Pink for October

Well, the results are in for Pink for October:

~1500 sites went Pink.

1500 sites!! Now that’s what I call a rally! Personally, I enjoyed the whole process of redesigning my site in pink. Since I didn’t get a chance to get as involved physically this year as I have in years past, it still provided a sense of ‘goodness’ I suppose. But, as I feel always about things of this nature, what will we do now as November rolls in and we trod on the shore of the holiday season?

We have short term memories after all. So much to care and think about, so much information to feast upon that it becomes hard to remember something that doesn’t pop up each day, or even 31 days out of the long 365. Not that Breast Cancer should be the waking thought of every person, but where will the empathy and concern be in May? Who will think of donating, or having the notion learning about this cancer in the waning weeks of spring?

That goes for any major event or cause. Being African-American, I understand the feeling of having the light through the shutter of your exposure turn vivid and fade that quickly. Whether it be October, or February, or 9/11/20## the “rally cry” simply dies the day after — no more wristbands, tolerance, or t-shirts — until it’s called on again. Although, I can’t say I will miss the mass marketing of pink ribbons.

The End of Apathy

Being the Nobel Prize Winning Humanitarian that I certainly am not, I have no idea how and if there is anything to do to lessen that type of drop off. With the internet being as massive an advertising tool there is on Earth, I figured I’d start there first. But even with breast cancer being a personal topic to me, all I could come up with was putting a small “pink forever” sign on my site, in hopes that maybe during the year it will cause someone to say, “Oh yeah…” and do whatever that impulse drives them to do.

Outside the net I can just keep up my normal volunteering and donations to the things I care about, remembering to invite friends whenever I get a chance. And maybe that is the solution; to keep the candle lit on a personal rally cry and affect those immediate to you.

—Kabari