❸A letter from a Japanese woman - any choice would be loved.

©︎Shiho Niimi @sviesosdaina

Saving and donating money were other things that I have started to do after I came back to Japan from Georgia

When 9.11 happened, I had a gut feeling that this kind of event ( that created a huge vortex of hatred and grief ) would have happened again in 10 years. 

So, on the 11th of every month, I started to put 1,000 yen[about $9] in a piggy bank. 

Then, just as I had feared, 10 years later, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.

So, I immediately realized that the day was the 11th and it also reminded me of 9.11.

1000yen is not the big impact, I know, but imagine, if one person (or one family) saves 1,000 yen a month, that's 120,000[$1,100] yen in 10 years, right? I think it's pretty cool to think that if 100 people do that, we can donate 12million yen[$110.000]! 

As soon as I told my friend’s couple about this idea of saving, they also started it! That makes me so happy and taught me how powerful it would be to share what we believe in with some loved ones.

Okay....back to the point.

So, you know why we have the same problem with the presidential election?

The reality of 9/11,3/11 and the election are different, but the fundamentals are the same tome. 

Hate creates division.

Georgia, especially the rural town I was in, has been very conservative.

I do believe that “being conservative” is fine. Nothing wrong with that. 

Everyone I have known is nice and generous, religious in their way, and filled with lots of love. 

Just we have different opinions and views of points. 

Many of my good friends' parents and the elderly around them voted for Trump. And they voted Republican last two presidential elections.

In that situation, my good friend in Georgia posted on voting day that she loved them no matter who they voted for. 

Quote by Heather Kemp

Most of the people around her were voting Republican, but not her. But that didn't make her say anything bad about her family and friends who supported Trump.

Rather than blaming or shaming those who disagree with her[and me], she acted in the way she believed and tried to make an effort to understand each other. 

I knew how hard it was and how she felt as I traced it at a time.

Heartbroken and hopeless......

Yet, she continued to send love to those who were against her will.

I was so moved and happy with her and wanted to act like her.

And then, surprisingly, the Democrats won in Georgia！

Stacey[Abrams] and her supporters have done a great job for decades with their tremendous grassroots efforts.

On the day, even a small town I was in, turned Blue! 

You know, that was like more than a miracle and a wonderful moment!    

To me, creating the video was a part of my tiny grassroots actions.

The fact that there were so many supporters of the Democratic Party among the younger generation makes me think that the younger generation has grown up rather than that people in Georgia have changed their minds.

But you know, I'm not pessimistic about the fact that people won't change their minds. I do believe that we have the power to continue to change the world for the better.

We, the generation that is raising children now, have the power to change the world together with our children.

By learning and communicating with our children about what kind of world we want, there is hope that we can make what took 20 years to happen in Georgia will come again (actually, I'm sure it took a lot longer than that, but I only know what happened since I was there, so I'll say 20 years).

This is something that can be done by living a simple life, day by day with a light of will! 

Well, it's not just parenting. 

You can do it just by talking about your opinions with your friends or whoever around. 

My friend started to participate in a political study group, which would be a delightful little step for a big change. I hope each of us could do what we can in our respective fields.

It may take time, but if we do whatever we can with true love[not hate], we can make a difference little by little. That's what I have learned from my last 20 years from 9.11 to the 2020’s election

I believe that this slow but gradual change can be achieved through very steady grassroots activities.

Without hurting and trying to force to twist different opinions. 

That‘s why I keep sending the light slowly by learning, listening and what I can do from my everyday life.  Then it would be less of our silly marital bickering too, haha. 

—— 

By the way, whenever I shared my experiences in Georgia with my American friends, almost all of them have asked me.

“Why did you go to Georgia anyway?”

They always add, "It's the land of Republican victories”.

I know that.

I know why they are so curious. 

As a teenager, I chose not to choose where to go.

I put that decision in the hands of something bigger, and it ended up for me to be in Georgia.

And the city I stayed in was not Atlanta, one of the biggest cities in Georgia, but a much smaller city near Macon. 

Every time I was asked, I answered the same way.

I chose not to choose where to go. 

Because when you grow up, you can choose anywhere you want.

Then, everyone would nod as agreeing

"it was a good choice for you “ 

I have no regret that I did to make the decision.

I'd like to praise young-myself for leaving the choice to fate, despite that I was given a chance to pick which city I wanted to go to. 

Otherwise, I wouldn't have considered how to feel when I was discriminated against as a minority, how Daniel, a black boy, was confronted by being a minority, and all the matter around me and us would not be connected through my heart. 

—-

This may be the first and last time I had such an opportunity to remember what has been happening to me for the past 20 years. Oh well, I'm sure something huge will happen again in another 10 years or so, and then I'll be able to connect the dots in my way (days in Georgia, 9/11 to BLM, etc.) and make new ones with lights. 

Since you asked me how I was feeling as editing the video around 3.11 in 2011, I would never have thought that I would be able to go back so far in my memory and see the pieces that have made me who I am today.

I'm sure another piece of memories or feelings will come up over and over again, but there's no end to it, so it is time to close my pen here.  

Thank you so much for traveling through the past with me and giving me a chance to reminisce!

It's almost March 11th.

Praying for all.

Shiho