By Adele Baruch, Naoko Yura Yasui, Eric Rutberg, and Michael Brady
Stories of moral courage are stories that focus on the expression of bravery to enact interpersonal values or ethical standards in the face of challenge. Stories that focus on choosing to do the right thing have the potential to encourage action in situations that may otherwise lead to despair. In this section of the website we have four interviews with elders who have expressed moral courage in their lives, along with four introductory essays.
Martin Steingesser
Introductory Essay: Martin Steingesser’s Stories of Moral Courage
Essay by E. Michael Brady
The first time I met Martin Steingesser I was with my three young children and we had to look up – far up! The occasion was a parade along Portland’s Congress Street and Martin was on long stilts. As he walked 10 feet above the street, sometimes performing frontward and backward bends and at other times slow and gentle dance moves, he saw my three small children and ambled over to us. We all looked skyward and said “Hi.” Martin returned the greeting with a big smile. Then off he went to delight other parade watchers.
More than 30 years later I met Martin again. This time it was in his home on Munjoy Hill and I was with my university colleague Adele Baruch. We were meeting with Martin to obtain his personal experiences, insights, and stories for the Courage and Moral Choice Project that you are exploring here in Story Commons. Unfortunately, although we audio-recorded that interview and also took copious notes, when Adele and I met with Martin three years ago we neglected to arrange for video-recording. That afternoon was so astonishing and delightful that we wanted to re-visit this conversation with a videographer in the room.
While I was not personally able to participate in the more recent second interview of Portland’s first Poet Laureate, author of three books of poems, and renowned performer and educator, I watched the video (three times) and continue to be in awe of the wisdom, compassion, and grace in Martin’s persona and words. “Give me a heartbeat” is the way he starts the conversation. This theme persists through the interview as Martin’s stories are told from the heart which made it easy to resonate with mine. One of the lines Martin shares and, in fact, repeats that became a takeaway legacy for me is “Every affirmation of the heart is an act of courage.”
I don’t think I’m overstating the case when I say that if you spend the 40 minutes it takes to watch this video you will learn and grow. You will be entertained. You will be challenged. You will be in the company of an inspiring artist and teacher.
Parivash Rohani
Introductory Essay: Parivash Rohani’s Stories of Moral Courage
Essay by Dr. Naoko Yura Yasui
As Parivash grew up in persecution due to her family’s religious beliefs that targeted Baha’i at large, which would eventually burn down her family’s house, Parivash promised herself not to ignore injustice in her life: “I don’t want to be unjust to someone else.” She followed an opportunity to escape to India with contact information for two local Baha’is who supported her pursuit of education, and later landed in the U.S. where Parivash would become active in advocacy for education. She discusses her advocacy work in public awareness on the significance of education through a documentary film and public art. Based on feedback from the audience, these have generated transformative impacts, including the recognition that not everyone has the freedom to learn.
Building on this awareness of the value of education, Parivash envisions an initiative to make education available to the global community, connecting learners and instructors in different parts of the globe. She has been an active advocate with international human rights organizations, through which international pressure was critical to the survival of a number of Baha’is. In Maine, Parivash is active in interfaith community activism, and she points out that working for the community is the ultimate purpose of all religions. She describes her life as following the path to live out of the given options, rather than being courageous as she is sometimes told. Her belief that there is victory after every crisis was the source of hope that sustained her throughout challenging times. She shares that in Baha’i, youth are seen as seeking justice even when not abiding by the law, and that they are cherished because of their sense of justice. To this day, she lives up to the promise she made with herself as a teenager.
Linda Bly-Austin
Introductory Essay: Linda Bly-Austin’s Stories of Moral Courage
Essay by Dr. Eric Rutberg
In this interview, Linda Bly-Austin demonstrates moral courage, describing how she pushed back against cultural, and career norms, potentially alienating her family and school faculty. Leaving a conventional teaching position to join an experimental program was risky. She recognized the traditional schooling approach was failing to meet the needs of some students. At a time when the field of education was entrenched in a punitive model of addressing youth struggling in the school setting, Linda’s story documents the pitfalls and rewards for her dedication to improving the school setting and staying true to her values.
Linda details how she advocated for the application of social justice principles in an alternative school setting. She described how a warm, caring family structure was a key factor in solving problems with youth. Linda recalls the commitment to her principles and the success of the students as being tremendously validating. Now retired, Linda fondly reflects on her family’s pride in her work, the success of her students, and the enduring impact her work has had on transforming her school’s learning culture.
Ervin Staub
Introductory Essay: Ervin Staub’s Stories of Moral Courage
Essay by Dr. Adele Baruch
Ervin Staub, an internationally acclaimed scholar of genocide, altruism, and moral courage is a survivor of the Holocaust. His family experienced both terror and great hardship during that time, as well as the generosity and shelter of others. In this video, Dr. Staub recounts several times in his life when he was faced with moral choices under stress, and he chose to do what he believed to be the right thing.
The first example occurred after a meeting with the Dalai Lama, when he extended an invitation to the Dalai Lama to speak at an international conference on reconciliation, with the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. After receiving confirmation of the Dalai Lama’s willingness to present at the conference, Dr. Staub experienced pressure from several key members of the current Wallenberg Foundation to disinvite him, as some in the Foundation saw his participation as a risk to investment ties to China. Dr. Staub describes discussing the matter with his wife, and he decided to tell the Foundation that if they disallowed the Dalai Lama’s participation, he too would pull out of participation with the conference. When he took that stand, members of the Foundation changed their minds, and both participated in the conference.
At that conference, focused on tolerance and reconciliation, Dr. Staub made a commitment to work in Rwanda, a country experiencing the first few years after mass genocide, to assist in the process of reconciliation. He made plans to go with his wife, a psychologist, and they made several trips together to promote this process. He described three areas of challenge in the context of these efforts. One was that the liason from Rwanda did not communicate plans for their lodging or transportation in Rwanda. In addition, the warfare was continuing in isolated pockets in the country, and his memories as a survivor were triggered in the face of this very recent genocide.
Dr. Staub described his experiences with reconciliation in Rwanda, and during the interview he responded to questions about forgiveness. He noted that the subject of forgiveness is a complicated one. During his work in Rwanda, some of those involved in the efforts towards reconciliation stated that they forgave their aggressors only because they perceived that is what the new government expected of them. Based on these and other experiences with those who have been significantly harmed, Dr. Staub came to see some of the conditions associated with authentic forgiveness. One is that the person who is harmed must be given a full opportunity to share their experiences and associated feelings. The perpetrator must not only recognize the harm, but he or she must also take some responsibility and express a desire to engage in reparation.
Dr. Staub also spoke about his efforts to write and talk about the Armenian genocide, despite being personally and professionally attacked by those from Turkey who had an interest in denying that genocide. When asked about the sources of inspiration for moral courage, he immediately described the courage and generosity of a woman who worked for his family prior to the Holocaust. She was Christian so she could travel freely in Hungary. She found shelter for his family among neighbors. Additionally. when Dr. Staub’s father was sent to a work camp, she made a courageous journey to that camp to give deliver a protective pass to him. Dr. Staub attributes his family’s survival to this woman, and he sees her as the source of inspiration not only for his moral choices, but for his lifelong scholarly interest in altruism and moral courage.
*Videos are not available publicly on YouTube, but they may be shared.
Centers for Moral Courage 