Who Will Speak Out? Barry Pittard. 21 March 2014
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Who will step forward? Who simply will speak out?
Why the big load heaped on the shoulders of so few?
Like Nelson Mandela or Gandhi the Mahatma
Like Simone Weil or Dietrich Bonhoeffer
And the small band of others across time
Many not named or else famed and soon-forgotten
Who will walk like these? Who simply will step forward?
*
Standing up, speaking out, stepping forward
Even though, even though – the numbers need to grow
*
Or who will be timid, and show kids how to back-step?
Or who will teach boldness by ourselves being bold?
Like Martin Luther King or Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop
Like the Dalai Lama or Wangari Maathai
And the small band of others across time
Their eyes on the straight point of their compass of conscience
Simple as a fable, just as pointed, and as true
*
Standing up, speaking out, stepping forward
Even though, even though – their numbers need to grow
*
… Why does it take war before we snap awake?
… Or a Royal Commission before we listen
… To the rivers across the years of people’s tears
… Who have no protection when bullies oppress them
*
Who will step forward? Who simply will speak out?
Why the big load heaped on the shoulders of so few?
Like Malala Yousafzai or Liu Xiaobo
Like the Irish peace women or Andrei Sakharov
And the small band of others across time
Many not named – or else famed and soon forgotten
Who will walk like these? Who will simply step forward?
*
Standing up, speaking out, stepping forward
Even though, even though – the numbers need to grow
*
… Why does it take war before we snap awake?
… Or a Royal Commission before we listen
… To the rivers across the years of people’s tears
… Who have no protection when bullies oppress them
Except when we are -
Standing up, speaking out, stepping forward …
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“If I win Nobel Peace Prize, it would be a great opportunity for me, but if I don’t get it, it’s not important because my goal is not to get Nobel Peace Prize, my goal is to get peace and my goal is to see the education of every child.” Malala Yousafzai
“Education, if it means anything, should not take people away from land, but instill in them even more respect for it, because educated people are in a position to understand what is being lost. The future of the planet concerns all of us, and we should do what we can to protect it. As I told the foresters, and the women, you don’t need a diploma to plant a tree”. Wangari Muta Maathai – Unbowed, pp. 137-138.
“Nonviolence is not a thing that comes easily. You have to learn how to be nonviolent.”
Betty Williams
Tagged: Andrei Sakharov, Betty Williams, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Irish Peace Women, Liu Xiaobo, Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Simone Weil, Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, the Dalai Lama, Wangari Maathai
