Nelson Mandela Day

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”- Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, respectfully referred to as Madiba, turns 95 years old today. Madiba devoted his life to fight for racial equality and social justice in South Africa. He led the struggle in South Africa to replace the apartheid governmental regime with a multi-racial democracy. During his 27 years of imprisonment for political activism, he refused to compromise his political opinions in order to garner an early release and continued to fight for what he believed in. For his brave actions, today he is known as more than just a man. He is a symbol of justice. Even as his health declines steadily, what he stands for and what he represents remains strong.

In honor of Madiba and the work he has done, the United Nations has declared today, July 18, to be Nelson Mandela International Day. They ask that people around the world honor Madiba and the 67 years of his life that he devoted to the struggle for human rights by spending 67 minutes of their day today in the service of others. The theme of the day is to “take action, inspire change,” just as he did during his lifetime involvement with the African National Congress (ANC) and his fight for racial equality in an apartheid South Africa. Ban Ki-moon has said that “this is the best tribute we can pay to an extraordinary man who embodies the highest values of humanity.”

So what can you do for your fellow man to honor Madiba’s name? The options are limitless. You could spend your day educating friends and loved ones about a social or environmental issue that is important to you. You could spend some time picking up litter from the sidewalks or in a local park. For those interested in a longer time commitment, there is no need to stop at just 67 minutes or even at just today. You could go volunteer at a local soup kitchen, animal shelter or hospital. Want more ideas? Check out the official Nelson Mandela Day website or any of the resources listed in the Pearltree below to find opportunities that interest you in your community. Any difference you make in your community, no matter how small, will still be a change for good.

Volunteering in Jobs / Volunteering / Justice / Sustainability Resources / HumanCoral (humancoral)

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day

To honor Dr. King on his day, I wanted to share his 1970 speech in which he spoke out against the war in Vietnam for perpetuating violence and racism overseas while affecting first and foremost the poor everywhere. This speech is said to have sealed his fate and is still painfully relevant today. I have included some of my favorite quotes below. Well worth to listen.

I've chosen to preach about the war in Vietnam because I agree with Dante, that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal."

I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without first having spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government."

We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered."

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing, unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of mankind. And when I speak of love I'm not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. "

Martin Luther King Jr. removes a burnt cross someone had hammered into his lawn as his young son stands beside him. Original: Library of Congress

Water, Life, and the Dignity of the People (Part I)

Water is worth more than gold"

This is one of the chants from the plurinational marches currently taking place in Ecuador. Thousands of Ecuadorians have been traveling 700 kilometers by foot across the Andes en route to Quito. The protesters are getting people to reflect upon an economic model that prioritizes the extraction of non-renewable resources over the defense of water resources, agriculture, food sovereignty, indigenous rights, and the conservation of biodiversity. President Correa is willing to sacrifice all of the latter for mining and oil drilling permits within designated protected areas, including one of the most biodiverse place on Earth, to pay for development initiatives in the country as a whole.

Ecuador’s 2008 constitution was internationally celebrated as the first in history to enshrine the rights of nature, as well as the Quechua concept of sumac kawsay, or “living well”. Paradoxically, the first approved legislation under the new constitution was the new mining law, paving the way for large-scale mining as early as January 2009. By March 2009, the national indigenous organization CONAIE had filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the new mining law. Several communities in the province of Azuay whose water supply would be affected by the expansion of mining activities had also filed their case by the end of the same month. Three years later, neither case has even been heard by a judge.

Over 30,000 people flood the street to protest the expansion of mining activities and defend their right to a clean water supply in Azuay, Ecuador

The president has dismissed the ongoing protests by indigenous and environmental groups as “infantile”. The truth is, however, that the short-lived (15 – 20 years at best) economic gains from hydrocarbon and mineral exploitation will be greatly outweighed by the costs that the permanent damage to the environment will have on the entire region. Note that 95% of the profit by the mining industry will leave the country under the new mining law, while leaving 100% the long-term costs of extraction in the country. Furthermore, the expansion of extractive activities inflicts a disproportionate cost on the inhabitants of these fragile ecosystems, most of which would have 100% of their ancestral land affected (see map below) and their way of life destroyed. 

Oil blocks expansion and indigenous territories

There are better alternatives than extractive industries! Stay tuned for Part II: Extractive activities valuation and alternatives. For now, you can stand in solidarity with the plurinational march by signing this petition and spreading the word. If you are in Quito, download this PDF and connect with others on the street and via social networks. If you are there, be strong, the Ghandi way:

Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong" -Mahatma Ghandi

Update

on 2013-07-15 17:24 by The HumanCoral Team

As of November 23, Ecuador has reached $300 million in its Yasuni ITT initiative to leave its oil underground. However, the $3.3 billion required to make it a reality still seems far off. I say "seems" because this sum is relatively insignificant compared to military defense budgets and the paychecks of the wealthiest 1% of the world. In light of the terrifying new math of climate change, These sort of initiatives are not only only economically desirable, they are morally right, and necessary for the survival of our species. 

If you would like to tell President Correa to not expand oil exploitation, please sign this petition.

Above: A call from one group of Earthlings to another. Join us! Save our Amazon, save our future.