Peace Heroes

Peace Heroes in a Box

"I just wish George had as much courage in his entire body as Casey had in his little pinky, then he would meet with me." ---Cindy Sheehan is camped outside the Crawford Texas home of US President George W. Bush, who refuses to meet with her or other war-protesting parents of soldiers killed or wounded in the Iraq War.

This story shocked alot of people and got them thinking about the motives of war. I remember hearing about this on the news and thinking of all the attention Sheehan was getting and how by raising her concerns and going straight to the president about it she was able to make a difference. She was not scared of the critics she only wanted answers about her son. I chose this because it is a recent example of how one mother raising questions about her son, raised questions about the war.

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." - Albert Einstein

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." -- Mahatma Gandhi

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. --- Eleanor Roosevelt

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." --- Jimi Hendrix

All of these quotes are short but meaningful, they represent the main parts of being a peace hero; understanding surroundings and similarities as much as differences, forgiveness and compassion, the overall dream and working to reach that dream while not becoming consumed with power. I chose these because they tell the story of all peace heroes and their quests and goals.

"This has to stop."
Biography [1] [2]

Rachel Corrie was killed on Sunday, March 16, 2003 while trying to stop a bulldozer from tearing down a building in a refugee camp in Gaza. Her body was crushed by the bulldozer passing over her several times. She had been acting as a Human Shield, trying to stop the demolition of a family home.
Rachel wrote to her mother shortly before she died, "I spent a lot of time writing about the disappointment of discovering, somewhat first-hand, the degree of evil of which we are still capable. I should at least mention that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances - which I also haven't seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these people."
"... This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think it's an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop." (more)
Rachel was a senior at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Rachel grew up in Olympia and graduated from its Capital High School. Her teachers have remarked that she was "a shining star, a wonderful student and a brave person of deep convictions."
To quote Naomi Klein, "These do-it-yourself social movements have emerged as a kind of activist "third way," an alternative both to the purely symbolic dissent of demonstrations and the suicidal impulse of armed aggression, and their members are exercising their rights throughout the world. The true faces of modern activism belong to people like the late Rachel Corrie ... Corrie wasn't in the occupied territories to give comfort to suicide bombers; she was standing with the with the nonviolent group, International Solidarity Movement trying to keep a Palestinian family home from being demolished."

I would have moved out of the way but why didn't she? She found courage to fight a terrible injustice. The Palestinians lost their land, their rights and now their home and she wanted to help. I picked this article because it talks about the tragedy of an ordinary high school girl trying to make a difference. It makes you wonder if it made any difference at all, did it make us think about how others don't have our basic rights.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Reelected in 1916 as a peace candidate, he tried to mediate between the warring nations; but when the Germans resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917, Wilson brought the United States into what he now believed was a war to make the world safe for democracy. He supplied the classic formulations of Allied war aims and the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, was negotiated on the basis of Wilson's Fourteen Points. In 1919 he strove at Versailles to lay the foundations for enduring peace. He accepted the imperfections of the Versailles Treaty in the expectation that they could be remedied by action within the League of Nations. He probably could have secured ratification of the treaty by the Senate if he had adopted a more conciliatory attitude toward the mild reservationists; but his insistence on all or nothing eventually caused the diehard isolationists and diehard Wilsonites to unite in rejecting a compromise.

Wilson's ideas on peace and forgiveness were unique after the first world war. He fought for his 14 points which we now know if they would have followed them, the second world war could have been avoided. He also created the League of Nations where nations could communicate in a peaceful way with eachother, and ofer aid to those in need. This article is significant because it is about how sometimes all great efforts don't end up with results, sometimes the hero fails. But their mission lives on and the League or United Nations still stands today with tons of influence.

Since leaving the presidency, Carter and his wife Rosalynn have been involved with building homes, all over the world, for the poor in the Habitat for Humanity program. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization which, since 1976, has built more than 100,000 houses in more than 60 countries, including some 30,000 houses across the United States. He hammers a straight nail and works humbly side by side with all the volunteers as a common citizen. In 1982 Carter and his wife Rosalynn founded The Carter Center to promote human rights, democracy and health care.
His work at The Carter Center has given Jimmy Carter world-wide recognition as an international mediator and promoter of democracy and human rights. He has traveled the world mediating conflicts and monitoring elections, in East Timor, the West Bank, Haiti, and most recently in Jamaica. Carter visited Cuba in May 2002, the first US president to do so since 1959 when Fidel Castro assumed power in a communist revolution. Carter spoke on Cuban national television and urged Castro to expand civil liberties and allow reform through fair elections. In Cuba Carter also publicly urged the US government to lift sanctions against Cuba. Back to Top
In October 2002 Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the Nobel Prize Committee Chairman Gunnar Berge, "Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law." Jimmy Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Shortly after receiving the prize, Carter left for Jamaica to observe the strife-filled Jamaican national elections. Nobel Committee Chairman Berge noted that the choice of Carter, who opposes unilateral US military action against Iraq --- the impending war --- should be interpreted by the world as a criticism of the efforts of US President Bush to attack Iraq rather than search for other, non-violent resolution of the present crisis.
His dedication to peace and the compassionate work of Jimmy Carter is a continuing inspiration to all people. Carter is a leader with ideals and the perseverance to work energetically toward those ideals, to make the world a better place, to bring fairness, equality, and decency, basic human rights, to all people. Jimmy Carter is a peace hero for the world.

This article is significant because it is about what Carter did after his presidency. While most retire to their large houses or make occasional speeches for their party former president Carter spend his time building houses all over the world while making an organization of his own. Sometimes greatness can be achieved even after positions of power. Just because someone is moved from the spot light doesn't mean they fade away.
from: http://www.peaceheroes.com/quotes.htm

Conclusion

All the collected above artifacts imply that all peace heroes have four things in common; the overcome different situations in their own lives to accomplish greater good, face disapproval, endangerment or imprisonment, use compassion and take action, and finally non-violence. After this peace heroes are divided into two major groups; well known and ordinary achievers. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. is a very well known and admired peace hero while some like Rachel Corrie lead courageous acts all by themselves. Many well known peace heroes are great speakers and are able to lead people into action to overcome injustice without violence. Others had previous prominent leadership positions like a former president or religious leader. Jimmy Carter began some of his most notable work after his presidency striving for acceptable homes for all. While Gandhi did not have any previous government positions he shaped a country and movement more powerful than the greatest military. Not well-known can be divided into direct action such as being on the scene or in a rally and non-direct action like creating an organization or raising money for a cause. Many peace heroes have humble beginnings giving us the message that we all can achieve great acts of kindness, understanding and bravery that shape our world.