The Hero Interviews – Zoe Weil

I found Zoe Weil through Phil Zimbardo and am truly impressed by what she’s doing with the Institute for Humane Education. From her blog bio: In addition to creating IHE’s M.Ed. and certificate programs and leading IHE’s Sowing Seeds and MOGO (Most Good) workshops, Zoe Weil is the author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education (2004) for educators, Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times (2003) for parents, and Most Good, Least Harm: The Simple Principle for a Better World and a Meaningful Life (forthcoming). She has also written books for young people, including Claude and Medea: The Hellburn Dogs (2007) about 12-year-old activists inspired by an eccentric substitute teacher who’s really a humane educator, and So, You Love Animals: An Action-Packed, Fun-Filled Book to Help Kids Help Animals (2004). She has written numerous articles on humane education and humane living and has appeared frequently on radio and television. (forthcoming). She has also written books for young people, including

1) Who was your hero as a child and why?

It’s been interesting to ponder this question. At first, no one came to mind. No family member, no community leader, no politician, no teacher. Could I really have had no heroes growing up!? But then I realized that I had plenty of heroes; it’s just that they were all fictional or historical. There was a favorite book about a boy who became blind and learned to first cope with his disability and then to live life fully and happily. That was profoundly heroic to me. There were Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock who were courageous, moral, and often wise. There were the abolitionists, the suffragists, and the people who hid Jews during the Holocaust, risking their lives to change systems of oppression and rescue strangers. There was Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi whose self discipline, unwavering commitment to peace, and perseverance were hallmarks of heroism to me. But there was no one I knew personally, so these fictional and historical heroes became my role models (if not my idols), and maybe that was a good thing because it got me to think big.

2) Who is your hero now and why?

I have so many heroes now I can’t possibly list them all! I still have fictional and historical heroes, including Captain Jean Luc Picard (much more heroic than Captain Kirk I’ve come to realize); Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi remain profoundly influential in my work and thinking. I have many living heroes whom I don’t know personally such as Greg Mortenson who’s building schools for poor children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Albina Ruiz who’s solving both trash and human rights crises in Peru, Wangari Maathai who started the Green Belt movement in Kenya, Majora Carter who’s creating green collar jobs and restoring her South Bronx neighborhood at the same time, Katie Redford and Ka Sa Wa who won a suit against Unical for human rights violations in Burma, Mimi Silbert who’s helped thousands of convicted felons become productive, law-abiding citizens through her Delancey Street Project – the list goes on and on. And my daily life is now peopled by many heroes, too. Several members of our staff at the Institute for Humane Education and many of our students and graduates are role models for me. My work has brought many people into my life whom I consider heroic, including you, Matt, and Phil Zimbardo, and so many others. That’s how I think of ordinary heroes: people to learn from and emulate. Perhaps the reason I have so much hope, despite the horrors in the world and the major challenges we face, is because I know so many amazing, heroic people who are working to make a difference. I may still idolize historical heroes, but I know that it’s the daily work of the millions of ordinary heroes who will change the world.