, it has the potential to be an engine for cooperation between countries. However, as our tour guide says, the UN is what the countries make of it. It is not a world government. Even though countries still have its sovereignty, the UN is a way for member countries to work together to achieve a shared goal in our world today.

The whole trip reminds me about how much privilege and power I have just by being a US citizen. Many people have suffered around the world due to our policies. It reminds me of our responsibility as US citizens to be in solidarity with our siblings across the globe. We have a shared responsibility in shaping the world for our future.