The analogy  that  has  helped  me  most  is  this:  in  Hurricane  Katrina,  hundreds  of  boat-owners  rescued  peopleâsingle  moms,  toddlers,  grand-fathersâstranded in attics, on roofs, in flooded housing projects, hospitals, and school buildings. None of them said, I canât rescue everyone, therefore  itâs  futile;  therefore  my  efforts  are  flawed  and  worthless,  though  thatâs often what people say about more abstract issues in which, nevertheless, lives, places, cultures, species, rights are at stake.
They went out  there  in  fishing  boats  and  rowboats  and  pirogues  and  all kinds  of small craft, some driving from as far as Texas and eluding the au-thorities  to  get  in,  others  refugees  themselves  working  within  the  city.  There  was  bumper-to-bumper  boat-trailer  trafficâthe  celebrated Cajun Navyâgoing toward the city the day after the levees broke. None of those people said, I canât rescue them all. All of them said, I can rescue someone, and thatâs work so meaningful and important I will risk my life and defy the authorities to do it. And they did.
Of course, working for systemic change also mattersâthe kind of change that might prevent calamities by addressing the climate or the infrastructure or the environmental and economic injustice that put some people in harmâs way in New Orleans in the first place.
turnnoffyourmind
germansingergirl
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