 This poem I'm reading is called Why No Flowers for Africa. Parisians, Syrians, Lebanese, Kenyans, Nigerians, Malians, Indonesians, and the Burkinaabe all suffer the consequences of war and fundamentalism. They sit at cafes, attend concerts and soccer matches, go to school, stay in hotels trying to escape for a better life. They see family and friends being killed. Parisians and tourists are told to stay indoors. They can't live their everyday lives. We are asked to sympathize with them because they can't see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Sip espresso at Le Doume Ago, load up on baguettes on the Champs Elysees, feel safe riding the Metro, and take in views from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Their children are caught in the middle of a fight they did not cause. The sins of colonialism visited upon its children out to hear music. What are their friends doing in independent Africa, looting minerals, food, and art? The Eiffel Tower may be lit in the colors of the Malian flag, but the police national surround African immigrants selling tiny knick-knacks to tourists at that same Eiffel Tower, and the national gendarmerie send them to Charles de Gaulle Airport where they are kicked out of the city of lights. All we hear about on the news are the attacks in Paris. Why don't we hear as much about attacks in Syria, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Burkina Faso. Beirut got attacked the day before Paris, Nairobi seven months before, and Nigeria, Mali, Indonesia, and Burkina Faso afterwards. What about ISIS raping women and children in their camps? Obokar Haram kidnapping 200 Nigerian girls and killing 30 people in a suicide bombing. People say Jaisui Peri and prayers for Paris, but no, I am Beirut, excuse me, I am no Bamako, I am Nairobi, I am Jakarta, and I am Ogadougou. They made the French flag, their profile picture on Facebook, but where are the sightings of the Nigerian, Malian, Kenyan, Syrian, Lebanese, Indonesian, and Burkina Bay flags? On the news we watched a drowned Syrian child wash ashore near the Turkish resort of Bodrum, or families walking hundreds of miles to Hungary to catch a train to Austria or Germany, only to be turned back. Some states won't allow refugees for fear of terrorist attacks, or in their words, the U.S. not wanting Syrian refugees here is not based on fear, it is based on wisdom and knowledge. We should only admit proven Christians, how do they prove they are Christians? Maybe they could swear their devotion to crucifixes mounted at checkpoints. A presidential candidate wants to ID Muslim citizens and shut down mosques. The black president is called a sissy, wuss, and petulant child. Translation updated Jim Crow terms for boy. He's called the first female president for urging restraint, even though the terrorism in Europe was done by homegrown terrorists. Someone said to me, they don't consider the Syrians people, they consider them contraband. Which immigrant families have caused more terror? Syrian families or the Bush family? When attacks happened in Lebanon, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Indonesia, and Burkina Faso, there were no national anthem sung, no buildings lit up in these country's colors, no comparisons to 9-11, no moments of silence, no 24-hour news cycle on CNN or MSNBC, just their experts who spend their lives in green rooms sampling free donuts and coffee, is at interviews with civilians, presidents, prime ministers, or experts from the countries involved. Why is a life in France worth more grief and anger than a life in Nigeria, Mali, Kenya, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Burkina Faso? Where are the worlds candles, the vigils, the anthem singing, the hashtags, the letters, the flowers for these victims? Thank you.