It is a horrific reality that Russian troops are attacking Ukrainians in their attempt to take over the government. These troops on the orders of President Vladimir Putin are engaged in a random, unsystematically slaughtering of men, women, and children. Russian soldiers are indiscriminately using tanks and missiles to destroy cities, schools, and other community institutions, this troubling situation is sparking dialogue and debate about a potential World War III.
When I was a child, the community I came from Puerto Rico to live in in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the area around 7th Street and Girard Avenue, in Philadelphia. This community was primarily multicultural made up of German, Irish, Hungarian, Greek, Jewish, Ukrainian, Polish. The sharpest demographic change in the area during that period was the rapid increase in Puerto Ricans and Cubans. It also had an uptick of African Americans. The neighborhood had many churches and synagogues that catered to the spiritual needs of the different ethnic groups.
Growing up, I was good friends with a Ukrainian kid named Eugene, who transferred from the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic School to Saint Peter the Apostle School, where we were in the same class. I remember hanging out with him, and we visited one another homes and ate our parents’ different foods. We enjoyed getting into the characters of the superheroes of that time.
The Cuban Missile Crises had all the neighbors concerned and fearful that a war between the United States and the then Soviet Union would break out. Calmer heads prevailed and a tough taking John F Kennedy resolved what could have been a war,
In the midst of the ever-changing circumstances in the Russian-Ukrainian war, that everyone is talking about, Latinos need to break our silence and help those nations bullied by other nations. We need to be like Superheroes and stand up against bullying nations and the tragedies they cause our world.
None of us, not even the leaders of the superpower nations with all their riches and technology know when our world can come to a tragic end, but they can practice restraint and move to commit to finding a resolution to the conflict, which have already cost so many lives and destruction of properties.
All we can do is pray and lift our voices in support of a peaceful world. This should, not be a political-economic debate, this should be a humanitarian conversation to save our planet.
