My two youngest daughters were in their room recently with their door closed. I asked, “Who’s in there?” One replied, “It’s just us.”
We are living in a time that’s increasingly polarized. An “us and them” culture permeates so many areas of our lives. This is especially clear as one of the most contentious elections in recent memory draws closer.
So many of us are trying to navigate relationships with friends, family, and co-workers who see the world differently than we do. These conversations seem more uncomfortable and harder than ever. This is made worse by separation created by quarantine and our increased reliance on social media, where it’s far easier to be confrontational in a tweet or a Facebook post than when we can sit and talk things over with a friend.
At Love146, we have been very deliberate in creating what we call a “big table”. We recognize that people come into the movement to end child trafficking carrying their own opinions and agendas on a ton of different issues. That can create tension, but more often than not, we are inspired by the mix of people willing to join us at the table.
Whatever “us” and “them” represent for you, if you care about ending child trafficking then there is a place for you at the table. I get that it’s sometimes really hard to intentionally share space with people who have a different viewpoint than us.
But in the end, we hope that each of us here cares more about fighting for children, than we do about fighting against each other. In a world full of hidden (and not so hidden) agendas, we have only one: The end of child trafficking and exploitation. Nothing less.
We don’t have all the answers. No one does. We come to the table as learners, and we invite you to do the same, knowing that we will always do what we believe is best for children, based on research and our 18 years of experience.
Though we have our differences, maybe now more than ever, we can agree there is value in naming some of the things that bring us together. Ending child trafficking is one of them.
When it comes to creating a safer world for children, we really are all in this together. When someone looks into the Love146 room and asks, “Who’s in there?,” we can together respond with conviction… “It’s just us.”
