I do believe that refugees need fame to allow their voices to be heard and their problems to be addressed. From reading all of these chapters, I found that these people are becoming invisible to the public eye. It seems to me that they are being stripped of their identity and all they shows that they are an individual fighting for their life to get their home back. Refugees need to have their voice to be heard so that more people around the world can understand the torment and suffrage these people have been through what could possibility be the majority of their lives.
Pop culture and celebrities are a major aspect of a good majority of peoples’ lives in the United States. Honestly, some people are obsessed fans who know every miniscule detail about certain celebrities which is a bit creepy, yet these people have been so engrossed with their love for a famous person that I don’t see why people can’t do the same for those who are living terrible hardships in refugee camps, surviving on a little to no food yet still have a positive outlook on life. Inside these camps are people who want to make a difference, to make a change. They haven’t given up the hope that one-day they will be able to go back to their homes and live out their lives in full freedom from entrapment. Fame will empower these victims of genocide and hatred. Fame will help provide us with a source of knowledge of their stories and tales that would travel around the world flowing through city-to-city, person-to-person.
I feel if refugees did receive the fame that they need, more life would shine throughout the camps. They would not be just one more number in the blocks, one more ration of food. They would begin to become the person that they strive to be. Refugees have amazing testimonies about their lives pre-refugee as well as their lives within the camps. From reading the testimonies given, I know that these people want their voice to be heard. They want the fighting to be finished; they want the hate to cease to exist. I feel that it is a necessity for these refugees to become known to the world because if we don’t know them, how would we care? The United States especially loves hot topics and controversial subjects and empowering these victims of persecution could turn the whole idea of refugees around.
Some refugee agencies may see this fame that refugees desperately need as a constraint to the power that they hold over the program. It seems that they attempt to desensitize and strip the people of their identities to allow them not to worry about the outside world, to not care about making a difference. Overall, agencies need to tear down their walls a bit to allow these people to become prominent in the media allowing their voices to be heard.
I feel that as the years go by, people are becoming more and more informed about refugees and their issues. I honestly do not see any wrong reason why a refugee should be famous. They might not live in the spotlight like celebrities in Hollywood and New York City, but these people are strong willed and do not give up. They deserve to be able to allow their stories to be told, their lives to be witness, because I feel that the hardships of living in these refugee camps is something that most people don’t think twice about.
– Joshua
EraseIndifference 