Tim Willis. Photo by Tim Willis.
As I watched an episode of Molly of Denali on the history of Elizabeth Peratrovich, I was moved by how the main character handled two tourists that told her she did not look native to them. In her youthful wisdom, she did not become enraged by their comments but understood that they were still hurtful. She did not seek to attack or hate them; she understood that her strength was in educating them and freeing them from their ignorance. Molly was able to articulate who she is, who her indigenous people are, and their history.
I’ve had to learn the hard way that Molly’s approach tends to be the more successful one. Often, I hear people speak of fighting for their rights, and my heart aches, for I know better than most that no one wins in a fight. As a collegiate wrestler I was trained to fight. And I spent a great deal of my adult life righting wrongs, sticking it to the man, and standing my ground in battle against what I saw as a problem. What I found in this approach was that I became the very monster that I was fighting, and that no matter how wrong their actions were, it in no way justified my aggression.
One day as I stood over a 280-pound steel worker – who I had dropped on his head after threatening my life – I did not feel victorious, I felt deep pain and remorse for what I had done. I had crushed a man who had only desired respect. But he had been taught that respect was something to be taken and not earned, and instead of educating him, I only made things worse. As time went on, I began to learn new ways to teach – finding myself teachable as well – and the day I ceased fighting everyone and everything was the first day I truly became victorious.
Today I know more than ever that we must empower our youth; that they may educate the ignorant. We must do as Martin Luther King and Elizabeth Peratrovich did and use knowledge as our sword and speech as our armor, so that there is no more bloodshed, only minds educated, and people brought to a path of empathy through understanding.
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