Mozart sells more Albums than Beyonce, Adele, and Drake - And who cares?

So if you haven't heard, apparently a large Mozart CD box set outsold Beyonce, Adele, and Drake this year, and for some reason people think that this is a big deal. 

On a recent long, LONG argumentative thread on Facebook, people got outraged, absolutely outraged that this story hit the news, focusing mostly on the comparisons between Mozart (a dead White European Guy) and Beyonce (a powerful Black Woman). And most of the folks arguing about how unfair this was were not people of color. So here it goes, I am going to give a probably unpopular but realistic viewpoint from a Latina perspective. 

These are my thoughts about these ridiculous discussions, usually academic and uninformed, by people that think for some reason that Latinos, Blacks, and other people of color somehow need someone to defend them when it comes to stupid stories like this one. 

PLEASE STOP.

I am tired of reading about safety pins and how you love Beyonce. I am tired of reading about how wrong it is when something insignificant like Mozart selling albums matters to you. I am tired of hearing about how you are "safe" and support people of color. I am just tired. You know why? Because when I share that the discussion is about real lives being destroyed here and overseas, that there are real conflicts that matter, that there is real, like real, violence being done in our communities, to Blacks, Latinos, the poor, foster children, women and girls, refugees, and Muslims, that you shut me down with your words, your looks, your disapproval. 

WHY?

Refugees Detained in the US

Because you really don't care. That's the gist of it. You don't care. You don't want to hear about the real issues like America's violent failing schools, extreme poverty in Black and Latino communities, the fact that of the three thousand abortions a day over 2/3 of them are on Black and Latino fetuses, that right now Latino children are being detained in sub-human facilities on our borders, that the American foster system is really government-sanctioned human trafficking of children of color, that a man with dark skin is not safe in the US, that women and girls are not safe anywhere - not on campus, not at the workplace, not at home. That overseas there are literally millions of refugees right now struggling to survive, but we won't open up our borders because they are brown and speak a different language. That we have a president who eagerly added a White Nationalist to his staff. That by writing this blog I could potentially be risking the safety of my family in a supposedly "free" country because extremists believe that they are in the right and can enact violence and oppression against others because they are "true" Americans. That I can lose friendships and close relationships for simply speaking my mind because it destroys an imaginary box that says we are a tolerant society. We aren't, and we never were.

You want to get mad about injustice. I just gave you a dozen reasons to get mad. 

But please, stop whining about one-percenter performers not selling albums. Stop thinking that sticking up for POC on social media does anything more than help your ego. 

We don't need your words. We need action.

Peaceful Protester at BLM

Instead put that passion into making a difference in your community, and I don't mean voting. I mean time, money, resources towards organizations that help the poor, the oppressed, the refugees, the "least of these". Making meals for an immigrant family in your neighborhood may not win you many LIKES, but it will make a long lasting difference. Preventing children from ending up in the foster care system by intervening when you see a young woman struggling with her family, that will last generations of good. Being outraged when another unarmed man (of any race) is gunned down and helping his family that is left behind matters. Helping homeless shelters and charities in third world countries matters. Volunteering at a battered women's shelter or crisis pregnancy center matters. Holding the hand of the elderly shut-in next door to you matters.

You CAN make a difference. 

But please stop using social media as a crutch. 

So do I care that Mozart outsold albums this year? No, no I don't. I'm not outraged. It doesn't affect the real issues.

I do care if you bother to take the time to make a difference TODAY  in your community. So please, please do that. 

And if you need some ideas, here's a free download with 99 ways to help stop poverty. It's a freebie, I don't get anything from the downloads, in fact, I've open-sourced the book, so download once and pirate away. But my hope is that you can make a difference today instead of getting mad on social media. And thank you for caring enough to read this far. 

FREE DOWNLOAD: 
https://archive.org/details/DreamTheDreamsOfGod99WaysYouCanStopPoverty

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