The End Of A Hero

When people think about the black-rights movement, most people in America think of Martin Luther King Jr as the main activist behind the fight against segregation. Not many people really think of Nelson Mandela, and only after his name comes up do people respond with "oh yeah, there was him too". The truth of the matter is however, it was the collection of the entire community lead by these brave men that proceeded to break the old paradigm of selfishness and hate.

I bring this up because of the passing of Mandela this past Thursday, and all the love and support coming from the community. He was truly a great man and did a lot for his people that no man should ever undergo because his opinion differed from others. But one thing really stuck out to me that leaves me wondering what people are really thinking.

Every night, I watch Montreal's CTV News that airs from six to seven pm. On this news broadcast is a daily question where the news station asks the public for their opinion about the main subjects of the day. The question that aired that Thursday was "Will Nelson Mandela always be remembered as a giant in history?" and it really struck me as quite a dumb question. Everyone's response, in a heartbeat, should be yes! The man spent twenty-seven years in jail because he expressed his thoughts, and was persistent to make the lives of others better than his own. That is why I believe this question was pointless and rather ignorant to come from a news station.

Then something rather shocking and somewhat disgusting occurred. They aired the results. Expecting to see a 100% vote for yes because I had a little shred of hope for society, this is what I see. Although 7% doesn't seem like much, it's a lot of people that have little or no respect for men that do things for others. It doesn't seem like 7% is a big deal, but only 7% had the courage to express themselves, while there are MILLIONS more out there that don't even know who Mandela is.

People that know me know that I have little respect for people in today's society, and this is partially the reason why. It makes me sad to see that I'm living in a world where more worship goes out to pop stars that treat their followers like dirt, than to a man that doesn't even know most of the people he has helped by now, and in the future. It disappoints me to see that, even now that he is gone, people will continue to remain ignorant, and refuse to acknowledge the true hero that Nelson Mandela really was.

Popularity vs Priority

July thirteenth of this year, a popular celebrity that goes by the name of Cory Monteith died. Social media and popular news stations exploded with grief and speculation, sympathizing the "Glee" star. However, what people don't recognize is the amount of attention that was directed towards, essentially, a drug addict.

People die everyday from things that are beyond their control, but it seems that popularity will always thrive over anything else. Another great example is Whitney Houston on February eleventh of last year. These people broke the law and consumed illegal substances (which are illegal for a reason), but the population overlooks these statistics and media coverage avoids to mention the bigger picture.

All this to segue into multiple events that occurred yesterday December first. Social media went through the roof around all of North America regarding the death of "The Fast & The Furious" star Paul Walker. Incorporated in these tweets and updates all over the internet were occasional memes mocking the driver of the car who no one knows or seems to care about. But what is the most striking reality to me is the little amount of awareness that went into the train derailment, that killed 4 people in Quebec. Googling it gave zero results, and media coverage was very slim in comparison to the car accident of a popular entertainment icon.

Don't get me wrong, I do sympathize the deaths of these celebrities and I offer condolences to the families, but it really grinds my gears when these news stories make headlines, and cast far greater shadows over tragic events that, in my opinion, deserve a lot more attention and awareness than they receive.