They’re profound thinkers who spoke powerful words. But they also lived their lives as an example, putting these words into action every day. From Africa to the Americas, here are quotes from 20 famous–and not so famous–people, living and dead, who spent their lives thinking about and contributing to social justice movements.

1. “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” -Audre Lorde

2. “We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.” -Archbishop Desmond Tutu

3. “When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?” -Eleanor Roosevelt

Photo: Sepperer Markus

4. “Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”- Paulo Freire

5. “People must take a modicum of public responsibility for each other even if they have no ties to each other.” -Jane Jacobs

6. “We have a world to conquer…one person at a time…starting with ourselves.” -Nikki Giovanni

7. “We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo: meanestindian

8. “It is not enough to be compassionate – you must act.”- His Holiness The Dalai Lama

9. “The people are the only ones capable of transforming society.”- Rigoberta Menchu

10. “Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good; try to use ordinary situations.”- Jean Paul Richter

11. “There will be no Homeland Security until we realize that the entire planet is our homeland. Every sentient being in the world must feel secure.” -John Perkins

12. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” -Helen Keller

13. “Take your easy tears somewhere else. Tell yourself none of this ever had to happen. And then go make it stop. With whatever breath you have left. Grief is a sword or it is nothing.” -Paul Monette

14. “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.” -Reinhold Neibuhr

15. “During times of universal deceit telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” -George Orwell

16. “To be human, at the most profound level, is to encounter honestly the inescapable circumstances that constrain us, yet muster the courage to struggle compassionately for our own unique individualities and for more democratic and free societies.” -Cornel West

Photo: Amor Ministries

17.”If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.” -Adrienne Rich

18. “Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two.” -Octavio Paz

19. “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” -Elie Wiesel

20. “The more you move, the stronger you’ll grow….” -Ha Jin

h.koppdelaney

Feature photo: eneas

Next month, I’ll be celebrating 10 years living in New York City.

Despite my parents’ worries about The Big City, shaped, as most parents’ worries are, by media hype and movie hyperbole, the New York I arrived in after graduating from college in 1999 was a city that had been transformed significantly since its days of gangs, graffiti, gratuitous sex, and sleaze.

Like any city, it had its rougher edges, of course (and, my father pointed out as he and I lifted a bureau over a group of my neighbors smoking ganja on the stoop of my South Bronx apartment building, I lived along those edges).

Photo: urban_data

But New Yorkers nostalgic for the bad old days considered even those edges to be tame versions of a storied past. They insisted on talking about their New York, and they can still be heard today, complaining about shiny, smiley Times Square with its Hershey Store and Hard Rock Cafe.

You might say Curtis Sliwa is one of those New Yorkers.

Photo: malyousif

Sliwa prides himself on (in his words) his “powerful, uplifting messages of overcoming fear and adversity to achieve self-reliance and contribute to one’s community.”

He founded the Guardian Angels, an NYC based civilian crime prevention and safety patrol corps that has inspired spin-off groups in Japan, Australia, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

But recently, I learned that Sliwa launched a new project: The New York City Underbelly Tour, which takes paying guests on a spin around the “mean streets” of the South Bronx. The three hour tour starts on the “Muggers’ Express” (the 4 train, apparently–my old commute), and drops you off at 167th Street, one stop south of where I used to live on 170th and Jerome.

Photo: chad davis

There, you’re met by a team of Guardian Angels, who will show you “active chop shops, drug houses in the shadows of police precincts, money laundering fronts, and murals dedicated to drug dealers.” At the end of the tour, you’ll “discover how the south Bronx has flourished and prospered”… though for whom, I’m not sure.

There’s been a lot of talk about this tour recently–it was written up in New York Magazine this week–so I’ll add my two cents. Is the Underbelly Tour–at least in concept–the developed world’s version of slum tourism? Would you take this tour? And is there something troubling about Sliwa’s do-gooder deeds, on the one hand, and his let’s-keep-the-gritty-past-alive money-making tour on the other? I’d be interested in your opinion–especially if you’ve been on the Underbelly Tour.

Community Connection:

Learn more about slum tourism in Dominic DeGrazier’s article about his experiences taking a favela tour in Brazil.

Photo: sarihuella

If you’ve been following the swine flu news this week–and really, who hasn’t?– you probably know that you don’t need to worry that your taste for bacon puts you at risk of contracting the virus.

Health officials in the U.S. and abroad have repeatedly stated that people cannot contract swine flu from eating pork or pork products.

But that doesn’t mean that the world’s meat supply is safe.

In the U.S. alone, over 70% of all antibiotics used are administered not to people, but to cattle, pigs, and poultry eventually destined for the dinner table.

The antibiotics, which include tetracycline, penicillin, and erythromycin, among others, are routinely given to livestock not to treat existing illnesses, but to prevent illness, thus allowing livestock producers to raise greater numbers of animals in conditions that are not always safe.

Photo: sporkist

The overuse of antibiotics in the food supply has serious implications for human health, as the exposure to antibiotics through the pork, chicken, and beef we eat increases our bodies’ familiarity with infection-fighting drugs, thus making it less likely antibiotics will work when we need them for therapeutic purposes.

The problem is particularly common and pervasive among American hog farmers, according to New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, who wrote about the issue last month.

While public health officials around the world focus on managing the acute problem of swine flu, government officials need to get to work on the antibiotics issue, which may pose far more serious problems over the long run.

One U.S. Representative, Louise Slaughter, is doing just that– last month, she proposed PAMTA, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which will “will phase out the feeding of massive quantities of antibiotics important in human medicine to food animals within two years of enactment.”

Photo: Andrew Stawarz

The bill is currently before Congress. If you live in the US and want to encourage your Representative or Senator to support PAMTA, you can take action here.

Photo: Courtesy of author

Many volunteers have harbored secret dreams of what the headlines will say when they return from their heroic adventures:

“Volunteer saves rural village from mudslide.”

“Philanthropist banishes malaria from Africa.”

“Educated Westerner teaches hundreds of poor children to read.”

And below the front-page title, a black and white photograph that perfectly captures a tired smile, tousled hair, and a few beads of sweat earned valiantly in the battle against all that is wrong in the world.

There are many excellent reasons to volunteer, but in order to truly make the most of your experience, you must carefully and honestly assess your expectations. Holding onto an unrealistic fantasy, no matter how big or small, can only lead to disenchantment.

Here are a few common expectations best avoided:

Expectation 1: Immediate, world-changing results

While blogs and photo-sharing websites are a modern blessing for the avid traveler, they may have the unfortunate side effect of putting undue pressure on many volunteers to show the immediate results of their labor.

Not every moment of a volunteer experience is blog, picture, or Nobel Prize worthy. If you find yourself huddled over a computer in a humid, overcrowded office writing reports for your host organization, that doesn’t mean you aren’t accomplishing anything.

While the world likes to glorify those with the sentimental pictures and heroic stories, some of the most successful volunteers are the ones who contribute to a long-term project, the effects of which may not be seen until long after the volunteer has left.

Volunteering isn’t about fixing the world’s problems in less than a year or receiving recognition from everyone who reads your web page. It’s about contributing to sustainable projects and making positive adjustments in your own life so that your work will continue to change the world–and you– long after your temporary volunteer post has finished.

Photo: Courtesy of author

Expectation 2: Organized work

The number of times I played solitaire the first few weeks I spent volunteering registers easily in the three-digit zone.

This was before I learned an all-important lesson: sometimes, volunteers have to invent their own work.

Photo: Courtesy of author

For any number of reasons, your temporary employers might not know what to do with you. Without some serious initiative on your part, you may end up twiddling your thumbs and drinking 200 cups of herbal tea a day. Be clear with your organization about what you are and aren’t capable of doing. It might take some work on your part to ensure that their plan includes reasonable goals and concrete tasks.

Expectation 3: Everybody will like you

A few months is a short period of time to form deep, lasting relationships. Many volunteers, discouraged by overwhelming cultural barriers, never connect with more than a few people. Even the volunteers who seem to become beloved local heroes often struggle with feelings of being misunderstood and lonely.

Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t made 10 new best friends by week two, and please don’t give up cross-cultural relationships altogether and hide away in the nearest expat club. Bonding only with fellow travelers deprives you of much of the vulnerability that makes the volunteer experience so powerful.

Expectation 4: Rapid language fluency

After spending eight years studying Spanish, I expected to arrive in Peru and sound like a native within a matter of weeks. Instead, I was the laughingstock of Lima for months because of my verbal blunders.

Some people who volunteer can pick up languages in a few days flat, and I will spend all of eternity shaking a jealous fist at them, but they are the exception, not the rule. Don’t become discouraged when language acquisition takes time.

Expectation 5: You will find yourself

Culture shock, loneliness, language frustration, and stomach bugs… this is not the time to figure out who you are. You need to already have at least a basic self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, your techniques for coping with challenges, and your tolerance for difficulties before you arrive.

Who you are at home is still who you are in any other country.

The only baggage you should be bringing on the trip is that which can be stored below the plane. Those who try to sneak too many negative emotions and insecurities through customs only end up leaving bitter and disappointed.

Community Connection:

Volunteer experiences can be immensely rewarding, but are occasionally disappointing. How have you had to adjust your expectations about yourself, your work, and other people while volunteering abroad? Share your tips below.

Photo: mikeemesser

10,000 miles. Three mountain ranges. Two deserts.

Each year, teams from around the world come together to cross one-third of the earth’s surface in the philanthropic adventure of a lifetime.

The Mongol Rally was formally organized by Tom Morgan in 2004, after he and some friends got the crazy idea to buy a few diminutive second-hand cars and see how far they could make it from London to Mongolia.

They didn’t succeed, but that idea spawned the formation of The Adventurists, what may now be the world’s premier charity rally organization.

In order to participate in the Mongol Rally all teams are required to raise at least £1000 for one of three official charitable organizations (in addition to the funds needed to actually complete the journey itself). Each organization has a part in improving the lives of Mongolian people through the provision of medical care, education, training programs, and/or water and sanitation programs. Any money raised over and above the initial £1000 may go to the charity of your choice.

Photo: Antonio Bonnano

Teams set off from one of three departure points: England, Spain, or Italy. All teams have two days to reach a set location in the Czech Republic, where they are treated to an official send-off party—a full day and night of live music and general carousing. After this single checkpoint the teams are on their own for the next 9,000 miles or so until they get to the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar.

Want to take a trip through the sweltering deserts of Iran? How about the reclusive dictatorship known as Turkmenistan? Go ahead—there’s no set route!

There are also no support teams. You are truly on your own.

Photo: Antonio Bonnano

That would be hard enough, but that’s not all.

There are rules in this rally. Number one is the 1.2 liter rule. The car you take mustn’t have an engine over the size of 1200CC’s*. 2009 is also the first year in which your car may not be over 10 years of age—a rule that has unfortunately raised the cost of entry for many participants.

The other major rule is no GPS systems. Not that they’d help you that much—roads as most know them are few and far between once you hit the deserts of western Kazakhstan. Add to that the fact that many of the roads that do exist were last mapped by the Soviets in the 1960s, and that rivers tend to appear out of nowhere due to seasonal snow melt, and you can see why such a device would be little more than a drain on the vehicle’s battery. Old school paper maps and an analog compass all the way.

Photo: vmiramontes

If you’re part of the lucky 70% who actually make it all the way, you will be treated with a pint or two, and have a chance at perhaps the best reward of all: a clean place to sleep (indoors!) and a warm shower. You also get bragging rights for having completed such an amazing journey, as well as the fact that you have helped change the lives of those in need.

Most teams stay for at least a few days to recover and do some sight-seeing, choose to donate their vehicle to charity, and fly back home from there.

I’m lucky to be a part of one of the teams competing in the 2009 rally. It’s not an easy task to prepare for a journey of this magnitude—I’m spending dozens of hours getting ready, and will be devoting about three months of my life and just about every cent I have to doing this. But no matter what the up-front cost, I’m betting that it will all be worth it in the end.

Wish me luck! To follow along on my journey, check out my team’s website.

*You may technically go over if need be, but there will be a fine of £100 for every liter, and you’ll hear no end to the mockery from fellow ralliers. An exception to this rule is if you are taking a vehicle with sufficient comedy value (e.g. an ice cream truck or double-decker bus), or a vehicle that will be useful to the local populace once donated (e.g. ambulances).

Community Connection:

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done for charity? Or the longest road trip you’ve taken? Share your memories below!

Photo: Tempo No Tempo

Maybe you read our Earth Day article earlier this week and rolled your eyes with a sense of exasperation and self-satisfaction.

“I already use rechargeable batteries and carry a reusable bag and a travel mug. None of my appliances are plugged in unless they’re being used.”

Maybe you even have a window garden.

Good for you.

But are you the greenest person on the planet?

That’s what National Geographic and the other sponsors of the Greenest Person on the Planet Competition want to know.

If the answer is yes, you’ll win an iPod or an iPhone, as well as some environmentally conscious prizes: 10 trees planted on your behalf and an animal adopted in your name by the Defenders of Wildlife.

But you’ll have to prove you’ve got what it takes to be the greenest person on the planet.

For all the details about how to enter the contest, visit the competition’s website here.

The leatherback is a tank of a turtle: up to 7 feet long and 2,000 pounds.

Photo: paulmannix Feature: Alex Pears

But the world’s largest turtle species is in trouble. Populations have declined 90% since 1980 due to pollution, run-ins with commercial fishing operations, poaching, and unchecked development along their favored nesting beaches.

On the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, a handful of people are working on an ingenious and effective project to get more leatherback hatchlings safely to sea.

Photo: mattkk

Photo: Todos Tortugueros

Leatherback mothers lay their eggs from October through March. The beaches north of Los Cabos, near the towns of Pescadero and Todos Santos, while as yet undeveloped, are too chilly through most of nesting season for the eggs to stay viable—only the early October nests have a chance.

That’s where Project Todos Tortugueros comes in.

In the course of her master’s degree research, biologist Elizabeth Gonzalez designed what is essentially a turtle greenhouse—a structure that raises the temperature of a chunk of the beach just enough for optimum leatherback nest incubation.

A Los Cabos-based turtle rescue group, ASUPMATOMA, donated the greenhouse to the small group of locals and expats who make up Todos Tortugueros.

Twice and sometimes three times a night during nesting season, members of the Todos Tortugueros team patrol the local beaches. As soon as a nest is found, trained volunteers move the eggs into the cozy greenhouse.

As the hatch date approaches, volunteers keep a close eye on the nests. The hatchlings are released on the beach to make their way to the sea, where they’ll confront both natural and man-made dangers. The females who survive to adulthood will return to these beaches to lay their own eggs.

In 2009 alone, more than 500 eggs—eight nests—have been protected. Hatch rates have been high, and local schoolchildren, fishermen, and community members are catching the Todos Tortugueros team’s enthusiasm for turtle conservation.

Photo: kretyen

But even as hundreds of baby turtles make their way out sea to the cheers of much of the community, three resort hotels and a luxury housing complex of over a hundred homes are either being constructed or are in the works along this stretch of coast. Building on the dunes is frowned upon, but the ban goes largely un-enforced.

Is the Todos Tortugueros project enough to keep the leatherback from extinction? Probably not on its own. But it just might be able to buy these incredible animals enough time, and enough fans, for us to do something about the other threats to their continued existence.

Want to volunteer? Adopt a hatchling? Visit the project? Check out the Todos Tortugueros website for contact information.

Community Connection:

Interested in saving turtles in other ecosystems? Check out the profile for Matador member organization, Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Founded 50 years ago, the organization has outposts in Costa Rica and Panama. Its website offers numerous resources for volunteers interested in lending a hand.

Photo: woodleywonderworks

Today is the 39th anniversary of Earth Day, founded in the US in 1970 and widely recognized as the birth date of the modern environmental movement.

While environmental consciousness, both in the US and abroad, is arguably more widespread today than it was back then, our environmental problems are also more profound.

The call for each person to play his or her part to live a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle has never been more urgent.

Yet many of us (myself included), ignore the call or respond to it selectively, reluctant to make a bigger commitment to environmentalism.

Here are six easy ways you can celebrate Earth Day today and start moving toward a more sustainable lifestyle:

1. Buy rechargeable batteries.

We’ve known for years that disposable batteries are a serious threat to the environment. When disposed in landfills, dead batteries leach toxic metals into the soil, often creeping into groundwater supplies… and, eventually, into the water you drink.

Rechargeable batteries, though not without their environmental hazards, do offer a more environmentally friendly option than conventional batteries. Rechargeables can be used up to 1,000 times, meaning that you’ll need to buy fewer batteries and fewer will end up in landfills. You’ll spend less money on batteries over the long run, too.

Rechargeable batteries–and even their chargers–are sold practically everywhere: drug stores, grocery stores, and even convenience stores.

And if you insist on buying disposables, consider recycling them after they die. If you’re in the US, visit this website and plug in your zip code to find the recycling facility closest to you.

2. Unplug the appliances you’re not using.

I just did a quick walk through my apartment to check the number of items I currently have plugged into outlets.

Photo: tomsaint11

The report, I’m sad to say, isn’t pretty. There’s the cell phone charger, two laptops, a shredder (which I use about once a week), a clock, a stereo, two lamps, a blender, a coffee maker, and a toaster oven (I don’t even remember the last time I used this).

If I unplugged the items that don’t see daily use, I’d be eliminating what scientists and environmentalists refer to as “standby” energy waste. Besides being better for the environment, a 2001 study by Berkeley researchers indicated that I might save as much as 25% on my monthly energy bill.

3. Carry a canvas or reusable bag.

Fortunately, it seems that many of you live in areas where plastic bags have been banned or where their use is increasingly limited. If you don’t, try to remember to carry a canvas or other reusable bag on your trips to the grocery store and for other purchases. There’s an economic incentive here, too– many stores, such as Whole Foods, deduct a small percentage from your total bill for bagging your goods with a reusable bag.

4. Use your coffee travel mug or your Nalgene bottle.

Photo: Ants4Pets

You’ve heard this a million times. You have a collection of reusable mugs and bottles. And you still leave them at home every time you go out.

I know- me too. This is quite possibly the easiest step I could take to reduce waste, and yet I never quite seem to commit to it. Today’s the day to break the disposable cup/bottle habit.

5. Plant a window garden.

Feeling really ambitious? If these other actions seem like baby steps and you’re ready to graduate to something bigger, test your green thumb by planting a window garden. Don’t be deterred if you live in a small apartment in the middle of a city. Matador contributor Theodore Scott has given step-by-step directions for four easy apartment garden projects, which you can find here.

6. Get outside.

Photo: atreeisnice

It’s easy to forget how much you love the land and how important it is to you if you’re always inside. So get out. Plan a picnic, go for a walk, or try a new outdoor activity you keep putting off… but just get outside!

Community Connection:

What are you doing for Earth Day? How can you take a simple step to be a better steward of the environment? Share your opinions below.

I arrived in the guesthouse early afternoon and right away the owner tried to sell me a night tour of the old city of Ayutthaya. “And here you stop and watch elephant show,” she said. “I’d rather not,” I replied. “No, is nice, baby elephants doing tricks,” she continued, not understanding why I seemed uncomfortable with the idea. I declined again. But she never understood why I wouldn’t want to go.

Photo: joehastings

“But we are in Thailand; of course we are planning to ride an elephant. It’s what you do here,” she said. It was a few weeks later and I was talking to a girl in the hostel’s common room in Chiang Mai. I had just been telling her about my experience working at a wildlife centre south of Bangkok. I told her about Pai Lin, the elephant I had fallen in love with, and my hope to deter people from supporting elephant tourism.

Pai Lin’s story is similar to that of many domesticated elephants in Thailand, used for trekking and begging on the streets. This 60 year old elephant used to carry up to six people on her back. Seats made of a heavy wood are placed directly on their spine, thanks to which Pai Lin had a deformed back. She arrived at the centre a few years ago, malnourished, ill, and having spent many years on the streets. She’s a gentle elephant who enjoys splashing around in the water and eating pineapples or banana trees, but more than anything, enjoys the peaceful, quiet life.

If you see an elephant in Thailand and it looks okay, don’t be fooled. Domesticated elephants go through abusive training called phajan when they are young; the training makes them docile enough to be close to people and it’s called “breaking their spirit.” The elephants are often malnourished and don’t get enough water or shade. Elephants begging on the streets are often drugged to keep them going for long hours.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about responsible travel, but without education or knowledge, someone might just not know any better. A lot of people I met in Thailand often felt uncomfortable after riding the elephants or while watching them do tricks to entertain tourists.

Photo: caspermoller

The appeal remains, however; visitors coming to Thailand want to see an elephant. It doesn’t have to be on their backs, though. There are other options. Watching elephants being elephants is an amazing thing on its own. So if you want to go to Thailand and see an elephant, here are some options for you to do so:

Recommended Volunteer Programs and Places to Visit:

Elephant Nature Park: Volunteer for a day and see elephants being elephants. You get to feed and bathe the amazing creatures and witness them in a natural environment. Located just outside Chiang Mai. A great alternative to trekking.

Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary: The sanctuary was started by a woman from London after becoming involved in the story of a baby elephant called Boon Lott. Her dedication to the baby and to the other elephants led her to open the sanctuary that now seven elephants.

Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand: Although they only have six elephants at the moment, there are a lot of other animals at the WFFT. Go for a visit and ask to be shown around. The volunteers can take you to see the elephants and tell you personal stories of the animals at the wildlife centre. Or spend a week volunteering with the elephants and get to know the amazing personalities of these animals.

Community Connection:

Thailand isn’t the only place where elephants are a tourist attraction. Read one Matador member’s tale about riding an elephant and reflecting on the experience in this blog. And if you’re looking for other volunteer opportunities that will put you in contact with elephants, check out this post in our community forum.

A couple years back, being “green” finally came into fashion.

So much so, in fact, that women lined up for hours in Hong Kong just to buy this bag:

Photo: diongillard

Created by popular handbag designer Anya Hindmarch, the “I’m not a plastic bag” bag was also in demand in Los Angeles and London, where it sold out. At one New York City store, 3,000 bags were reported to have been snatched up by eager consumers in just 29 minutes.

Women who carried the bag earned instant eco-cred, and were the envy of friends who’d never entertained the thought of carrying a reusable shopping bag.

Fortunately, in many parts of the world, using canvas bags for shopping instead of plastic bags is becoming a trend that may stick around, thanks to both voluntary plastic bag bans and legislation criminalizing the use of plastic bags for shopping in some jurisdictions.

Photo: Sam Felder

In January of this year, the local government in Delhi, India passed a law banning the use of plastic bags. The city had become littered with bags, which in addition to creating land waste concerns, were also clogging the sewage and water systems. Politicians decided the only way to control use of bags was to ban them completely and impose stiff fines (100,000 rupees) and/or a five-year maximum jail sentence.

Plastic bags have also been banned in Bangladesh, South Africa, Taiwan. Other countries, including Ireland, tax customers who request their goods be bagged in plastic.

The United States has been slower to adopt legislation to decrease the use of plastic bags, but it appears that bans may be coming soon to a city near you. Environmental advocates are pushing for a total plastic bag ban in Portland, Oregon and Ann Arbor, Michigan, among other cities, though bag ban supporters in Baltimore, Maryland, Colorado and Virginia have been disappointed by stalled or vetoed bills.

What’s happening with plastic bags where you live? Have you replaced plastic with canvas or some other reusable bag?

Community Connection:

To learn about other products you can buy to reduce your negative environmental impact, check out Lola Akinmade’s article, Improving Your Goodprint.