Can one person with courage become a majority?

The above question also begs another question: Can a majority of people become a minority? When we consider these questions then we begin to realize what has happened to us. Have we become too passive, too complacent, too divided, too fearful, too isolated to begin solving the multitude of problems facing us?

Today we have become economically bankrupt, and I might add that some of us have become morally bankrupt as well. Let’s discuss if there is any way out of this morose pit of gloom that we have fallen into.

I have just finished reading a fascinating book titled Get Up, Stand Up by Bruce E. Levine. Because the situation in the United States is very similar to what we have in the CNMI, many of the suggestions that Dr. Levine offers apply to us as well. Dr. Levine states that too many of us have lost faith that our voices can make a difference. Somewhere and somehow we have lost our fighting spirit to demand change. We seem to have acquiesced to others our wishes for improvement.

When and how did we lose our voices? Has “learned helplessness” taken hold of us? How did we ever allow our institutions to become bankrupt? Can they still be saved? I strongly state that they can if we wake up and demand that they be fixed.

Dr. Levine goes on to state that without realizing it, many of us have lost our individual self-respect. We believe that we are not worthy of power and utilizing power wisely. As a result we unconsciously accept our role as being a subject of power. Without collective self-confidence, we do not believe that we can succeed in wresting power away from our leaders. I hastily remind all of us-our leaders are elected and subject to our wishes when the time to vote comes.

One of the ways to regain our feeling of power is to engage in more spirited debates. A few weeks ago, Delegate Kilili Sablan held a public forum to listen to our problems and hopefully find solutions together. It was a poor turnout of only a few of us. We should have taken the opportunity to attend and speak out our concerns whether we agree with the delegate or not.

Are many of us attending the pension fund’s hearings? What excuses do we have for letting this happen? How vocal are we there? Are we buttonholing our lawmakers to jump into the fray and act decisively? Why are we allowing $500-plus-an-hour attorneys from off island who know little about the situation to bleed the already depleted Retirement Fund? Aren’t there attorneys on island who know as much as they do and at a much lower rate? Think about it.

Too many of us think that our elected leaders can solve the problems that beset us today. But why do we think like this? What outstanding work did they do before they ran for office that tells us that? What was their background in the community? Did they own and operate businesses or were they leaders in whatever work they did? Isn’t it a fact that they had enough nerve and egomaniacal pride to run for office? Why is it that after so many years of them not being non-outstanding members of the community, all of a sudden, we become awed of them after we elect them as our representatives? What magic did they weave?

Remember, most of our leaders were not leaders until we elevated them to that position. We never tested them before we gave them the power to control our lives. As a result we have gradually “learned helplessness,” which means believing that no matter what we do or do not do, we cannot change our course or direction.

In researching thoughts for this theme, I came across a lot of people who singlehandedly have become a majority of one. Let me cite several:

1. Sally Katachpole, a 22-year-old nanny holding down two jobs, learned that Bank of America was going to charge a $5 monthly fee for the use of a personal debit card. Through her efforts of obtaining over 300,000 signatures on a petition, Bank of American stopped the practice.

2. Ali Ferzat, 60, spent years drawing insightful cartoons. When the rulers of Syria became angry at his cartoons poking fun at them, they beat him brutally and broke both his hands to stop his cartoons. Ferzart wasn’t intimidated. His hands have healed and he is back at drawing sharp, vivid observations on this people’s plight.

3. When Egyptian soldiers humiliated Samira Ibrahim, 25 years old, by forcing her to submit to a “virginity test,” she fought back and is suing the military. In December a civilian judge ruled the humiliating practice illegal.

4. Maryan Durani, who lives in Afghanistan, has just been awarded the U.S. State Department’s annual International Women of Courage award. Ms. Durani refuses to be silenced by the Taliban on her radio broadcasts. Thought targeted many times, by the Taliban, she bravely continues her fight.

5. Manal al-Sharif is called Saudi Arabia’s road warrior. Her country doesn’t allow women to drive on the streets. Last spring, Ms. Al-Sharif, 32, a divorced mother of two, decided to take on the issue by posting on YouTube a video of herself driving the Saudi streets. As a result of her bravery, more and more women in Saudi Arabia are now taking to openly driving children to schools and doing grocery shopping where before they were afraid.

6. In India, HIV has long been considered an outcast disease. But Anjali Gopaln has become the champion of the outcast. Through compassionate and deep love she is slowly changing the thinking of her people. As a result more medical attention is now being given to these unfortunate sick people. Had she not stepped forward and showed love and compassion, how sad to think of these people left alone to die.

These are only a few of the many individual people who are making up a majority. To learn more of how any of us can become a majority check out the new web page called Change org. Here you will read the stories of many others who have joined in the fight to make a difference. Learn how any of us can become a majority. All it takes is courage and discipline!

Change.org empowers us to create real change in our community. Every day, across the world, people like us start campaigns on Change.org to fight for issues they care about-and the Change.org team works to mobilize people to help them win. Change.org has created a system that will definitely make signing petitions easy and effective. This group will provide the best advocacy tools in the world to us-for free. Check it out.

Forgive me for preaching so much, but I see us slowly acquiescing our beliefs out of fear to others. Yet passions and problems are the fuel that form friendship and community. Integrity means taking actions in accordance with one’s beliefs; one cannot have real self-respect without integrity. Let us re-examine our core values and beliefs.

To demand change, we must regain our self-respect and truly believe that anyone of us with a strong will can create a change for the better. We have become depressed but we can fight our way back. Let’s try it. We have everything to gain and nothing more to lose. A closing word: It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to our friends.

So let’s get up and stand up and demand our rights. Each one of us can become a majority. Have a great week!