How Globalization Really Works

How Globalization Really Works

We often speak of globalization and how everyone should be globally minded in order to impact the world and grow our market share. Here’s a true story of what happened when two people from opposite sides of the world collided in China.

I introduced myself, “Hi, I’m Joanna. I’m from America.” I say this every Sunday in a church filled with parishioners from every corner of the world it’s important to say where you are from. Most days America is enough as my accent is a dead giveaway. However, as Eric shook my hand and said “Hello.” Anthony followed up with, “America, but what state?” I responded with a smile and no hesitation, “South Carolina” “Yes, I’ve seen this place on the news” responded Anthony. I didn’t know if he was referring to the Walter Scott shooting or the Charleston 9, but I mustered a smile and said it’s still a very lovely place to live and visit. I turned my attention to Eric who wasn’t smiling, but instead studying my every move. Then the infamous question came, “Why are you in China?” “I needed a change, and the changes that America is undergoing aren’t for me at this time in my life.” Eric told me he understood and said he didn’t think it was safe for Christians in America. Now isn’t that ironic; we’re standing in a church in China discussing the safety of Christians.

I explained to him the civil unrest in America and how things are truly starting to boil over. Eric, who is from Rwanda told me he knew all about civil unrest and that all though things are getting better, there are still times where bombs go off in his country. Now how did we go from America the beautiful to America and Rwanda being more alike than different? The usual questions of why is this happening now and has it always been like this in America were asked. My response, “Yes, and social media and technology play a major role of telling the story of the minority who hasn’t always had a voice”.

CNN was playing in the background in English. I didn’t pay much attention as I was eating breakfast. I was sitting at a table in the Marriot’s lobby in Germany and all was quiet. My mom was facing the television and she said to me, hey they’re talking about Charleston. I dismissed it with a quick, they’re probably talking about the Walter Scott shooting and kept eating. She said no there’s a shooter on the run. Again, I dismissed her and assumed that there was a local shooting downtown. My mom said I think you should turn around and see what’s happening. I turned to see Emanuel AME Church shooting running across the television and nine have been shot. I couldn’t believe it and I refused to look at the television. I had just left Charleston….I mean I spent the past ten years of my life there and I refused to pay attention. So locked the CNN broadcast away in the part of my mind where bad dreams are stored and I went about my tour of Europe. I threw up a little post on Instagram, which I later deleted. I couldn’t process something like this happening in the city I lived in, grew up in…it couldn’t be.

I never really processed my feelings about the events, but today things came full circle. I was confronted with all of my emotions at once. I thought about when I purchased Hotel Rwanda and watched Don Cheadle try to save his family from people that looked like him, but hated him because of the tribe he was born to. I thought about how I cried: when the worst earthquake to ever hit China occurred during my first year of teaching, I thought about how I prayed for the families of Sandy Hook, Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis. I thought about how I sat in convocation and wanted to give all of my resources to save Darfur and visit the Congo. I’ve always seen things happen to people, to cities, to countries, but nothing prepared me for what happened in my city and nothing foretold my inability to grieve those who had been slain. On my bus ride home I had nothing but time, and I spent that time crying and processing.

This my friend, is how globalization really works. Its forces you to think, stretch yourself, and realize that you are a part of something greater than yourself. Sometimes it is easy to see how far apart we are and recognize our differences, but the solution lies in how much alike we truly are.