NEWSBYCARL WILKENS

Carl Wilkens is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change.

Many of you might remember this time last year — today actually — when Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns was murdered while on duty at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

In honor of Officer Johns, I want to ask you to do something for his family and for yourself. But first let me say this.

That horrible, horrible tragedy caused me to think again about my attitude toward security officers. Not that I had a bad attitude, it's just that too often I was impatient and critical when going through security checkpoints. (Been flying a lot lately ... come to think of it, that is a bad attitude.)

With the news of Officer Johns' death, I thought about so many different things, including how it must have been when he left for work that morning.

"Just another day at work.” Yet he didn't come home. (To his family and friends, again I want to say I'm so very sorry.)

Carl Wilkens is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change.

We took off last September with this crazy idea to pedal the USA speaking with school and faith groups along the way. We can end the genocide in Darfur, we've got to challenge the "us and them" thinking plaguing our minds and our communities, that's our message! So far we have pedaled the west coast, and our country is amazing, our people amazing, a new sense of pride and understanding of our home! We're also now hooked on recumbent bikes. I can't describe the bonding with our land that this pedaling over 1600 miles (not bragging, it was spread over 7 months) did for us.

Starting in the wheat fields of eastern Washington, cruising over the Cascade Mountains, gliding through the redwood lined "Avenue of the Giants", we eventually rolled out onto the beaches of California where incredibly, dolphins were showing off in the sunset. Yes there were dolphins in the sunset! Not sure if you caught my point, but having enjoyed only 14 nights in our own bed during the last 200 +/- days we feel like we really can claim this planet as our home! Then there is the generosity and hospitality that families have lavished on us while staying in their homes. We've been wowed, humbled and deeply moved and we have turned into serious experts in finding the silverware drawer first pull in a strange kitchen.

Many of our conversations on this journey are about courageous Rwandans who under the threat of machetes and club stood up 16 years ago for others. These are people who refused to accept the "us and them" lies that so many others were buying into in that tiny country in central Africa! Our stories we're hoping are inspiring and equipping people to give it a try, living like you believe that you are 'your brother's keeper'. Yet this pedaling, this mixing of human rights and bonding with our land, reminds us with each gorgeous passing mile we sail through that we're not only 'our sisters keeper', but we're the keeper of each other's home, our fabulous planet earth.

Carl Wilkens is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Change.org asked Mr. Wilkens to respond to questions to provide context for his work and the causes he supports.

Change.org: What cause or causes would you most like to promote as a Changemaker and why?

We’re working to end genocide, racism, and intolerance. After witnessing/surviving the Rwanda genocide of 1994 I’ve committed my life to eradicating the concept of "The Other". The genocide could have been prevented, and when it wasn’t it could have been stopped! There is no limit to what ordinary people can do when we decide that we will not settle for less.

Change.org: If you could ask 1 million people to all do 1 thing to advance your cause or causes, what would it be?

I would ask each person to be proactive about developing a relationship with one new “different” person each month, and I would ask them to ask one of their good friends to give them suggestions as to who that “different from them” person might be. The best way to grow that relationship with the “different person” would be for them both to be involved in some form of service together.

Change.org: What advice would you give people who want to dedicate themselves to creating change?

The degree that we are able to effectively listen to the "other" is directly proportional to our ability to bring about change. The old saying “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” didn’t become an old saying by chance. Listening is one of the most powerful ways I can communicate care, value, and respect. I believe people are “deaf” until they feel heard, then the plugs drop out of their ears.

Change.org: What are the greatest obstacles to change on your issue?

Fear! Fear largely stemming from ignorance. Dehumanization in the media and in education. A huge absence of margins in our lives.

Photo credit: Christian Haugen