Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: activism, Barack Obama, brother ali, justice, life the universe and everything, peace, politics, Recent events, social justice, war, Yes We Can
Though much of the “honeymoon period” of Obama’s presidency has ended and we are finally realizing that it will take much effort and time to undo all the wrongs and injustices that George W. Bush’s eight years, today Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is wonderful. However, what is even better is President Obama’s reaction to winning the prize.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said that his Nobel Peace Prize was “also a commission — a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for ‘the brotherhood of man.’”
Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech is worth reading.
Dr. King was right when he said, “Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
Barack Obama acknowledges that the prize is not so much a reward for a completed effort but rather a reminder, almost a burden, that there is still work to be done. That we shall overcome. That we are all part of the effort for a peaceful world. Barack Obama is being honored for his work in international diplomacy and efforts for a world free of nuclear weapons even though the we are still on the journey.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: activism, books, life the universe and everything, musings, social justice
I’ve always been fascinated by superheroes, mutants, wizards and other assorted fantastical creatures and their ability to change the world through their extraordinary powers. I would read comics about Superman saving the day, or the X-Men (and Women) fighting their valiant fight against the forces of evil and I wished that they were real. I became wrapped-up in the possibilities of the fantasy world where good always defeats evil, each book I read was a blessed escape from the reality of a world where wars and greed always seemed to triumph. At the end of each book, I was forced to return to the “real” world, a world devoid of superheroes. Each reemergence into the real world became harder as the contrast between what is and what should be became more apparent. With each book I knew that the world as it was, was in dire need of a superhero; however, I also realized that superheroes were trapped in the world of fantasy.
Recently I encountered a thought provoking passage towards the end of a satirical fantasy, Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett in which the character of Death said: “THERE IS NO HOPE BUT US. THERE IS NO MERCY BUT US. THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE IS JUST US…ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION.” (N.B. Death only speaks in all caps.)
I mulled over these words and realized that Death was right. The only hope is the hope we maintain. The only mercy is the mercy we show to others. The only justice is the justice we create and protect. The only good in the world comes from ordinary people trying to make the world a better place. There are no super heroes.
The only superpower we can hope for is the strength that comes form the realization that the lack of superheroes frees us from complacency in waiting for someone else to change the world. We can’t keep waiting for a superhero to come and make everything better. There is nothing but us.
I wrote the above mini-essay 3 August 2005 but I’ve been thinking about it lately. I love D-PAN, Deaf Performing Artists Network (go watch the video, I can wait), they do amazing work but it is the words of John Mayer’s song that have been irritating me. Mayer laments about how the world doesn’t understand him and people like him so he will wait for the world to change. To me the idea of sitting back and waiting for things to change is appalling.
My heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Phillip and Daniel Berrigan didn’t wait for oppressors and war lovers to have a change of heart; they acted, moved and created change.
The oft cited “Prayer attributed to St. Francis” would be nothing without the action inherent in it’s language. This isn’t a question of semantics. Imagine if the writer of the prayer had written “Lord, please allow me to see peace happen, where there is hatred, may love grow, may healing occur where there has been an injury” instead of “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love…” In a world without superheroes or even deities (depending on your viewpoint) the only way to change the world is to do exactly that; change it.
Death, as Pratchett has imagined him/it, has it right. There will never be justice if we don’t act. There is no mercy except that which we show our neighbors. There is no peace except that which we create. The weird thing is that the opposite of justice, peace, mercy and kindness can occur in two distinct ways; actively (we do unjust things) or passively (we do nothing while injustice happens around us) but it takes action to make things right.
Whether it is a grand march to Montgomery, a walk to Dandhi or simply writing letters to movie studios demanding that they provide accurate captioning for all their films (in accordance with the FCC’s laws) actions big and small are what really matter.
