U2 in Barcelona For Aung San Suu Kyi

Note the masks around the one minute mark.

Also note the singing of the Liverpool anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.

The Newest Hero-in-Waiting

The Baby Is Coming

I’m going to be in the hospital for the next few days welcoming my newest hero.  Not sure what that will mean for the blog short term, but I thought I’d let you know

A Break in Transmission

The next set of essays will be up tomorrow – time is in short supply here in San Antonio.  However, the timing is great because I’ve got a guest post up at the wonderful Whitney Johnson’s blog.  You can read it here.

Chad Lindsey – Hero

This guy has so much humility on top of the courage and selflessness shown during his act.

Aung San Suu Kyi Faces Further Charges

Aung San Suu Kyi is in the news again as she is facing charges related to an American man swimming to her house.  She’s been under house arrest for many years without proper hearings or charges and now faces another five years.  You can find out more about the campaign to help at http://uscampaignforburma.org/.  Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, wrote an open letter of support this week in a fantastic move.  You can read about that in this Independent article.

I plan to be arresting myself next month in support of Aung San Suu Kyi.  Not sure of the date yet as I’ve had some commitments come up recently – good commitments.  The plan is to not eat and not go outside as a protest in support of the suffering Aung San is dealing with.  If you’re interested in joining in or coming over to hear more about the issues in Myanmar, feel free to contact me.

On the subject of female heroes there is a new documentary on Irena Sendler.  I’m excited to see this – hopefully it gets a release in cinemas somewhere.  I’m sure Netflix will have it for me eventually either way.  Check out the news and information here.

Wolverine vs Captain Kirk

Over the last two weekends my best friend Chris and I have seen two hero movies.  The first was Wolverine, which we hated.  The second was Star Trek, which we loved.  We disagree a lot on movies, so this is a rare event.  We’re sitting at a coffee shop discussing the heroes of each story and can only conclude we actually only saw one hero.  Here is our blog post.

The hero is Captain Kirk.  Here we see a man possessing wisdom and the willingness to act regardless of the consequences.  The first example of his heroism is on the mining drill where, without hesitation, he jumps off to do whatever he can to save Sulu.  This lack of hesitation is shown repeatedly throughout his story.  Kirk’s instinct for what’s right gives him the confidence to act.  The man that comes off as cocky is truly confident because he knows what’s right.  That’s wisdom.  Barry Schwartz spoke about wisdom at TED this year.  Click to watch it here.  It is wisdom that tells Kirk that going to a meeting to decide what to do next isn’t going to help.  Wisdom tells you that if the right thing to do is contrary to the rules or societal norms, you do it anyway.

Wolverine spends the movie avoiding heroism.  His motivation is selfish vengeance.  When provided an opportunity for heroism at the beginning of the movie, when he recognizes the group of mutants he is working with is doing the wrong thing, he simply walks away.  When presented with a situation that we know is wrong, we have three choices.  Do nothing, join in, or fix the situation.  Wolverine does nothing.  It is only when his girlfriend is apparently killed that he decides to act.  This action is not aimed at fixing the bad thing he knows is happening, it is simply based on his grief or need for revenge.  Even at the end of the movie when he appears to do something heroic by rescuing a group of imprisoned mutants, he does so without any risk to himself.

The ultimate problem with the Wolverine movie was that the hero’s journey was not completed.  At the end of the journey the hero is supposed to have learned and changed – becoming the Master of Two Worlds.  The character that we’ve spent ninety minutes with ends as a blank slate – his memory erased.  What lessons can we learn from such a story?  Star Trek showed Kirk begin on Earth, go on a journey in which he changed, and return to earth.  Kirk learns the importance of responsibility, listening to advice, and of compromise.  And so do we.

The Blue Sweater

Seth Godin sent me this book by Jacqueline Novogratz to read and review.  I’m finally doing so and am sorry I took so long.  Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, built on a belief in using entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty.

“The Blue Sweater” is a hero’s journey of the best kind.  It follows Novogratz on her journey through Africa, Stanford, DC, and the American South.  The experiences in Africa are at its core.  Beginning as an unwanted white woman telling locals what to do, she becomes a valued member of the community, especially in Kigali, Rwanda.  Her experiences are myriad and serve as a colourful reason to read the book.  You’ll have moments of wanting to book a flight straight away and moments of complete confusion and of disgust.  Especially when she recounts the events of 1994’s genocide in Rwanda.

The genocide hangs heavily over Novogratz’s journey, but also contains the greatest lessons.  In revisiting the women she had met earlier, she is confronted by the reality of human reactions to negative situations.  When we see something wrong we have three choices.  Do the right thing despite risk, do nothing, or join in.  Will we be hero, bystander, or villain?  The women she worked with before those events serve as examples of each choice.

“Monsters will always exist.  There’s one inside each of us.  But an angel lives there, too.  There is no more important agenda than figuring out how to slay one and nurture the other.”

At the completion of her journey, Novogratz assumes the mantel of “Master of Two Worlds”.  Using the knowledge she gained from her journey, she begins to change the world.  Acumen Fund is the tool she creates to enact that change.  A true hero, she has changed the lives of millions of people.  And like the best kind of heroes, she continues her new journey without seeking the plaudits and often, without the people she’s helped knowing she did anything at all.

But of the best leaders,

when the job is done,

the task accomplished,

the people will say:

“We have done it ourselves.”  – Lao Tzu

Rekha Kalinda – A Young Hero

From razoo.com:

In India, nearly half of all girls are married off to older men before they turn 18—often while they’re as young as 11 or 12. Technically, they aren’t forced to do it—but it’s so ingrained in the culture that the girls are often afraid to say no, for fear of seeming disrespectful or bringing shame upon their families. So the archaic tradition carries on, year after year, pulling young women away from their homes and schools and into motherhood before they’ve even finished puberty.

But Rekha Kalinda, a brave young girl from Bararola, may be changing the entire culture of Indian arranged marriage. When, at the age of eleven, her parents informed her that she would soon be married off, she gave them an answer they weren’t expecting: No.

As the article says, Rekha’s courageous decision to stand up to centuries of tradition has had a ripple effect.  Other girls that live near her have also refused – to the point that there haven’t been any child marriages in the surrounding areas.  Her story has reached across the world to people ranging from world leaders to 10 year old girls.

Her story is a hero’s story.  Compare it with Rosa Parks.  Compare it with Mahatma Gandhi.  Compare it with the boys who stood up to bullying at their school.  One person’s actions can make a difference.  For those who have been telling me over the last couple of weeks that nothing can be done about bullying, think again.

Leo Major Lane

I’ve written about Leo Major a few times, in thanks to his son, Jocelyn.  During his life he showed great heroism more than once.  If you’d like to read about him, click here.  He is credited with saving the town of Zwolle in the Netherlands and recently the people of that town recognised him by naming a street after him.  April 14th was the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Zwolle by Leo Major.  His family was invited over the the cermonies, where they were treated like royalty.  Jocelyn sent me some photos – that last one is of Joceyln, his older brother, two nieces, and his mother (Leo’s wife).

Real Life Heroes Teachers as Heroes

An essay written by an assistant principal in Ohio. By J. Bradley sent to me by Jessi and Heather.

“Where are the heroes of today?” a radio talk show host thundered. He blames society’s shortcomings on education. Too many people are looking for heroes in all the wrong places. Movie stars and rock musicians, athletes, and models aren’t heroes; they’re celebrities.

Heroes abound in public schools, a fact that doesn’t make the news. There is no precedent for the level of violence, drugs, broken homes, child abuse, and crime in today’s America. Education didn’t create these problems but deals with them every day.

You want heroes? Consider Dave Sanders, the schoolteacher shot to death while trying to shield his students from two youths on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Sanders gave his life, along with 12 students, and other less heralded heroes survived the Colorado blood bath.

You want heroes? Jane Smith, a Fayetteville, NC teacher, was moved by the plight of one of her students, a boy dying for want of a kidney transplant. So this woman told the family of a 14-year-old boy that she would give him one of her kidneys. And she did. When they appeared together hugging on the Today Show, Katie Couric was near tears.

You want heroes? Doris Dillon dreamed all her life of being a teacher. She not only made it, she was one of those wondrous teachers who could bring the best out of every single child. One of her fellow teachers in San Jose, Calif., said, “She could teach a rock to read.” Suddenly she was stricken with Lou Gehrig’s Disease which is always fatal, usually within five years. She asked to stay on job … and did. When her voice was affected, she communicated by computer. Did she go home? Absolutely not! She is running two elementary school libraries! When the disease was diagnosed, she wrote the staff and all the families that she had one last lesson to teach ….. that dying is part of living. Her colleagues named her Teacher of the Year.

You want heroes? Bob House, a teacher in Georgia, tried out for “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. After he won the million dollars, a network film crew wanted to follow up to see how it had impacted his life. New cars? Big new house? Instead, they found both Bob House and his wife still teaching. They explained that it was what they had always wanted to do with their lives and that would not change. The community was both stunned and grateful.

You want heroes? Last year the average school teacher spent $468 of their own money for student necessities … workbooks, pencils .. supplies kids had to have but could not afford. That’s a lot of money from the pockets of the most poorly paid teachers in the industrial world. Schools don’t teach values? The critics are dead wrong. Public education provides more Sunday School teachers than any other profession. The average teacher works more hours in nine months than the average 40-hour employee does in a year.

You want heroes? For millions of kids, the hug they get from a teacher is the only hug they will get that day because the nation is living through the worst parenting in history. An Argyle, Texas kindergarten teacher hugs her little 5 and 6 year-olds so much that both the boys and the girls run up and hug her when they see her in the hall, at the football games, or in the malls years later. A Michigan principal moved me to tears with the story of her attempt to rescue a badly abused little boy who doted on a stuffed animal on her desk .. one that said “I love you!” He said he’d never been told that at home. This is a constant in today’s society … two million unwanted, unloved, abused children in the public schools, the only institution that takes them all in.

You want heroes? Visit any special education class and watch the miracle of personal interaction, a job so difficult that fellow teachers are awed by the dedication they witness.

There is a sentence from an unnamed source which says: “We have been so eager to give our children what we didn’t have that we have neglected to give them what we did have.” What is it that our kids really need? What do they really want? Math, science, history, and social studies are important, but children need love, confidence, encouragement, someone to talk to, someone to listen, standards to live by. Teachers provide upright examples, the faith and assurance of responsible people. You want heroes? Then go down to your local school and see our real live heroes – the ones changing lives for the better each and every day! I’d like to see this sent to all those who cut down the importance of teachers. They have no idea who a public school teacher is or what they do.

Jean Robert Cadet

Jamie emailed me a post on her hero.

Jean Robert Cadet was born in Haiti nearly 50 years ago. His mother died when he was very young and his father kept him as a secrete. He was sold as a child to be kept as a slave “Restavec”. Jean Robert slept in the kitchen on a pile of rags and was beaten, starving and had no one to turn to. His father, still alive was a white man, hence the reason for keeping Jean (who is black) a secrete. In Haiti there is a great separation between the color of ones skin. He had chores to do, always the first one to rise and the last to sleep. He slept on a pile of newspapers and rags on the kitchen floor. He didn’t always have a pair of shoes to fit him. Jean Robert was all alone.

Jean Robert had a dream through all of this. He wanted to go to school. IF he finished all his chores he was aloud to go to school which he had to walk , and not always with shoes on his feet. He couldn’t always make it but never let his dream die. Jean Robert never let his dream die and eventually ended up going to school, every day. I am proud to say that I had the honor of participating in his high school French 101 class he taught at Madeira High school in Cincinnati, Oh. Jean Robert Cadet even wrote a book, “Restavec” and is hoping to help bring awareness to and put an end to slavery in African nations. If anyone is interested in learning more about how Jean Robert overcame these horrifying obstacles I recommend you read his book, Restavec.

For all that he does, Jean Robert Cadet is my hero.

Skateboarding in Afghanistan

Skateistan is Afghanistan’s first dedicated co-educational skateboarding school.  I read about it in a few places last week and was struck by yet another hero making change in a tumultuous part of the world.

Ollie Percovich is an Australian skater who found himself unemployed and suddenly single in Afghanistan.  Not knowing what to do, he went with habit.  He skated around Kabul and found himself an instant celebrity.  Kids followed him around and he decided to start teaching them.  He’s still doing it, having planned and executed Skateistan.

The kids came from many different backgrounds.  Their differences were irrelevant in the face of the skating though.  1 in 5 people in Afghanistan are school aged children – one of the highest rates in the world – and there is very little in the way of sporting outlets for them.  With Ollie’s leadership and enthusiasm, smiling skateboarding kids are becoming more of a common sight in a city that has its share of misery

One girl said, “It gives me courage, and once I start skating, I completely forget about my fears.”

This kind of story inspires me in ways I can’t understand.  I simply smiled when I read about it and emailed my skating friend straight away to ask what we could do to help.  You can find out the options at the website.  Read the NYT article here.

Who Inspires Sir Ken Robinson?

This video wouldn’t be out of place in the “My Hero Is…” series.

My Hero Is… Mattie Stepanick (by Jessica Fisher)

I have another video in the My Hero Is… series.  This is from Jessica Fisher in Australia.  I worked with her this summer and can assure you she’s not always this softly spoken.  Turn the volume up.