Antwerp, Belgium is Europe’s second largest port. At this very moment it is, like so many other places, going through troubling times. Unemployment is high and now, last week, General Motors announced they will close the Opel plant which means thousands of lost jobs in this city. But this post is not about Opel, nor GM – it’s about solidarity.
And Haiti. On my way back to Antwerp’s central train station I passed two children. One playing the sax and another the trumpet. As you can see in the photo, they are raising money for Haiti. A small amount but nonetheless a gesture and an awareness of those in trouble and pained.
This gesture, one among thousands, spans across ideologies, across politics, and celebrates the very best of human nature. That of generosity and solidarity, those attributes that cannot be quantified and links us all. Attributes that challenge the notions of Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations – a concept that the celebrated scholar Edward Said so eloquently took apart. As do these two children.