Who Am I?

Tomorrow is the first of my interviews for this pageant, and I am thinking about all the possible questions that could arise and I felt the need to ground myself in who I am and what it is that I believe about the world and myself. I am perpetually hopeful that as individuals we can change and that as a community, state, nation, world we can be better. I have to believe that. I need to believe that change can happen at any point. I am naive, but if just one person can make a change, I intend to be that one person. My history, my family, my sould depends upon that one belief.
Human Rights...and the freedom to be human in our own unique and individual way. To have our cultures and ideals respected and to be free from retribution. The access to everything that is needed to survive. The ability to live freely and simply and to not sacrifice your relationships in the process. To not let money and consumption usurp the importance of human connectedness and the interrelation of all humankind. Economic systems that benefit all. Righteous consumption. Protecting the poor, the homeless, the children, the elderly, the voiceless. Not being consumed by bloodlust that are name brands. Being a protector of the Earth and a provider to the weak. These are all lofty ideals ecshewed in most religious texts and the duty of our humanity. We can only be as human as the way we treat other humans. And that is on a micro and macro level. Economics, personal relationships, trade relationships.
I want to see responsible Capitalism, that protects our earth and our brethren.

What do I learn the most from my heritage as a Haitian-American? That the battle is not won by the most skilled or the most intelligent or the most notable. It is won by the common people who have a purpose stronger than their lives. It is won by passion, by love. Nothing can conquer love. Not death and not life, nor oppression or subjugation.