For the first time in human history, we find ourselves an a society interconnected through globalization facilitated by markets, media, infrastructure, technology, and innovation. Our networks span across oceans, tundras, prairies, deserts, cities, and mountains. These networks have caused the global community is shrink in a way that gives us unprecedented access to information, people, and place. Despite this expansive access and opportunity, we know next to nothing about our world and it’s people.
My goal is for this space to be a springboard strengthening our community – a place to meet people we haven’t met, hear untold stories, undo our own ignorance, and confront issues facing our world. I believe that knowledge is power, and learning enables us to make informed choices, engaging responsibly in our community. This is an equipping ground of sorts; it is built to provide an opportunity learn new things, think new thoughts, see new faces, and confront new challenges together.
But why? Why does a college student in the middle of Kansas care about the world and it’s people beyond her borders? And why would she want to dedicate time and energy to learning what lies outside her wide open spaces and share it with an invisible audience?
Because too many things are left unnamed. It’s easy not to care about an anonymous person, in an unknown place, struggling with an incomprehensible challenge day in and day out. Once we know, we care. Once the issue is acknowledged and named, it’s significant. Only then can we confront the challenges invisibly weighing on our society. Only then can we make progress. This is a space where I invite you to join me in an effort to name the unnamed, face the unconfronted, voice the unsaid, and tell the untold stories of our fellow man. Together, we can do the undone.
Bottom line: because the more we know, the more we hope.