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Reconsidering LEADERSHIP from Gandhi's Perspective

Gandhi In recent years, with our 24-hour news cycle and the advances in social media, all of us have witnessed disappointing leadership behavior on many fronts. For some, lives have been deeply impacted by it. It does seem we are overdue for an overhaul of the standard of conduct for leaders at all levels of business, government, and society. The twenty-first century brought with it a reality that has changed the whole landscape of leadership --- regardless of our position or status, we all have opportunities to lead every day by our example. Technology has also made it possible for leadership to be as local as our cell phones and as far-reaching as technology will take us around the world. With all the issues needing our attention, opting out really isn't a responsible option, is it? To create a better world, it is clear we all own our part of it. 

So, how do we begin to renew, revitalize, and recommit ourselves to standards of conduct as leaders in our own right --- so we are ready to respond to the needs and challenges of this new time --- as well as to the people within our spans of influence in the marketplaces, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities where we live and work?

In considering this question, I immediately thought about Gandhi as a great study and role model. He believed in self-examination and analysis of one's behavior and actions. He did it often. In a cherished book, A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons from the Life of Gandhi (Berrett-Koehler 1997), the author Keshavan Nair writes about Gandhi:

"Gandhi demonstrated that personal reflection was a practical endeavor... He analyzed his actions in the weeklies he edited...and in his correspondence with colleagues. None of these time-consuming activities diminished the amount of work he put in; indeed, they sustained him. It is not necessary for us to emulate Gandhi's level of reflection, but we can benefit from the direction he set for himself. ...Disciplined reflection does not take time away from work; it sustains the spirit and increases the intensity and quality of work."

Ongoing Self-REFLECTION IDEA:
We all have to find our own ways to renew ourselves. I share one of mine with you...

In several places in my home, I have small framed signs with one of Gandhi's messages strategically placed to catch my eye during the day, "My life is my message." It is interesting how those five words have shaped so many days --- so many actions --- so many decisions. They place the question of rightness to every action and decision. It is humbling on many days to realize that my humanness has kept me from living up to this proclamation in the way I wished I had.

The Story Behind GANDHI's Words
The story goes like this...
Gandhi remained silent one day a week. He was traveling on a train on the one day a week when he did not speak. When the train made a stop, a journalist rushed up to his window, screaming out to him, "Do you have a message for me to take back to my people." Gandhi scrawled a few words on a piece of paper and put them up in the window... "My life is my message."

 

Over the years I've thought about the commitment this self-imposed standard demands. I've imagined each of us measuring our behavior by it every day with a new kind of consciousness about all we do --- we could change the world in short order, don't you think? How many things would be different throughout the world? Think about it.

In my book, Putting Our Differences to Work, I recount Gandhi's warning to us about the traits that are the most perilous to humanity. We could reverse the realities he warned us about with a collective change in how we think, behave, and operate and by measuring our behavior and actions against the higher standard of leadership he established. Think of it...below I've restated Gandhi's warnings in the affirmative as QUALITIES. Imagine the impact of each of us living up to these QUALITIES:

  • Wealth with Work
  • Pleasure with Conscience
  • Science with Humanity
  • Knowledge with Character
  • Politics with Principle
  • Commerce with Morality
  • Worship with Sacrifice

How does your life contribute to fulfilling these virtues?
I leave you as I reconsider this question myself.

Warm regards...

Debbe
 


Debbe Kennedy

founder, Global Dialogue Center
author, Putting Our Differences to Work

9781576754993L-PODTW-small
Putting Our Differences to Work
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership and High Performance
** 2010 Axiom Business Book Award Winner
  **
Bronze for HR/Employee Training

ORDER a copy at AMAZON.COM



 

May 04, 2012 in Books, Business, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Diversity, High Performance, Innovation, Leadership, Marketplace, Workplace | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: current affairs, Debbe Kennedy, Gandhi, leadership, professional development

Lessons from JOHNNY APPLESEED

IStock_000000308300XSmall[1]-sm These are sobering times --- yet, there are signs of hope, new possibilities and opportunities standing right in front of us. A new and different path for mankind must be forged, don't you think? A new global consciousness among all people would be a big start.


Where do we begin?

A while back, I happened on an amazing read =====A copy of the original story of the real Johnny Appleseed, an American pioneer hero written in Harper's Magazine - November 1871.

I always thought he was just a guy that planted apple trees and wore a funny tin hat. He was much more...

---- as a matter of conscience he never purchased a pair of shoes. When given a pair, he passed them off to a boy in a needy family moving westward who he felt needed them more.

---- he purchased animals that he saw were being abused and found them good homes.

---- he wore the tin pan he used to cook his meals as his hat, adding an innovative pasteboard visor to shield his eyes.

---- he was loved by moms, dads, grandma's, the Indians because of his kindness and interest in them.

---- he believed in eating only food from the ground and was a strenuous opponent to wasting it because it was a Gift.

---- he was well educated and took time to read to others in such a way that he created pictures for others to understand.

---- he respected all forms of life.

---- he was trusted by all...and courageously warned his neighbors of British and Indian attacks saving many lives with his prophetic message.

---- he gave his money away.

He lived a good life as a loving neighbor and friend.
When he was near death, it his recorded that his features were all aglow with a supernatural light.

If we could just live our lives with a little more care for our neighbors and our world ---- a little more like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, the world would be much different.


What do you think?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO

Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

9781576754993lpodtwsmall_2New Book!
Putting Our Differences to Work:
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance
Video BOOK Review by futurist Joel Barker  

Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com 

January 21, 2012 in Books, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Leadership | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: current affairs, debbe kennedy, perspectives

Learning from Gandhi

Gandhi In several places in my home, I have small framed signs with one of Gandhi's messages strategically placed to catch my eye during the day, "My life is my message." It is interesting how those five words have shaped so many days --- so many actions --- so many decisions. They place the question of rightness to every action and decision. It is humbling on many days to realize that my humanness has kept me from living up to this proclamation in the way I wished I had.

GANDHI's Message
The story goes like this:
Gandhi remained silent one day a week. He was traveling on a train on the one day a week when he did not speak. A journalist came up to his window, screaming out to him, "Do you have a message for me to take back to my people." Gandhi scrawled a few words on a piece of paper and put them up in the window... "My life is my message."

Over the years as I've thought alot about the commitment this message takes, I realize that if each of measured our behavior by it every day with a new kind of consciousness about all we do, we could change the world in short order, don't you think? How many things would be different throughout the world? Think of it.

In my book, Putting Our Differences to Work, recount Gandhi's warning to us about the personal traits that are the most perilous to humanity. Imagine how we could change the realities today by changing and measuring our behavior and actions. I also introduce Five Distinctive Qualities of Leadership and propose each of us add them to our portfolio. The one that seems to embrace all the others is "make mutualism the final arbiter" for all actions and decisions (e.g., behavior, products, services, profit-making) measured by just six powerful words:

Everyone benefits; no one is harmed
.


With this conscious shift in our thinking and actions, we could reverse those personal traits that caused Gandhi worry. Think of it...

  • Wealth with Work
  • Pleasure with Conscience
  • Science with Humanity
  • Knowledge with Character
  • Politics with Principle
  • Commerce with Morality
  • Worship with Sacrifice

How does your life stack up and contribute to these virtues?
I leave you as I ponder this question myself.

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
founder, Global Dialogue Center
author, Putting Our Differences to Work

9781576754993L-PODTW-small new book!
Putting Our Differences to Work
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership and High Performance

by Debbe Kennedy ▪ Berrett-Koehler ▪ 2008 – Hardcover
ORDER a copy at AMAZON.COM



BBR Putting Our Differences to Work was selected as as among
"the very top business books" for review in August, 2008.
Read it!

Also available in DIGITAL DOWNLOAD at Berrett-Koehler

December 04, 2008 in Books, Business, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Diversity, High Performance, Innovation, Iraq War, Leadership, Marketplace, Religion, Science, Terrorism, War and Peace, Women, Workplace | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: books, current affairs, gandhi, leadership, politics, quotes

President-Elect Obama: Together we are changing!

Obama_cover_1105-smallIt would be hard to deny that this hasn't been a week of great promise for our Nation and the world. For one clear reason...we had the shared experience of electing a new President with the whole world watching and cheering with us --- a President for all of us with a family that mirrors our diverse and inclusion ideals in the US. Even with all the uncertainty and harsh realities of our economic meltdown, having a new President-elect Barack Obama with a mandate and a vision of a new direction for our country has left me elated. Having a beauitful, young First Family-elect with Michelle, Malia, and Sasha (and the new puppy) is a boost for a country --- a relief from years of what seemed at times to be overcome with the utter darkness of war, greed, division, injustice, disrespect of our neighbors and neglect.

Even if you cast your vote differently, what we know for sure is that what we're doing hasn't worked. We need a fresh new approach and through the millions of votes by United States citizens, we boldly opened the way for a new beginning. 

It has been a week that I never imagined that I would see in my lifetime and I am so grateful to have had my family experience a sense of unity across the US that we just have not seen on this level in my memory. There have been signs since election night that we are coming together. Emails have flown in to congratulate the U.S. on this incredible achievement and mandate for change. For example, check out these "love notes" from blues to reds each reaching out to make peace.

I was especially moved by the Time magazine article. The first paragraph said it all. "Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope. Barack Obama never talks about how people see him: I'm not the one making history, he said every chance he got. You are. Yet as he looked out Tuesday night through the bulletproof glass, in a park named for a Civil War general, he had to see the truth on people's faces. We are the ones we've been waiting for, he liked to say, but people were waiting for him, waiting for someone to finish what a King began."

...and we have a new song from Will.I.am. It's a New Day debut on Oprah.

I end this week deeply grateful for this new day. May we work to ensure that by putting our differences to work, we live up to the promise of our actions this week.

Your thoughts?

Best...

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

9781576754993L-PODTW-smallNew Book! Putting Our Differences to Work
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com
Berrett-Koehler - BK Business


 

November 07, 2008 in Books, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Diversity, Innovation, Leadership, Weblogs, Women | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: Current Affairs, It's a New Day, Obama, President-elect, TIME, Will.i.am

BEGINNER'S MIND: We need a new approach!

MotherearthIn every direction, it is clear we need a new approach in how we think and behave and interact with each other, our country, our world, and the planet. Some days I ache, don't you? The more you take-in and ponder, the more you see the mess we've created for ourselves by our biases, our inaction, our indifference, our busyness, our closed-minds to anything new and different.

When I watch the highest leaders in the land tearing down each other with violent tongues, lashing out, making fun, doing anything to divide and conquer to win vs. reaching for a new approach. I admit Hillary has been deeply disappointing to me. Not because I would love to see a woman in the White House some day, but because of her approach, her divisive rhetoric that violates all I thought she so whole-heartedly believed in at one time, has taken me by surprise. This is more of the same. More of what we don't need. Imagine what our children are taking in when they watch adult leaders have at it this way --- and we wonder why some are disrespectful, violent, and mean. They are watching us.

My hope is going with Obama. Not just the man and the message, but I'm hooked on gathering of people demonstrating their desire for change, to be part, to take back, to reach for more --- I am willing to work for it, are you? It seems to start here.

I learned one time that Shoshin in Japanese means "beginners mind."
It doesn't mean a closed mind.
But an empty and ready mind.
If one's mind is empty, it is always ready for anything.
It is open to new thinking, new questions, new points of view, new people.
In a beginners mind there are many possibilities.
In the expert's mind there are few.

May this be a day of renewal
A clearing out...an opening up
Each of us in our own right
Unique and different
Beginner's minds.
Hearts beating.
For a moment
All in One.

Hold that thought.

What will renewal mean to you today?
What will it mean to all of us in the months ahead?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO

Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

9781576754993lpodtwsmall_2New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com
Berrett-Koehler - BK Business

May 10, 2008 in Books, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Leadership, War and Peace | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Dr. MARTIN LUTHER KING's Wisdom for TIME OF WAR

Youngmartin4_1IN COMMEMORATION of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy
Young Martin
Original Oil Painting by Bay Area artist, Sally K. Green
www.sallykgreen.com, see leaders with a lasting impression


At this moment in our history, we have experienced a week where the realities of an escalating war are suddenly confronting our consciousness. Its truth is coming at us directly from governmental actions, in what appears an abuse of power, most likely covert plans and rumors of a deeper level of war, killing and destruction. It is as if Dr. Martin Luther King is speaking to us across time. He seems to be tapping us on the shoulder to remember for reasons that may be more important now than ever before in our lifetime.

Take in his wisdom...challenge yourself to step up to be part of creating that tipping point where all of us change our misdirected course, demanding that our country live up to its values. Peace doesn't come from war. War begets war. Hatred and violence multiplies hatred and violence. We must ask...
How can MORE KILLING hold the answers we seek?

CONSIDER DR. KING's WISDOM...

OUR ROLE IN PEACE
"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice."

LESSONS FROM WAR
"...The only change came from America, as we increased our troops commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept, and without popular support. All the while, the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform.  Now they languish under our bombs and consider us...not the real enemy. They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know that they must move or be destroyed by our bombs, and they go, primarily women and children and the aged. They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops, and they wander into the hospitals with at least twenty casualties from American fire power to one ["enemy-inflicted"] injury. They wander into the towns and see thousands of children homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers."

ISN'T WINNING MORE ABOUT RULE OF LOVE not War?
"The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows. One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. How much longer must we play at deadly war games before we need the plaintive pleas of the unnumbered dead and maimed of past wars?''

"Our freedom was not won a century ago, it is not won today; but some small part of it is in our hands... If we assume that life is worth living and that man has a right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war. In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory in war."

BOOK REFERENCES and ARCHIVAL VIDEO of Dr. King's Wisdom
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Words of Martin Luther King Jr. and The Trumpet of Conscience
Selected by Coretta Scott King

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Visit to Grace Cathedral in 1965
Story and video of his message

What difference will you make to move us to the rule of love?
How will history record our response?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO

Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

9781576754993lpodtwsmall_2New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com

April 04, 2008 in Books, Business, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Diversity, Innovation, Iraq War, Leadership, Religion, War and Peace, Workplace | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: Dr. Martin Luther King, Iraq, Jr., peace, war

Belief and Action Change the World

Spiral2A few years ago, quite by chance, I happened upon a best-selling book written in 1947 by Claude Bristol called The Magic of Believing. In it he speaks of the power of belief---the kind of belief that can change a mindset, a community and the world. One analogy he uses demonstrates the connection between planting seeds and the power behind the action that follows:

"Once the soil is prepared and the tiny seeds are placed in it, it is but a short time when they put forth roots, and sprouts begin to appear. The moment they start upward through the soil in search of light, sunshine and moisture, obstacles mean nothing to them. They push aside small stones or bits of wood, and if they can't do it, they'll extend themselves and grow around them. They are determined to emerge from the ground."

We have planted the seeds of change throughout the world. Even with the most miserable things happening around the world, you can almost feel the seeds of change as they move upward, upward. The sprouts have made their way through the most rocky soil and there is a ways to go---and we can see them reaching up and bearing fruit in some places. Now, it is up to us to keep the momentum alive by cultivating all the good things we envision for this world of ours. Attending to its needs. Giving it the sunshine and water of our mindshare and actions. We are the force that give this world life.

"There is no better companion on this way than what you do.
Your actions will be your best friend."


---Jalau'ddin Rumi

Mystic Persian Poet
Hold this thought!

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com
http://www.debbekennedy.com

December 13, 2007 in Books, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, High Performance, Leadership, War and Peace | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

WAR & PEACE: Taking a Second Look at Ourselves

KeyholeI've been short on perspectives lately. Oh, I don't mean I'm short on opinions. We all have plenty of those, but watching the war, destruction, senseless killing, and rumors of more has left me numb. Listening to news that you know is propaganda, half-truths, outright lies, or never told at all leaves me feeling we've all been duped for longer than we know. Perhaps, things have been this way all along, but I've chosen or been influenced to see the good that is there; to dream a bigger dream. I also realize that perhaps this is what life is for --- a laboratory of living and experiencing that leads to being confronted with your own values in the face of injustice and other sorrows.

What has become so real to me since the beginning of the IRAQ War, and other misjudgments, injustices, long-term failed leadership, and broken systems that have been revealed since, is that we as a nation, and has people, need to take a second look at ourselves and what we've allowed ourselves to become.

As I've written before, for reasons I cannot explain, I have always been drawn to old books. The books I like are not necessarily classics, but instead ones that someone wrote from the heart about life and lessons learned in their time. There is something comforting about discovering that people before us struggled too. They lived and experienced, leaving us with their wisdom.

In a book written nearly 60 years ago, Take a Second Look at Yourself by John Homer Miller, he shares a poem about three monkeys talking about us humans:

Three monkeys sat
In a coconut tree,
Discussing things as
They're said to be

Said one to the others,
"Now listen you two;
There's a certain rumor
That can't be true,

That man descends
From our noble race.
The very idea!
It's a dire disgrace.

No monkey ever
Deserted his wife,
Starved her baby,
And ruined her life.

And you've never known
A mother monk
To leave her babies
With others to bunk.

And another thing
You'll never see,
A monk build a fence
Around a coconut tree

And let the cocoanuts
Go to waste,
Forbidding all the other
Monks a taste.

Here's another thing
A monk won't do---
Go out at night
And get in a stew.

Or use a gun
Or club or knife
To take some other
Monkey's life.

Yes, man descends---
The ornery cuss---
But Brother, he didn't
Descend from us."

--Author Unknown

What do you see in taking a second look at yourself and our nation?
I welcome your insights.

Debbe Kennedy
Founder of the Global Dialogue Center

Come visit us ... www.globaldialoguecenter.com

November 04, 2007 in Books, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Iraq War, Leadership, Terrorism, War and Peace | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: injustice, iraq, peace, poems, reflection, self-development, war

LEADERSHIP OF PEACE

Mentor2_2 The language of a leader is very different than that of a person intent on "eye-for-an-eye" violence and war. Recently, I re-read a piece on Gandhi's leadership and his use of dialogue with people that brought thousands along with him. "For Mahatma Gandhi, The Dandi March was not just  a non-violent weapon of struggle. It was also a means of dialogue and communication with people along the route," writes Madhu Dandavate in his article, "Gandhi's dialogue with a Nation."

On their way to Dandi, Gandhi and his satyagrahis halted for night rest at various villages. He used this interlude to speak to the satyagrahis, the residents of the villages and accompanying journalists about the background of the Salt Satyagraha and wider issues of national importance. He treated the Dandi March as an educative process. He continued this dialogue with the people during all the 25 days of the march. Thrilled by the march, several journalists sent elaborate reports every day. These were well displayed by newspapers and journals. Thus what Gandhi said during the Dandi March became a dialogue with the nation. On their way to Dandi, Gandhi and his satyagrahis halted for night rest at various villages. He used this interlude to speak to the satyagrahis, the residents of the villages and accompanying journalists about the background of the Salt Satyagraha and wider issues of national importance. He treated the Dandi March as an educative process. He continued this dialogue with the people during all the 25 days of the march. Thrilled by the march, several journalists sent elaborate reports every day. These were well displayed by newspapers and journals. Thus what Gandhi said during the Dandi March became a dialogue with the nation."

THE LEADER'S LANGUAGE AND ACTIONS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE:
Symbolic gestures of kindness do wonders for the spirit of in all of us. Why do the world's most powerful leaders today seem to miss this fundamental human need. Seeing our leaders touch one life---express care for others---- has a rippling influence on everyone. Kindness casts a broad net of influence.

Compassion, caring and communication don't take strategies, handlers, poll forecasts. As the deaths continue to mount --- soliders dying --- while our leaders seem to be scratching their heads, going about their lives while others grieve the losses they have caused. I keep remembering how our leaders have not even had the decency to talk with a mother that has suffered the loss of her son or daughter at times during this war. It seems the least a president could do, especially when his two daughters have not yet enlisted to fight in his "noble cause."


What the Iraq War mothers feel isn't new...

“It was the mothers who suffered to bring these boys into the world, who cared for them in sickness and health, and it was our flesh and blood that enriched the foreign soil. Can you picture the anxiety of these mothers watching at the door for the postman every day for the little letter that was to come from her boy, and the agony and suspense when those letters stopped, and then only to be replaced with a telegram from Washington informing her that her boy was wounded or missing or dead?”
----Mathilda Burling
Testimony before House Committee on Military Affairs, 1928


Oh, the memorable contrast in another president:

"My fellow Americans, let us take that first step. Let us...step back from the shadow of war and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is a thousand miles, or even more, let history record that we in this land at this time, took the first step." --- President John K. Kennedy



"Imagine all the people, living for today...
...You may say I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one.

Perhaps someday you'll join us and the the world will live as one."

Debbe Kennedy

Founder, Global Dialogue Center

new book!
Putting Our Differences to Work:
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership and High Performance
by Debbe Kennedy ▪ Berrett-Koehler ▪ Spring 2008 – Hardcover
Foreword by Joel A. Barker, futurist, filmmaker and author
Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future

October 14, 2007 in Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Iraq War, Leadership, War and Peace, Women | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: gandhi, iraq, iraq war, leadership, President Kennedy

370 Million People Stand Up - U.S. Stands Down?

Motherearth_3I grew up in a family with great love and respect for our country. Most of my life, I spent following that belief. It saddens me every time I learn some other reality that puts a dent in my trust about the United States. The Iraq War and its crimes against humanity has had a big influence in opening my eyes, but there are many other truths that have been exposed and observed that are a cause of shame. Today still another came to my attention. It came in a report about a United Nations Resolution that is a major victory for 370 million people across the world. The joyful news read:

"It's a triumph for indigenous peoples around the world," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the General Assembly vote. "This marks a historic moment when member states and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories."

While 370 million people stood up; the United States stood down

I didn't get far into article until I was stunned to discover that the United States was one of just four countries that objected to others having rights to keep their land and resources that belong to them.

What is wrong with are our national conscience?

How can the country known as the "land of the free" treat its neighbors with just disregard and disrespect? Do you ever ask yourself this question? I know this is only one example, but I've seen too many in recent years, haven't you? I'm also not blind to our history that chronicles awful things. I know there has been much written that proves this is a common practice, but shouldn't the "the leader of the free world" be more of a role model for others? Every time some revealing situation happens, I am again stunned. There is a deep disappointment that comes over me like a wave. How did we get so far astray that we want to deny so many what belongs to them, when we have so much??? I still cannot reconcile the mind and soul that could live with such decisions, can you?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of the consequences for our behavior when he said, "If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight."

How have we allowed things to continue to go so far astray with our greed?

Gandhi also spoke clearly about what is right, "The Golden Rule ... is to resolutely refuse to have what millions cannot. This ability to refuse will not descend upon us all of a sudden. The first thing is to cultivate the mental attitude that will not have possessions or facilities denied to millions, and the next immediate thing is to rearrange our lives as fast as possible in accordance with that mentality."

What do you think about the U.S. when you read this report?

Jubilation as UN Adopts Historic Statement on Native Rights

Haider Rizvi
OneWorld US
Fri., Sep. 14, 2007
<http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/153160/1/>

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13 (OneWorld) - Despite strong objections from the United States and some of its allies, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution Thursday calling for the recognition of the world's 370 million indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over their lands and resources.

The adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples comes after 22 years of diplomatic negotiations at the United Nations involving its member states, international civil society groups, and representatives of the world's aboriginal communities.

An overwhelming majority of UN member countries endorsed the Declaration, with 143 voting in favor, 4 against, and 11 abstaining.

The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand stood alone in voting against the resolution. The nations that neither supported nor objected were Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Samoa, and Ukraine.

"It's a triumph for indigenous peoples around the world," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the General Assembly vote. "This marks a historic moment when member states and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories."

In her comments, General Assembly President Haya Al Khalifa described the outcome of the vote as a "major step forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."

Pleased with the General Assembly's decision, indigenous leaders told OneWorld they wanted the declaration to be adopted by consensus, but since certain countries remained unwilling to recognize their rights until the end, a majority vote was the only possible option left.

"If a few states do not accept the declaration, then it would be a reflection on them rather than the document," said Les Malezer, an aboriginal leader from Australia, before the resolution was presented to the General Assembly.

Before the vote many indigenous leaders accused the United States and Canada of pressuring economically weak and vulnerable nations to reject calls for the Declaration's adoption. Initially, some African countries were also reluctant to vote in favor, but later changed their position after the indigenous leadership accepted their demand to introduce certain amendments in the text.

The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures, and traditions and pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.

It also calls for recognition of the indigenous peoples'
right to self-determination, a principle fully recognized by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, but deemed controversial by the United States and some of its allies who fear that it could undermine their rights to rule over all their current territory.

In return for their support, the African countries wanted the declaration to mention that it does not encourage any actions that would undermine the "territorial integrity" or "political unity" of sovereign states.

Though the African viewpoint was incorporated into the final version, the Declaration remains assertive of indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over their land and resources.

"It is subject to interpretation, but we can work with this," Malezer said last week.

Thursday, Malezer and his colleagues in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues described the world body's decision as "a major victory."

International Day of the World's Indigenous People International Day of the World's Indigenous People © Pan American Health Organization "The 13th of September 2007 will be remembered as an international human rights day for the indigenous peoples of the world," said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the Permanent Forum, in an emotional tone filled with joy.

International civil society groups working for the rights of indigenous peoples also expressed extreme pleasure with Thursday's vote.

"We are really very happy and thrilled to hear about the adoption of the Declaration," said Botswana Bushman Jumanda Gakelebone of First People of the Kalahari, who works with the independent advocacy group Survival International.

"It recognizes that governments can no longer treat us as second-class citizens, and it gives protection to tribal peoples so that they will not be thrown off their lands like we were," Gakelebone added in a statement.

Survival's director Stephen Corry said he hoped the declaration would raise international standards in the same way the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did nearly 60 years ago.

"It sets a benchmark by which the treatment of tribal and indigenous peoples can be judged, and we hope it will usher in an era in which abuse of their rights is no longer tolerated," he added.

Vivian Stromberg, executive director of the New York- based rights group MADRE, said Thursday that the Declaration's passage "will signal a major shift in the landscape of international human rights law, in which the collective rights of indigenous peoples will finally be recognized and defended."

At the UN, indigenous leaders, however, cautioned against a possible gap between rhetoric and effective implementation of the Declaration.

"It will be the test of commitment of states and the whole international community to protect, respect, and fulfill indigenous peoples' collective and individual human rights," Tauli-Corpuz said.

"I call on governments, the UN system, indigenous peoples, and civil society at large to rise to the historic task before us and make the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a living document for the common future of humanity," she said in a statement.

Though pleased with the General Assembly's decision, some indigenous leaders seemed unhappy that the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand did not accept the Declaration.

"Canada has shown its true colors on our human rights,"
Arthur Manuel, a leader of Canada's indigenous peoples, told OneWorld.

Those in opposition have said the Declaration is "flawed," mainly because of its strong emphasis on the right to indigenous self-determination and full control over lands and resources. In their view, these clauses would hinder economic development efforts and undermine so-called "established democratic norms."

The United States has also refused to sign on to a UN treaty on biological diversity, which calls for a "fair and equitable" sharing of the benefits derived from indigenous lands by commercial enterprises.

Meanwhile, threats to indigenous lands and resources persist, say rights activists, in the form of mining, logging, toxic contamination, privatization, large-scale development projects, and the use of genetically modified seeds.

"The entire wealth of the United States, Canada, and other so-called modern states is built on the poverty and human rights violations of their indigenous peoples," said Manuel. "The international community needs to understand how hypocritical Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are."

Recent scientific studies have repeatedly warned of devastating consequences for indigenous communities in particular as changing climates are expected to cause more floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events across the world.

The United States and Australia have taken particular criticism also for their refusal to join the majority of the world's nations in efforts to combat climate change.

May we be the change we need in the world and in the United States.

I welcome your thoughts.

Debbe Kennedy
Founder of the Global Dialogue Center

Come visit us ... www.globaldialoguecenter.com

September 22, 2007 in Africa, Community, Current Affairs, Differences, Diversity, Leadership, War and Peace, Women | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, human rights, indigenious people, native rights, UN, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, United Nations, United States

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