| Lara
Karuna
When
I was in preschool, I remember my father introducing me to the
idea of non-violence. He told me that two men had dedicated their
lives to achieving change through peaceful non-cooperation. These
two men were Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. I was
awestruck by the idea that they had achieved such a monumental
feat. “You mean people don’t have to be killed,
Daddy? Then why do we still have wars?” I asked.
“Because
people don’t understand.” He said.
I
was infatuated with this concept and decided to tell my teachers,
friends and anyone else who would listen. I thought that the more
people I told the more people would remember what I figured must
have slipped their mind.
That
was when I was three years old. Sadly, the magic of childhood
fades as we grow older and I was no exception. I started school,
became “social” and began singing and performing
with Bay Area Youth Theater in musicals. I still cared about social
justice, but like all kids, had more important things to do, like
mastering four-square and subjecting my friends to renditions
of “Annie.”
However,
the ideals of Gandhi and concepts of non-violence remained the
cornerstones of my world-view. Our dinner table debates, or our
“kiss ‘n’ hug” family cuddling in
front of the television, my mother yelling “right-wing
bastard” to some Reagan apologist, hard wired my brain.
This tendency was further encouraged when I was eight, as I often
accompanied my mom while she interviewed holocaust survivors for
a documentary she was working on. I remember staring at the blue
number, tattooed on their forearm, as we listened to stories of
blinding cruelty and awe-inspiring perseverance. I would listen
to each narrative, confused by how an entire nation could allow
the madness of one man, driven by a lust for racial and military
dominance, control them. Hitler would have been ineffectual alone;
it took millions of complacent, unquestioning people to fulfill
his vision. I determined I would never let this happen to me or
to those I love.
From
the child’s pledge has come the adult realization that
being a good citizen isn’t enough. We have to be vigilant,
always listening and always questioning what our government is
doing in our name; and never becoming complacent in the face of
injustice. I Want Change.org is the seedling of that promise.
It’s very simple really; I want change and I don’t
think I’m the only one. I am still a singer and a performer,
partially living the “Hollywood” life in Los Angeles.
I still “party” and dance and go to clubs and I
don’t drive a hybrid (yet). I am a regular young woman
who made a promise. In this journey of which there is only one
end, it is time to remember the knowledge which has perhaps only
“slipped our minds,” that peace, justice, and a
world without war is an attainable goal. We have been shown the
way. Let’s change the world together.
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