Our trip to Medellin included a local guide who shared the past and present through a cable car ride; a museum visit; and a walking tour of a neighborhood at the highest point of the cable car route.
The past has been steeped in violence, corruption, and oppression with a lingering impact and often reappearances—much like the U.S. Like the written words on a panel at the museum, a narrative of various voices brings us closer to truth.
Medellín, with its rich yet violent history provides a glimpse of possibilities. The cable ride revealed the 6 economic/social positioning of its population and how the government and its people have funded a transportation system for groups 1-3 (lower socioeconomic groups). Ironically, this system also allowed us as tourists to visit communities that have reshaped some of their space into areas attracting tourist and helping sustain an economic base unrelated to most of their “day jobs.”
Such opportunities provide one with sometimes overwhelming emotions. Sexual abuse, gang violence, racism, sexism and stories of oppression and resistance are global and remind us of the challenges to a better future of the living and those yet born.