A Short List of a Few of My Heroes

Shusli has a great post on her blog titled, "Got it Maid." Shusli has received a comment from Rohini, the woman who has the blog with comments that seem offensive about her maids. Her response there is very...understandable. And her response and Shusli's very wise response both make a lot of sense to me.

Here I will restate my position that what we need in this world is to change the whole system. I live in a world of privilege mistakenly called freedom. What we had prior to the invasion of our nation by the Euros could be equated to freedom, but there is so little known about our many various systems prior to the invasion because of the horrific destruction that the Euros imposed upon us, that one can only speculate, and what good is that. What I do know is that this is not the land of freedom. This is the land of privilege. And where privilege prevails, there is a system of violence or perpetuated systems that maintain privilege through violence.

The more I learn about Gandhi, the more I learn that he was not non-violent. His support of the caste system in India is proof of that, as well as his refusal to align with those fighting apartheid in South Africa, and his HORRIFIC treatment of women. So Gandhi was a supporter of racism, classism, and sexism, ALL of which are forms of violence. Gandhi was a powerful human being in that a lot of people listened to what he had to say and many folks still do. He had many good things to say, but his behavior also helped perpetuate a system that is brutally oppressive and thus, not non-violent. There are many people that I KNOW that work harder for a world of peace and equality (none of the white males in the alleged peace movements in this area are included) than Gandhi has.

Shusli is an amazingly wise woman, though she would probably say otherwise. She uses her privilege to do her best to create a better world for future generations.

Ridwan does one helluva lot to raise awareness in this world to create a better world for all.

Ani Haines via KBOO and many other ways has done MUCH to create peace and real freedom in this world.

Kathleen Stephenson for her tireless work to create a safe place for the truth at KBOO.

Tom from the Automatic Preference blog who created the petition for the Jena Six and
Aborigine Rights.

The Angry Indian and his Angry Indian Blog.

Jim Craven, tireless fighter for Blackfoot rights and the rights of so many others (even having put his life on the line).

Ward Churchill, tireless fighter for indigenous rights and the rights of others.

Peter Webster who does a lot of work to raise the awareness of his fellow human beings to make this world a better place.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara who has done much for the people and refused to leave their side even as his status became elevated.

All of these folks and so many more have done a helluva lot to further our rights, equality, and peace, and ain't none of them running around claiming non-violence as their religion. Many of the MENTIONED folks (as there are so many that I know and many more that I don't know) have and or are willing to fight and die for their beliefs, but aren't ignorant of the consequences should they do so.

Gandhi has nothing on these folks. Many of the folks in the alleged peace movements have nothing on just the folks mentioned, let alone those not mentioned. Gandhi claims to have been willing to kill himself rather than throw a punch in self-defense. Yet his support of the caste system (there is a form of caste system in the U.S., too, don't kid yourself), his support of racism, and his support of sexism (all of which seem to be perpetuated by the white males in the alleged peace movement, and all of which are forms of violence), and a complete unwillingness to defend himself and others does nothing but perpetuate violence in the world.

All of the above mentioned folks and many not mentioned, like Gandhi, are nothing but human beings. I personally believe, however, that the folks I mentioned want peace and equality much more than Gandhi desired it. All the people I mentioned are my heroes. Gandhi isn't. Gandhi had some very wise things to say, and did some very good things. He also helped perpetuate violence with his behavior.

We are nothing but human beings in this world, and many of us are working and doing our parts to try to create a world that is better for one and all. Many folks are also only interested in their own aggrandizement and looking good rather than actually trying to create a better world for one and all. (Many alleged peace activists have long arrest records, so do gang members, wife beaters, drug dealers, etc.)

So, my fellow human beings, get out there and do what you can to change the world, really. Don't consider yourself higher or lower than others, consider yourself equal. Those who sleep on the streets are your fellow human beings and just as important as you are. Those who have billions of dollars and hardly share are just as human as you are. Those elevated to the status of gods (like Gandhi) are just human beings. Movie stars and rock stars and country stars are nothing but human beings. And given your human status, you are just as powerful and powerless as all of them. Use that knowledge and do your best to create change because we ALL NEED YOUR HELP. Every last one of you are important to this world, otherwise you wouldn't be here.