- BRUCE
Lights. Cameras. Action!
The electrifying atmosphere that engulfs a noteworthy awards event is mesmerizing. Beautiful people adorned in their best attire. An elaborate banquet laid out…fit for a king. Tantalizing food. Flowing drinks. Upbeat music that hits the ear just at the right note. Radiant guests…flush with excitement. The air is thick with anticipation, wow and positive energy.
Recipients humbly bask in the moment. God knows they have earned their stripes. Silently, they marvel. True, they have each achieved a worthwhile cause. And under the most difficult and trying circumstances that affront the bare basics of human dignity.
Snapshots of their journey flash through their minds. The conditions were harrowing. A crying, stark contrast to all this pomp, ceremony, glitz and glamor. This moment of honor would have been non-existent if they had not been determined and committed – if they had not believed that their actions would make the world a better place. They had come head to head with the devil, and dared him to his face.
Polish nurse Irena Sendler saved over 2000 Jewish children. It was during the chilling holocaust. In Poland, the Jews had been confined to a makeshift ghetto. The conditions were nasty. Sendler bravely smuggled out the little ones. She was captured, interrogated and horribly tortured by the murderous Nazis…right crazy out of her mind.
Thankfully, she escaped. She missed execution by a whisker. Sendler promptly resumed her duties. Under an assumed name, she kept on rescuing the children. Until the war came to an end. Years later, she was widely and variously decorated. Although she graciously accepted the prestigious awards, she said, ’Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory.’
Kenyan professor Wangari Maathai was determined to save public forest land. Powerful and well-heeled private developers wanted it. Badly. As she organized and carried out peaceful demonstrations, egregious abuse of her human rights ensued. She had her hair pulled out of its roots. Her clothes were torn off her body to bare her nakedness and shame her in public. Her private parts were pinched. She was mercilessly beaten, teargassed silly and thrown in jail. Maathai only amplified her efforts. And the forest was saved. She was decorated over 19 times. Most notable was the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai said, ’There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.’
Malian Mamoudou Gassama was a jobless migrant in France. He saw a child dangling from a 4th floor balcony of a building. He was alarmed! The child would surely plunge to his death! Gassama sprang into action. Like a modern-day Spider-Man, he scaled the walls of the building with his bare African hands. He saved the lucky boy. Several by-standers recorded the entire happenings. The incident went viral. And the world cheered! The French cooed a collective oh la la. Their delighted President promptly decorated Gassama. When asked what prompted him, he said, ‘I did not really think…’ He just wanted to save the child.
Just like these heroes, Bruce has earned his stripes in the fast-paced world of commerce.
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Excerpt From Bruce’s Story: ‘PILLARS OF AFRICA: They Dared To Dream’ – Compiled & Written by Sheida
