Maathai demonstrated real meaning of courage

By Jack Daniels

Honestly, I thought he wanted to steal my beer. But he was deaf and we couldn't communicate. He swung a punch. He was about my height so I retaliated. Next thing I know, four beefy guys show up, give me a pounding, drag me down the stairs and throw me out on the tarmac like a bag of potatoes.

Later, I learned the deaf dude was a bouncer and those were his colleagues. Bouncers, for all their muscles, seem to suffer from a severe inferiority complex, which makes them losers. The biggest loser, of course, was me. Dignity is a fragile thing. Plus I lost my favourite jacket that night.

In my defense, this was college. I wouldn’t want to go through that experience again, though. It was painful. Which is why though I have since run into deadly thugs a few times, diplomatic mannerisms have ensured I always escape unscathed.

After listening patiently to the tale of how I engaged some goons in a conversation before they took my stuff, a pal got into a bombastic mood and suggested I should have been more aggressive. I smiled gently and let him get away with that.

Folks tend to have false courage when secure. The real measure of a man is what he does when all alone, in a dark path, facing a pair of armed thugs that desperately need money for rent, drugs, booze or whores.

The Fearless Maathai

Always give it to them with as little fuss as possible. This is real life and you’re not Chuck Norris. Better yet, avoid dark paths.

That said there’s a woman who was Chuck Norris. She confronted not a pair of armed thugs but a whole bunch of them.

Actually, she confronted an entire government. That government, despite all the power at its disposal and all the thugs and insults it unleashed on her, was stopped in its tracks.

Every time one passes by Uhuru Park or the beautiful Karura Forest, it wouldn’t hurt to take a second to think about Wangari Maathai. They’re still there because she lived.