The long stretch of Spring marked by hunger pangs and tongues dry as cacti lounging in our mouths came to a close on Saturday night. Thirty days of Ramadan culminated last weekend with the celebration of Eid-al-fitr, a day that, fittingly, is observed by stuffing yourself with as much food and delicacies as possible in the span of 24 hours.

Surprisingly, Muslims worldwide were able to settle on observing the holiday on the same day without too many arguments breaking out on a global scale. All five boroughs in NYC marked their calendars for Sunday, with public school children enjoying the following day off as well. I myself participated in last minute Chaand Raat festivities, opting to line the back of my hand with traditional henna patterns.

But Muslims can’t catch a break for longer than a week, so it seems. The days leading up to and following Eid were inundated with a string of grim occurrences worldwide targeting Muslims.

1. The murder of 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen in an apparent road rage incident.
2. A van crashing into a street full of Muslims after prayers in London.
3. Reinstating Trump’s travel ban, with odd caveats–as the New York Times so aptly put it, “Stepsister, yes: Grandma, no.“
4. Acid attacks against young Muslims in London–the severity of the event notwithstanding, please note the Metro’s notable URL tags in their coverage.

As it goes, the rhetoric that tends to follow aligns with outrage, followed by a slew of blogs and news articles examining, over-examining, condemning, or defending the events.

The quiet.

And then the period of discomfort and unrest, before yet another incident occurs.

Despite all statistics highlighting the fact that crime rates are at its lowest point ever, it sure doesn’t seem that way for targeted groups. Disasters may seem exaggerated by way of social media, but the upside is its influence in making people more woke

Filter out the facts from all the noise.