My name is Ari Zorn and I want to share my world with you. My story is unique and to not share it is a crime in itself.
I am a Black man. I was adopted into a white Jewish family not long after birth. I am married to a blue-eyed blonde German, and I have found my birth mother and lineage in the last four years. For this, I am truly grateful every day. To me, this is the true meaning of “woke.”
I have navigated this world with open eyes and heart, and I have been and will continue to be the bridge that connects us all. To me, this has been a heavy burden and a joy. We are on a wheel that keeps turning and I have jumped off.
I am not surprised by the good and bad we do as humans because we are a species of animal, no matter how distant many of us are from our connection to Mother Nature, because we are primal.
What confuses me is how we all want the same out of life, yet we don’t see it. We all seek love and want to know we are safe. We all talk but, we as a people, cannot listen. Listening means that when someone shares their story with you, you do not judge or comment. We all view reality through our lens.
Once you put on other people’s shoes you can start to learn, because I have been wearing your shoes my entire life. Everyone has a story and we all have suffered hardships, but this is life and survival at its purest.
How do you respond?
We live in a world built on the backs of the unfortunate and of war. Why do we constantly repeat these patterns? Why do we choose to hate when caring can help heal a wounded nation? That’s because hating is easy while caring and loving require hard work.
If you open your mind, your view of the world may change. I know it’s far more complicated than this, but sometimes a simple handshake with a sincere ‘hello’ to your fellow person is the beginning. I desire to live in a world where we don’t fear one another. This is what “hope” looks like to me. People say I’m a dreamer, but I say many of us have simply given up.
Fighting for our humanity is no different from fighting for our environment. We need each other to survive.
