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KOFI ANNAN
Kofi Annan, one of my favorite icons that is still living, was born on April 8, 1936 in Ghana. He served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006, serving two five-year terms. His rank at the time can be considered the equivalent of that of the President of the united states, making him perhaps the most powerful, educated, and influential Black man of our time to hold a position that not only demanded the respect , but also lead and acted as a spokesman for the United nations.The UN (United nations) is made up of 50 countries. Its amazing that A man of African descent can be allowed to represent such a large mass of countries outside the US, but yet within the US ignorance will not allow others to see beyond there limited view of the world. One of my favorite sayings by Kofi Annan was what he said he had learned from his expeirience at the elite Mfantsipim school.He said the school taught him "that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere".
GANDHI
Gandhi was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. In India, he is recognized as the Father of the Nation. October 2nd, his birthday, is each year commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, and is a national holiday. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha—the resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.At the onset of the South African War, Gandhi argued that Indians must support the war effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship, organizing a volunteer ambulance corps of 300 free Indians and 800 indentured labourers called the Indian Ambulance Corps, one of the few medical units to serve wounded black South Africans. To be honest this man has done so much for Indians and Black south africans and dedicated himself to the preservation of life for me to name just one accomplishment would be a down-grade on what this man has done for the world.On January 30, 1948, on his way to a prayer meeting, Gandhi was shot and killed.Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya.Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth." He would later change this statement to "Truth is God." Thus, Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".