Week 1

Wow…

It’s only been one week and all I can say is that it has been very eye opening…

Yes, I love learning what new things are happening around the world. I made a Facebook account this summer and I mostly use it to catch up on current events with the help of the random "what's trending" articles and videos. I rarely watch the news—I rarely watch TV, I’d rather read something on my phone (RIP my Nook—it died a year ago *sniffle*). NPR isn’t my first choice radio station since their voices are so soothing that they make me want to sleep (WHICH IS TOTALLY DANGEROUS—YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SLEEPY WHILE DRIVING!). But when I’m not driving and my mom tunes into NPR, there really are some interesting articles. 

One of my most memorable experiences with NPR was a time where they played songs regarding the bathroom and toilets—but I digress. When sitting in the passenger seat, I listen to the soothing voices tell me about the latest biological breakthroughs: DNA coding and cancer treatments.

Well, through Facebook, I learn about all the political “mishaps” and “drama”. Especially recently with the presidential race. Trump’s hair, tension between Hillary and Bernie, the “IDK not Trump tho” campaign…wow, Trump’s in the news a lot. Oh, and remember the news about the new young prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and his awesome Bollywood dance moves? Yup, thanks Facebook.

My point is, I don’t actively look into the news. I don’t start up my computer and google the latest update in the stock market or presidential race or *insert random celebrity’s name here* ‘s life choices for that day.

But for my internship, that exactly what I’m doing—not about the topics listed above, but regarding any media coverage regarding Muslims—the news, journals, blogs, America, Europe, Asia—anything, anywhere. And the things you find…wow, the internet is amazing. I have set up a few google alerts that send me emails every day around 1:00 PM so that I can check out what kind of news I can share with my adviser. Good news and bad news.

February 10, 2016 was the one year anniversary of the Chapel Hill shooting where three Muslim University students were shot and killed (and the first day of my internship). I’m happy that I found a story that could make a good article but I also felt a bit sad (for the lack of a better word). I didn’t know about this shooting in much detail, so this was the first time I was reading into what happened. I checked out several websites to get an understanding of the event and the sentiment built around it. Muslims were afraid, the victims were Muslims, but the important thing was that PEOPLE shared the sentiment because the victims were HUMAN. The anniversary encouraged the support of Muslims and non-Muslims to work to provide for their community.

Family members of the victims set up the Lighthouse Project as a way to encourage community service in honor of the victims since they too were active participants in the community on a global level. Deah Barakat went to Turkey to help provide dental care to those in need, him and his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, started a national canned food drive called “Feed Their Legacy”, and the two along with Yusor’s sister, Razan, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

The community at Chapel Hill took a disaster and turned it into something positive. Instead of focusing on the shooter and his intentions (the media claims the dispute was over parking while others claim it was a hate crime because of the shooter’s strong anti-theist background), they community wanted to create a statement: that hate and fear can only be battled by love and generosity.

Tell me, what do you guys think about the Chapel Hill shooting? Is there something we can learn from this event?

And what is your source of news? Are you like me, waiting for what’s trending or do you do the digging yourself?