美国新冠疫情日记06/03 Calling For Change

Calling For Change

Most of the rallies in the different cities yesterday were peaceful, especially in Houston Texas. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Congressman Al Green in their speeches urged the angry crowds to be calm. Mayor Turner said that George Floyd was our neighbor. As a child he grew up in our neighborhood. The mayor told the crowd that City Hall is your home.“We welcome you to come back home.”At the same time, a group of people including white, black and brown people were kneeling down on the ground and praying and comforting each other. Some of them were even apologizing about what is happening in our community.

George Floyd’s body will be sent back to his home town and a memorial service will be held on June 8. We expect that a huge crowd will come to the city. He will rest here at Houston.

A group of people have also now started what is being called Blackout Tuesday, the trend of posting a solid black image on Instagram in an effort to raise awareness about police brutality and systemic racism.

In Minneapolis, teachers are calling on the community to give out more than sixty thousand food bags on the school grounds. We now have so many people lending their hands to the society to show their support.

America was built by many people who came to this land with the spirit of liberty and freedom. Even as we are facing many difficulties, we believe we will overcome and prevail.

人民的呼唤

近日在全国各大城市之示威游行活动多半以和平方式收场，昨天在德州休斯敦市政府广场之大型集会上，市长特纳和国会议员格林都发表了令人感动的演说，他们指出被害的佛洛伊德是我们邻居长大的小孩，市长告诉示威者，市政府大楼是你们的家，你们回来我当然十分欢迎。休斯敦警察局长阿艾曼多也一直在人群中和示威者一起表达悲伤之情，在市府广场的一个角落上，我们看到近百位跪地的市民，其中包括黑人、白人及拉丁裔，他们举起右手向上帝祷告，祈求种族和谐，国泰民安，一些白人并当场向黑人表达歉意，这是多么令人感动之场面。

依据有关人士透露，佛洛伊德之遗体将运到他的家乡休斯敦，并将于六月八日举行一场盛大之追思安葬大会，让他安息在这块曾经是他成长之土地。

今天我们大家共同居住在这块土地上，任何人都无法置身事外，我们的社区、我们的街头、我们的学校在上演许多烧抢之埸面，令人扰心和恐惧，但是我们华亚裔社区也不断地伸出援手，把温暖送到灾民手中，在此同时，我们更要努力加入主流社区，争取政治上之发言权，投下自己神圣的选票，才是双管齐下之上上策。

虽然新冠病毒不断袭击我们加上警方虐民事件产生之社会动盪，大部分社会有识之士已经觉醒了，正在社交媒体上发起的黑色星期二运动已经唤起上千万人之支持，这些艺术家们强烈表达对佛洛伊德被谋杀之不满。

我们同时也目睹许多义工正在各大城市的街道上，清理被暴徒们破坏的商家门窗，扫除遍地的玻璃，他们正在为受灾户尽一份心力，明利阿波罗市的一名教师，今天更发起捐献食品运动，立即有市民响应，共捐出六万五千袋食物送给急需之市民。

美利坚共和国能在短短二百多年建立为世界第一强国，是经过多少先来后到的移民共同努力，美国之立国精神在于保障自由，独立民主之精神，虽然我们目前受到巨大之挑战，但是多半的人民仍然充满信心，我们是可以去改变的。