It was April 15…the day when a deeply humanist writer, actor, columnist and politician was taken to the ICU in Istanbul. His name was Sırrı Süreyya Önder and he was a prominent and much beloved figure in Turkey’s efforts to find a peaceful solution to the country’s relations with its Kurdish citizens. His hospitalization came right in the middle of a period of substantial change in the direction that the Turkish government had taken towards its Kurdish population over the last fifty years…a period marred by extensive focus and heavy-handed military approach to fighting the PKK, the terrorist organization founded on the basis of fighting for the rights of Turkey’s Kurds. The outpouring of support and prayers for Önder’s recovery was no surprise, admired as he was for his singularly charismatic and well-intentioned approach in all of his endeavors. What is more significant about him as a key peace negotiator and a pro-Kurdish MP is that he himself was not Kurdish. He was simply a good human being dedicated to basic human rights for all. Önder died 18 days after he was hospitalized. He was only 62.

On this side of the ocean, again on April 15, a writer and thinker by the name of Leonard Zeskind died at age 75. Jewish by birth, Zeskind had become socially conscious during the mid-sixties’ Black Freedom Movement and subsequently dedicated his life to researching and writing about the origins and rise of white nationalism in the United States. A lifetime member of NAACP, Zeskind spent years following the trails of modern-era Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other rightwing groups. In 2018, he was quoted as saying: “For a nice Jewish boy, I’ve gone to more Klan rallies, neo-Nazi events and Posse Comitatus things than anybody should ever have to.” His book was titled Blood & Politics, the History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream foresaw the rise of anti-immigrant groups in the US way before this country would elect an openly racist President not once but twice. Just like Önder, Zeskind was a social justice advocate, dedicated to human rights for all, not only for his own kind. He died knowing that his seminal book was among 381others banned from the US Naval Academy Library in the current government’s anti-diversity purge.

April was indeed the cruelest month. So, what of the month of May then?

In Turkey, the PKK has unequivocally announced its disarmament during an official congress on May 12. Several questions remain on the docket for the future of Turkey vis-à-vis its Kurdish population. The least of which is whether the mantra of “Turkey without Terrorism” heralded by the current government ushers in the consolidation of Turkey’s democracy as in the true meaning of the rule of law and a solidly independent judiciary.

In the United States, the soft authoritarianism of President Trump and his acolytes continues unabated. Whether the multitude of lawsuits against the administration’s shameless attacks on any and all organizations and/or institutions it doesn’t approve of bear fruit in the coming months (most likely years) is far from certain.

What is painfully clear at this particular juncture is that the smidgeon of hope for a better future in terms of human rights for all seems to have a slightly better chance in Turkey than it does in the United States. Even the most cautious of optimists in Turkey have articulated their hope for the start (not the resolution) of a period of substantial discussion regarding the political, social and cultural rights of the country’s Kurdish citizens, the largest minority group of that country.

T.S.Eliot coined the phrase “April is the cruelest month” because it suggests that while spring is a time of rebirth and new growth, it can just as easily stir up old memories and emotions and leave us yearning for the numbness of colder months.

Maybe, just maybe, years from now, we will witness a United States where one of those US-born citizens, be they white or black or brown or any other color of the rainbow, will be elected President again and that he or she will carry on the mantle of bringing back civility, honesty and true diversity to this country. And that he/she will do this because he/she will put their humanity ahead of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or personal gain when fighting for what is right.

With my apologies to T.S.Eliot’s singular poetry cited at the beginning of my musings,  I will end by using the old and overused adage and say, “Hope springs eternal.”

For your perusal:

Reuters
Pro-Kurdish MP and key peace negotiator Onder dies at 62

Associated Press
A Turkish politician at the center of efforts to end 40-year Kurdish conflict dies at 62

New York Times
Leonard Zeskind, Who Foresaw the Rise of White Nationalism, Dies at 75

NPR
Famed anti-racist expert Leonard Zeskind, who warned of fascism’s rise, has died