Mr. Gibran Khalil Gibran died 92 years ago, precisely on April 10, 1931.
In the Garden of the Prophet, Mr. Gibran expressed his sadness to see Lebanon divided into tribes, instead of being unified: “Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation“.
Unfortunately, many in Gibran’s and in Bambi’s birth country still put their “tribe” first. The latter can be one’s religion and/or political affiliation.
Tragically, in today’s North America, we see a comparable danger, stemming from modern identity politics, where societal forces seem to insist on defining us by our identity and to trap us into it. We are no longer uniquely rich individuals. We are a mere extension of our skin colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.
Bambi’s heart aches because we do not seem to want to recall the lessons history tried to teach us about the danger of playing with identity politics while forgetting how to love one another. Will we pay the price for this collective amnesia one day? Or will we wake up to re-learn to treat ourselves and thus others with respect, love, unite, and… to put our country, not ideologies, first?
