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The Stuff
- Wonder Man
- Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.
6 comments:
I have to admit, yesterday, when this happened, I gain a new respect for Dan. Unfortunately, twenty four hours later, there are now reports that Dan may be trying to F up what happened, which again brings up the problem many have with him, which is that he likes the limelight too much and doesn't know when to leave well enough alone.
I agree. This is happening because we have no real leaders. Many of the bloggers are either myopic or troublemakers.
To be fair, I think the same can be said about me..and perhaps you, with all due respect.
On the other hand, we're not the ones on CNN & MSNBC and he is, reducing the past century of equality down to a mere ten second soundbite and sounding very like a politician himself.
Vic, I think it is incredibly difficult to find real leaders within any community. Dan is a real leader just maybe not in the same wide reaching representation that we have come to idealize.
MLK and Malcolm X commanded a very small portion of the African American community. In many instances they were panned for stirring up the status quo. But I know you know this. I wonder how well they would have held up under the onslaught of media we currently deal with.
I think we have many leaders within our community. But the trouble is that the breadth of diversity, viewpoints and potential solutions are just as vast as that leadership. Our voices are legion!
We are also existing in a world where every word, action and appearance can be scrutinized and analyzed to a point that no human being could possibly get a passing grade. This very truth is what scares a lot of potential leaders from even bothering to try. Very few if any humans could bear or pass that level of scrutiny. Dan Choi included.
I wish we had a single rallying cry that could pull or community together in a way that could get things done like they need to be. It would make things a lot easier. It would allow us to have a single or few leaders that could be our voice. But at this time we have to settle for many voices rather than a couple.
Maybe many leaders is the way to get things accomplished and we are just not harnessing it in the best possible way. I'm just hoping we don't step on each others throats and pull down each other before true opponents get the chance to even try.
I'm trying hard not to judge Dan. (and not always succeeding!) I'm not in his shoes and in no way does he represent an issue that is at the forefront of my concerns for our community. He missteps a lot, in my opinion! Be it based in his ego or lack of experience in addressing these issues. But I do applaud his efforts and bravery. He's doing something I don't know that I could. Which is a LOT more than many within our community. At the very least Dan is setting up a very well documented set of examples for future leaders of what to and not to do. Hopefully we can all learn from his mistakes and potential sacrifices to enhance the future of our community.
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