Dirty air is a heartbreaker

It was bitterly cold Tuesday afternoon when I picked up my eight year old daughter, Shamya, from school.  Shamya was sitting in the back seat of my car and asked me if we could have a heart-to-heart talk.  At first I didn’t know what to expect but listened as she went on to say that she had just learned that love did not come from the heart, like I had always told her, but that it comes from our brain.  I objected and said to Shamya “Sweetie, I feel love in my heart.”  At times my heart, not my brain, hurts when I realize that the love in our community is gone.  Shamya is going through a stage where she is learning the fundamentals of human emotions.  While I won’t reveal my age, I’m trying to become a little wiser by learning the most basic things about our soul.

Our conversation brought to mind a few articles about pollution and the heart.  Recently, the EPA posted “Let’s Talk About Air Pollution and Heart Disease” and MSNBC posted “Noise, Dirty Air May Be Double Whammy for the Heart.”   It turns out that our air pollution contributes mightily to our heart problems, and breathing dirty air harms our hearts both right away and over long periods of time.  A few years ago, our community… or should I say “the affected Jubilee Park residents” tried to make Dallas ISD aware of these type of concerns when DISD proposed to place a parking lot in-between our residential homes.  But, to no avail, DISD steamrolled forward with their plans to add the parking lot and twisted the facts to the point that no one cared if the plans were harmful to anyone’s health.  Today, the traffic, parking lot and pollution are overwhelming and DISD continues to turn a blind eye and ignore the issue.

All too often, we don’t think of the future or the decisions made today, or how they could affect our health and even take hold of our hearts.  Maybe it is because we get caught up in the moment and worry about today without thinking it through.  Or, maybe it is due to how the truth at times is veiled by the presenters?  In any event, our hearts are full of love and in my opinion, that love which comes from our brain is the love that keeps us focused for what is right.  We need to make sure our community and our planet, that we pass on to our next generation, is one that is safe.

This now brings me to matters of the soul.  We love so many people and hold so many hearts dear to us, whether it is our children, grandchildren, mother, father, sisters or brothers.  I find this air pollution problem soul-hurting which sickens me when I read and learn about the harm it is doing and all the while DISD is ignoring the problem.  This is soul-destroying to our communities and to our children.

Thank you all for reading this and please don’t wait another minute because in my opinion this is very important.  DISD should urgently be questioned as to why they decided to place the residents of Jubilee Park in harm’s way.

Happy Valentine’s Day.