Column by J1 Reporter Melina Piperis

Kim Kardashian West just donated $1 million to the Armenia Fund, and thinks that you should help out, too.

In a video posted to Instagram on Oct. 1, the reality star encouraged her 191 million followers to join her in supporting Artsakh, an Armenian region in the Near East. Through her massive digital platform, Kardashian West sought to “bring further awareness to the crisis that we cannot allow to advance.” Kim K has done her part in actively fighting for justice–can you say you’ve done the same?

In July, Azerbaijan invaded Artsakh. Azerbaijani and Turkish troops flooded the Armenian region, mounted on tanks and armed with artillery. With missiles and bullets, they seized the land that belonged to Armenians for thousands of years. Families were forced to flee their homes. Armenian men left their villages and sacrificed their lives at the front lines. Thousands of innocent people have died since July, and nobody in the United States seems to care.

On Instagram, we are bombarded with posts telling us that we do not do enough for justice. People tell their followers that they are standing against oppression, but are they really? Is there action behind the talk?

Artsakh was invaded. Freedom was stolen. Families were separated. Lives were lost, and we didn’t know about it. We missed it. From the comfort of our homes, we did not care, and we did not educate ourselves on what was going on. 

We act as if we use our voices against injustice. We assure our Instagram followers that we do. Yet when freedom was stolen, we had nothing to stay. The Azerbaijani and Turkish invasion shows that dictators are alive today, not just in our history books. They are threatening freedom as we speak.

Kim Kardashian cares about Armenia, why don’t you?