its a baby step towards a bigger goal – to actually work with this person at some point. It is none other than my Hero – Stephen Lewis!!!
It just so happens that I found on my university website that he would be speaking to students on campus on the importance of being a global citizen. So, being the geek I am when it comes to people of Stephen Lewis’s calibre, I found a loner seat at the front, and poised myself for his presence.
He spoke of AIDS and its ravaged countries of orphans, a large percentage also HIV positive. He talked of armies fueled by child soldiers, of children being abducted and raped. He spoke of the injustices taking place – making horrific history – right now. He addressed something that I have often thought but not uttered. He said (and I paraphrase here… with a powerful eloquence that somehow made it logical and right, that there must be some underlying Race issue that makes African issues a low priority on a global scale. His frustation seems to come from the inability of the Global Leaders to address that as even a faint possibility. The truth does hurt, after all.
I think I smiled, nodded, clapped and absorbed more in that hour than I have in a long time. I loved just being honoured enough to hear him say the words I’ve read in his book, his articles, herd him declare to the world at the 2006 AIDS Conference along side Bill Clinton & Bill Gates. He addressed the issue of actors and musicians standing up for this cause as a reaction to our polital leaders lack of attention for them. I thought a lot about that, about how by not reacting to a crisis requiring attention, the leaders have created a void that has been filled by those that DO pay attention, and happen to also have the center stage. The arena is only there if there is a need for it – stars are doing what our politicans SHOULD be, in essence. Send the drugs, cut the tape, stop fighting about oil. While we once reaped the rewards, it’s now our duty to repair what all the forefathers broke along the way.
Oh, and did I mention that Mr. Lewis is one of the only MEN out there screaming for a true UN organization for women, one that has a true voice on ALL the issues surrounding the inequalitites of being a woman. I love that about him.
Ok, to the good stuff…. so, as Stephen is moving to the foyer to sign his recent book Race Against Time, I end up walking beside him to the end of the presentation room. I couldn;t NOT say something – I mean, this is my CHANCE, I’ll shoot myself later if I don’t grab it. So I very casually lean over an inch or so, and say “you have no idea how happy I am to be walking beside you right now” and he looks over, and smiles, hand extended, and says “and who are you?” to which i say my first name, tell him i’m a returning student studying human rights and that he’s my hero and that i respect all he does and says and that he needs to keep saying what our politicans don’t. There were some more political comments, and then he addressed me by name and wished me luck in the program, that it’s a very good one. I told him I’ll see him there, of course meaning Africa, and I actually meant it.
I floated out of there.
A baby step maybe, but inspirational none the less.
(My own aside… If the western world and europe were to look at what they have really done to the continent of africa and its people over the last few centuries, the truth would be uncovered and colonialisn would be exposed for what it was – a contrivement of control and creation of a lower class.
The politicans of today – including our OWN prime minister – seem to have more interest in dealing with the F’ing North West Passage or internal SHIT on the Hill than dealing with an issue the size of HIV/AIDS. )
Phew. Thanks, if you actually READ this…
peace
kdf
