Drum Majors for Justice

Recently, I had the privilege of speaking in depth with a rather extraordinary Namibian. My friend is more than 70 years old and lived through the Namibian liberation struggle and more. He was politically involved such that his life was endangered and his family had to live overseas for a while. Life in Namibia during the independence struggle was extremely dangerous. Northern Namibia during that time was all-out war with landmines, South African occupation and much violence. You simply didn’t know from day to day if you were destined to live or die. At a certain point, you just accepted that and carried on with your life – not knowing when you might lose it. My friend told me one especially bone-chilling story which took place during this time. Unfortunately, one night his daughter had suffered some burns. During this time, none of the black Namibians were allowed to travel outside their homes after dark. There was a strict apartheid curfew. Knowing this, he also knew he had to get his daughter to a doctor, or she risked death. When he ventured out, the first words he heard were from a South African soldier:

“Shoot the man dead.”

The thoughts that must race through your mind at that final moment when you realize you are taking your last breaths! Very fortunately, a commanding officer overseeing the soldiers ordered all guns down, and after hearing the situation, allowed the girl to be taken to the doctor. But the story sheds light on what a dire and oppressive situation many Namibians faced before independence. I am in awe, thinking of the courage that the resistance workers had when championing Namibian independence. It must have seemed an impossible situation – yet their efforts paid off when Namibia became free in 1990.

Revolutionaries and forward-thinkers have transformed our world throughout time and continue to do so. Let us all join this movement, and become champions of social justice and the greater common good. As Martin Luther King Junior said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”

Here’s honoring everyone, past, present and future, who also, in Martin Luther King Junior’s words, "is a drum major for justice.”

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as crazy, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

~Jack Kerouac