We are all one #Egypt

The Girlboxing blog is a place to engage in a dialogue about personal growth, courage and the extent to which we can use our physical prowess to affect change in our lives.  Given the momentous and historical events unfolding half a world away, it is also our place to bear witness.

In my opinion, the very fact of this blog site and the hundreds of millions of others on the web means that we are all creating a place where information and communications are truly becoming democratized — along with the ready availability of such things as mobile phones, texting and so on.

At this very moment, at Tahrir Square in Cairo, the nexus point of the Egyptian uprising against Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Egyptian F-15 fighter jets are circling the square in ever-lower circles.  During each round, the tens of thousands of people in the square have raised their hands towards the sky and erupted in a roar of “get out,” “get out,” “this is terrorism.”  The images and accompanying audio are being sent and reported via the Internet – and rather than be intimidated, many of the protesters in the Square are refusing to leave in part heartened by the fact that they know that their message is being seen and heard.  As well, others are walking to join the protesters.  We are thus privy to the unfolding of these events in real-time — not only “living” history, but experiencing a democratized form of history.  One not told from the point of view of leaders shaping the “perspectives” of their people, but from the people themselves as they live it.

I am reminded of civil rights protesters singing, “We shall not be moved,” as they faced down water canons and a phalanx of police — and of watching snippets of these events on the evening news, all of which revolutionized how individuals experienced America’s civil unrest paving the way for the communications opportunities we share and take advantage of day in and day out today.  At any rate, it is something to think about.

For real time information on what is happening: Google is here.  Live images here.  BBC here.