Why I Do This...

While social entrepreneurship is about innovation and  determination, for most of us, it also involves a healthy dose of rage. When it comes down to it, my work is driven by a single belief: all people are equally valuable. Sadly, a trio of violent events in and around Washington DC recently showed how far we are, as a society, from valuing all individuals equally.

On March 30th, four people were killed and five injured in a drive-by shooting in Southeast Washington DC. Several weeks later, the murder of DCPS Principal Brian Betts drew national attention. Finally, most recently, nearly everyone heard about the murder of Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player at the University of Virginia.

Simply examining the media attention given to each of these events tells us something about the way we value the individuals involved. Specifically, it's worth noting that Love's murderer, George Huguely, has been analyzed far more than any of the other alleged killers. People stated, over and over, that they were surprised he would do this. Did we expect this behavior from the others accused? I shudder to think that murder would be expected from anyone.

Friends Meeting of Washington - a Quaker meetinghouse - hangs a sign outside that asks, "How does your life help to remove the causes of war?" In my mind, all murder is war. We should respond with disgust to each and every killing, not simply to those that surprise us due to the wealth and privilege of those involved. Each of the accused killers came into contact with many of us - in schools and churches, group homes and neighborhoods. We failed to effectively influence the killers and to effectively protect the victims. We failed to value every individual in a way that create hope and confidence rather than fear and rage.

We cannot afford to help only the young ones, or the motivated ones, or the ones that "want to be helped." We must reach out to every individual. If we don't, we will fail in removing the causes of war, and we've seen what that means too frequently in recent weeks.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark