Pia Klemp, the German ship captain who rescued migrants in the Mediterranean, as she refuses a medal from the mayor of Paris. “I’m not a humanitarian. I am not there to ‘aid’. I stand in solidarity. We do not need medals. We do not need authorities deciding about who is a ‘hero’ and who is ‘illegal’. In fact they are in no position to make this call, because we are all equal. “What we need are freedom and rights. It is time we call out hypocrite honoring and fill the void with social justice. It is time we cast all medals into spearheads of revolution!
“Documents and housing for all!
“Freedom of movement and residence!”‘
– Pia Klemp, 20 August 2019
She is a genius. The kind that speaks what is obvious to all of us but what we are afraid to say. I hope people are paying attention. What courage. This is a wakeup call to those of us who remain silent in the face of suffering. When we turn away from the suffering of others we may not know it but we suffer too.