Markers matter. Whether personal or public, they are more than signals of intent. They are an important part of the ultimate realization of larger goals.
In 1780 the British House of Commons, struggling to assert its rights against the power of the King, passed a motion that has resonated in this country down the years. It stated that 'the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing and ought to be diminished'. Carrying that motion did not immediately change anything. There were to be many long years of struggle before Parliament achieved the pre-eminent place in the British constitution it enjoys today. But it was a statement of intent. It put down a marker for the future.
Mahatma Gandhi put down such a marker when, in 1930, he led a march to Dandi beach in Gujerat to scoop up some salt from the sea – an illegal act. The manufacture of salt was a monopoly of the British imperial administration. Made in the full glare of the world's press, the act of defiance followed a 241 mile march that had progressively riveted the attention of the whole nation. Independence would not come for a further 17 years. But the dramatic gesture was a never-forgotten statement of intent.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn put down a marker in the bleak world of the Soviet gulags in the 1960s. He did it by refusing, personally, to be part of 'the lie' that he maintained upheld the seemingly monolithic system. 'The simple step of an ordinary courageous man,' he wrote, 'is not to support the lie. Let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me.' Being an author, his stand became widely known and he of course suffered for his conviction. Exiled in 1974, he lived to return to a post-communist Russia.
In the 1970s at a time when the apartheid regime in South Africa still appeared impregnable, an Afrikaner living in Johannesburg had a simple thought, 'Be the new South Africa'. As for him and his family, said Bremer Hofmeyr, he would live in relation to black and white, in a post-apartheid environment. All would be treated equally and with dignity. It was Gandhi who said, 'Be the world you want to see'.
In recent years some of those engaged in the programmes of Initiatives of Change have played a key role in putting down markers that have made a very public statement of intent. In 1997 and again in 2002 the Clean Election Campaigns in Kenya did just this. Focusing on ensuring corruption-free elections, the grass-roots campaigns signaled the determination of a growing number across the African continent to work for clean administrations and 'a more selfless leadership that has integrity at its core'. Other Clean Election Campaigns have followed in Ghana and Sierra Leone. There is now a continent-wide Clean Africa Campaign. It is a mammoth, formidable task, but, with the national Clean Election campaigns, markers have been put down.
The 'Walk Through History' in Richmond Virginia in 1993 was organized by Hope in the Cities, along with the Richmond Hill Church Center. Focusing on the historic wrong of slavery that had once flourished in Richmond, it was a marking event. Hundreds have since walked what has now become known as the Slave Trail. For the organizers it was one step in a country-wide effort to bring racial healing to America.
Another instance is the walk over Sydney Bridge in May 2000 by a quarter of a million people as part of Australia's National Sorry Day. The purpose of the walk was to draw attention to the 'stolen generation' of the Aboriginal people. Tens of thousands of Aboriginal children were removed from their families between 1900-1975 in an attempt to assimilate them into white culture. The organizers of National Sorry Day see it as part of the wider goal of bringing reconciliation and justice in relations with the Aboriginal people.
Markers matter. Whether personal or public, they are more than signals of intent. They are an important part of the ultimate realization of the larger goals.
NOTE: Individuals of many cultures, nationalities, religions, and beliefs are actively involved with Initiatives of Change. These commentaries represent the views of the writer and not necessarily those of Initiatives of Change as a whole.
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