Talking Of World Peace
Source: http://www.rosaliafilms.com/
Today is the Urban Times‘s first anniversary. And this is the first post published on a brand-spanking new site (we hope you like it!).
Since our inception we have attempted to instil in ourselves, and promote in others, the core values which pertain to an improved, more peaceful world. Two core phrases have been repeated again and again – in the office, on the website, in e-mails or just in the act of spreading the word. These are our tagline (still a work in progress):
“Optimistic Forward-Thinking.”
And an old Tanzanian Proverb:
“That which is Good is never finished.”
What is more fitting than to begin our second year with a post on the good-est, most optimistic topic of all: World Peace?
Talk of a “better world”, moreover talk of “world peace” is, while well-meaning, usually so grandiose as to be reduced to shallow generalisation and unrealistic fantasy. So rather than expatiate on the matter myself, it seems appropriate to let others educate you on how to achieve this dream. Those who have the experience, foresight and uniqueness of approach to have valuable insight into achieving this goal. Those who have already begun the journey themselves. Two such people are teacher, musician and inventor John Hunter and Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams. Let’s not forget TED, of course, for providing the platform for these people to voice their views so eloquently in the first place!
In the talk below we see Hunter, the inventor of the World Peace Game (and the star of the new doc “World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements”) present the problems of today’s world to his 4th-graders on a 4′x5′ plywood board. Their task? To solve them. The idea is to engage these children and get them thinking about such issues constructively from a young age. They are the future after all. He suggests that the complex lessons this involving game teaches go much further than typical classroom lectures.
Jody Williams sets aside the idyllic symbols of peace; the dove and the rainbow, to bring an intriguing “tough-love” approach to the table. She discusses with clinical precision what “peace” really means and relays to us a selections of powerful stories that focus on the creative struggles and the many sacrifices of those who strive to fulfil the dream of it.
Jody Williams is brilliant here, talking about "sustainable peace". A real shining star.
This is an inspiring little piece. Really fantastic talks that deal with the best of subjects in the most different of ways!
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