Waking up to many notifications last Sunday morning was overwhelming. I immediately noticed the times when my phone had lit up while I was in a deep sleep while vacationing in Cape Cod. Starting around 2 a.m. there were a series of flashes notifying thousands of Americans that there had been a mass shooting at Pulse, a night club in Orlando, Florida. This night club is frequented by many Latinos and the LGBTQ community. Now, I do not identify with either of these groups, yet I am concerned by the actions that have been done towards them, especially on Pride weekend, celebrating homosexuals' right to marriage in the United States.

We as Americans and simply as human beings have the right and responsibility to stand up for injustices whether we are directly effected or not. This is the time to study, speak and act. We need to read in order to be well educated on current events and have something to contribute to conversations. We need to speak up. Now is the time to embrace our beliefs. Don't stand by. It's time to debate! It's time to have those difficult conversations and awkward silences. It's okay to be "stuck," to not have a response or rebuttal. Take time to think, to come back.

One does not have to be Latino, Muslim or part of the LGBTQ community to care about what happened in Orlando. This needs to be seen as a wake up call! Aggravated by the ignorance and lack of intelligence by many who are making their opinions known nationally, I knew it was time to write my first "controversial" article. Muslims do not encourage these acts of hate. There are extremists in all religions. ISIS is an extremist terrorist group that classifies itself as Muslim, although extremely untraditional. On Sunday morning, there was an interview in with an Imam Orlando and the head of the LGBT+ community there. This is the sort of news that needs to be explosively publicized throughout the world. Here, both men extended their hands and offered to assist each other and their groups in any way possible. The LGBTQ and Latino communities in Orlando are not holding all Muslims responsible for this tragedy. Thankfully, these citizens are setting a healthy and mature example. Why, then, are some Americans taking steps backward to previous decades by suggesting that we alienate and ban whole groups of people?The first openly gay Imam in America spoke up in an MSNBC interview. He stated "his [Trump's] particular comment are used to try to divide various subgroups in the U.S." This quote by Imam Daayiee Abdullah precisely sums up Trumps affect on the American people. This is why it is so important to read the paper, study religions, politics, gun laws, international relations, etc.

Please, please, please start having the tough conversations you normally wouldn't. Please stand up for your beliefs. Please don't be discouraged when someone has better comebacks, or is more knowledgable on a specific topic. Please be open minded, it's better for all of humanity. Please drop those prejudices and generalizations; you don't always know who you are talking with. Please stop judging before you do your research. And finally, please do not believe everything you hear.