A flower grows on this grey earth. Wherever the earth is grey, you will find fire, war, injustice. Wherever a flower grows you will find hope, freedom, justice. Against the darkness of any “grey earth”, the 27th issue of the Migratory Birds puts forth a shield of “flowers” that find a way and bloom even in hard times.
In the face of the darkness seen in the last issue of the newspaper and up to the moment of writing these words, with the targeting of refugees for setting fires, the resurgence of fascist groups, the outbreak of yet another war, our newspaper could not help but want to shine a little light. Even if it shed its light on those who would be lit by the light of a firefly.
The 27th issue of Migratory Birds was initially going to try to put up a wall against fascism that is once again spreading its tentacles, but the horrors of war could not leave our editors indifferent. Peace and war through the eyes of children, the right to freedom of a people in an open-air prison and the hatred that fascism breeds found their place in the pages of this issue. Racism and the role of education in fostering empathy for all that is different, is the focus of an interview we conducted with one of the winning teams of the “Acting for children’s rights” playwriting competition.
Ali’s article explaining what it’s like to be born a girl in Afghanistan has its own significance, as does James who shares a wish “I wish I could be a child again” in search of the carefree childhood that was lost so early, reminding us of the shivering children after bombings, their dusty, bloody limbs not from play but from the iron of war and the white sheets around their tiny bodies. For these children, for these flowers, we can only fight to keep them from being unjustly faded.
Defend the blossoms that fade
“This here is the tree,
of the people, of the peoples of the world,
of freedom and struggle.
Defend the blossoms that fade,
breath the light of the stars,
Hold this tree, this tree
In the centre of the earth, that grows tall.”
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