One of my goals this year was to read a wider variety of books. I wanted to expand my genres and move beyond romance, and more towards non-fiction. I’ve always had my qualms with non-fiction books. They can sometimes feel a little too esoteric and haughty. I realized this was not the case for all books after I read American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience by Diya Abdo.
There are a lot of books about many harrowing things such as the refugee process, but they lack substance sometimes. It’s like they want readers to feel pity, but they don’t want us to feel more than pity. Also, sometimes those stories are only about “superhuman refugees” as Abdo puts it. “Superhuman refugees” are refugees that have saved people or have been treated like humans instead of refugees. Along with superhuman refugees, we also have to think about the refugees that are just ordinary people seeking shelter. They may not have saved a baby from a burning building, but that shouldn’t deem them any less worthy of seeking refugee status.
When I read American Refuge, I didn’t feel pity. Instead, I felt floored. Refugees haven’t just experienced displacement from their own home, they’ve had to endure the betrayal of a loved one, they’ve had to go through heartbreak, they’ve had to experience the pain of getting a bad grade school, they’ve had to experience every normal thing a human goes through on top of being a refugee. These people have been given no break, but they still keep pushing. It’s inspiring, commendable, and eye opening.
Personally, I know sometimes I can forget that my world isn’t just me and my bubble, but that there are billions of people in the world as well. I’ve never forgotten that people struggle in life, but I have forgotten the magnitude of struggle a person can face in their life.
I encourage you all to read American Refuge not so you can feel like a savior for a day. I encourage you all to read American Refuge because I want you all to understand that a struggle isn’t just an inconvenience that screws up your day or week. Struggle is an inconvenience that changes the course of your entire life whether you want it to or not.
This week read a book that bothers you, and makes you feel something other than pity for a change. Thank you for reading this week’s article. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new posts Stay sharp 😉