Her Name Was Rachel Corrie

Report; Posted on: 2006-11-05 19:17:36

"The highest level of humanity is expressed through what we choose to buy at the mall"

By Judy Andreas

"We are all born and someday we'll all die. Most likely to some degree alone. What if our aloneness isn't a tragedy? What if our aloneness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid? What if our aloneness is what allows us to adventure - to experience the world as a dynamic presence - as a changeable interactive theory?" -- Rachel Corrie

Can I take you, dear readers, on a journey with me to the Minetta Lane Theater? It was here that I saw the play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie." It was here, through the magic of Rachel Corrie's journals and emails and Megan Dodd's mesmerizing portrayal, that I met the courageous young woman who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, at the age of 23. At the time of her death, Rachel Corrie was attempting to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. I fell in love with the heart and soul of this young idealist. Perhaps through her words, I can convey Rachel's mission and the urgency of the crisis that is occurring today.

There are those who appear to be born with purpose and Rachel's purpose was obvious at a very early age. It is difficult not to be somewhat stunned by the description of Rachel as a two year old looking across Capitol Lake in Washington State and announcing, "This is the wide world and I'm coming to it."

As the calendar pages turned, the little girl with the social conscience grew into an activist and, eventually, outgrew Olympia.

Rachel's political evolution gathered momentum in her early twenties. Evergreen State College was a very liberal university in Olympia. Rachel observed loudly "the highest level of humanity is expressed through what we choose to buy at the mall".

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