Sunday, October 12, 2003

The Good Fight



This is a collect call from the Harris County Jail from..[TYRONE!]..if you accept, please press 1.

Although Tyrone is a good friend of mine, I had to think about accepting the call..basically the question comes down to..Is he a crackhead? No, not that I know of, so I pressed 1..

Hello?

Say mane..I need you to get some money and come down here and bail me out.

Where you at?

Downtown..my bail is $450..I’ll pay you back as soon as I get out.

Is everything ok?

Yeah..they got me on this pistol case.

Pistol?? You shooting folks now??

Naww, I didn’t shoot anybody..but I was ABOUT to!!

What happened??

I was driving home from work and this FOOL cut in front of me on 288. I was so mad, I pulled up onside of him and started cussing him out! He rolled his window down and shot me the finger..so then I pulled my pistol from my console and waved it in the air to let him know!!

What??!!!

Yeah..next thing you know, he must have called the laws on his cell phone cuz they pulled me over before I could even get off the freeway…what the hell are you laughing at??

Man..I thought you had gotten past all that bullsh’t! You're in jail now because of some IGNANT stuff. I mean, IF you are going to go to jail, let it be about SOMEthing real!

Whateva mane..I ain’t trying to hear that right now, are you coming to get me or not??!!

Yeah..I’m on my way.

______________________________________________

This past week, the Nobel Foundation announced this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Much to the surprise of many in the global community, the prize was NOT awarded to the ailing Pope John Paul II. Instead, the 5 member Norwegian panel that annually selects the winner of the prize, chose an Iranian lawyer, Ms. Shirin Ebadi (pictured). Ms. Ebadi is the 11th woman ever selected for this acclaimed prize since its inception in 1901. In an even rarer occurrence, she joined the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the Egyptian born Palestinan leader Yassar Arafat as only the 3rd Muslim to ever win the award and the first Muslim to have sole claim to the prize. (Sadat and Arafat shared the awards with Israeli Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin respectively).

The 56-year old Ms. Ebadi is a well known child and women’s rights advocate. She was the first female judge in Iran and has a long standing record as a vocal supporter and legal fighter for human rights in her country. She was forced to step down as a judge after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when the strict Sharia law was enforced. ‘Women were too emotional and irrational to pass judgment in the courtroom‘, Iran’s new leaders felt. Since then she has been an activist for democracy and the rights of refugees, women and children. Her actions have not come without repercussions, she was thrown in the notorious Evin prison in 2000 which is known for holding political dissidents and she had her legal license suspended due to her unyielding commitment toward fighting the ‘good fight’. In a 1999 interview with the Christian Science Monitor, she had this to say, “Any person who pursues human rights in Iran must live with fear from birth to death, but I have learned to overcome my fear.”

Ms. Ebadi’s Nobel Prize serves as a beacon of light and hope for others in Iran and other oppressive countries. Her being awarded the prize shows that the rest of the world IS cognizant and supportive of their struggle. From a domestic perspective, Ms. Ebadi is a shining example of hope in a country that the Bush administration has labeled as a member of the ‘Axis of Evil’. Since the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, there has been a lot of Americans that hold prejudice against all people of the Muslim faith. Their ignorance of the Muslim culture and religion has them believing that all Muslims are terrorists or suicide bombers. The truth is that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, law abiding citizens that submit themselves fully to the will and laws of God. The battle that Ms. Ebadi and so many other human rights activist are fighting against the hard-line regime, is one of interpretation of Islamic laws. From something as simple as requiring all women to wear a head covering and veil (hijab) to something as dangerous as to trying 'criminals' in a private state court without the presence of a jury, the democratic process is being suppressed. Despite the struggles in her country, Ms. Ebadi firmly believes that all reform in Iran must be done by Iranians, not by an outside entity.

So often in our daily lives we easily become angered and incensed by small things such as obnoxious drivers or bothersome people. Its always good to take a step back from time to time and look at the big picture of what’s REALLY important in life. There’s enough hate, hunger, poverty and injustice in the world for everybody to fight against, that we shouldn’t even have the time for the insignificant things. Some might see Ms. Ebadi as a small figure from a place and society far away from our reality here in America. To those, I offer a quote by the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martin Luther King, Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Of course, that doesn’t mean we should garnish a pistol on the freeway to teach someone a lesson like Tyrone. Instead we should all sharpen our eye and strive for the REAL battle, the never ending struggle for peace and justice for all.




The Nobel Peace Medal inscribed "Pro pace et fraternitate gentium"

translated "For the peace and brotherhood of men"


Copyright © 2003 www.servinemup.com All Rights Reserved