Boston Strong, Global Strength: Celebrating Solidarity and Resilience

Resilience. Defiance. Courage. Those words usually describe Grassroots International’s partners around the world and their stand for human rights in the face of relentless dangers.

But not today.

Today those words apply, too, to our neighbors here in Boston. Runners. Families. Communities that for years have lined the roads from Hopkinton to Copley Square to cheer for strangers.

  And when the bombs exploded at the finish line of last year’s Boston Marathon, another word changes its direction as well – solidarity. Mere hours after two devices ripped through the streets of Boston and the limbs of hundreds of spectators, our inboxes here were filled with messages of concern and support from Brazil, from Haiti, from Palestine, from Honduras. (Yes, we are all okay. No, our office is not on that Boylston Street.) Words of encouragement – literally, bits of online courage – came to us from women and men who endure daily threats and dangers.   Now one year after the bombing, the resilience and compassion of this city and the solidarity of people across the country and the globe stands as a testament to the power of love and of grit. And that is a wonderful thing.  How much more wonderful would it be to have the solidarity so readily flow back to those who continue to struggle for freedom and dignity in rural encampments, on urban farms and front-line struggles for justice – in Brazil, Haiti, Palestine, Honduras and elsewhere.  One year after the tragic bombing in our city we remember those still in recovery. For Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, Martin Richard, and Sean Collier we say: “Presente!”  And to our brothers and sisters around the world who took care of us a year ago, we continue to say thank you, and stand in solidarity with your ongoing resilience, defiance and courage.