Jane Goodall has studied the social behavior
of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National
Park in Tanzania for over five decades. In
1977, she established the Jane Goodall
Institute which works to preserve the envi-
ronment, protect animals, and improve the
lives of people. Since 1991, Goodall’s Roots
& Shoots program offers young people an
opportunity to make the world a better
place through youth-led community action
programs. In 2002, Goodall was named a
U.N. Messenger of Peace and continues to
speak internationally in the promotion of
peace. In the painting Goodall is present-
ing a stuffed animal to her beloved chimp,
David Greybeard. Jane’s favorite stuffed
animal and sidekick has traveled to more
than sixty countries with her on speaking
tours.
Some would say the goal of world peace
is a fool’s errand. To such an opinion it must
be rebutted that to resign oneself to such a
creed is tantamount predestining it. When
we feel the cynicism in our hearts and minds
for humanity’s capacity to achieve real
peace, we need heroes of history to cast a
light on the true potential of ourselves and
thereby all civilization. Education is the criti-
cal first step in seeing that potential.
The peacemakers teach us that peace is
not achieved through coercion, condemna-
tion, and competition but rather through
compassion and cooperation. The arc of
peace is found not only in the words and ac-
tions of peacemakers, but it is also evident in
the quiet realms of our individual conscienc-
es and in the loud expanse of our embattled
natural environment. It is time for our own
peacemaking genius to flower forth, for each
of us has a role in bending the arc, however,
big or small.
Steve Simon is a freelance artist residing in Sedona, AZ. For
information on The Great Peacemakers collection and travel-
ing exhibit, please visit:TheGreatPeacemakers.com.
Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland circa 1822. She escaped slavery and
became a famous Underground Railroad conductor. Using nothing but nightfall, cleverness, and
powers of intuition, the illiterate conductor of the Underground Railroad “never lost a passenger”
while shepherding approximately seventy slaves to freedom. During the Civil War, Tubman served as a
scout, a nurse, and courageously led an armed assault on a group of plantations that freed 750 slaves.
Later in life, she was a promoter of women’s suffrage, working with Susan B. Anthony and others. The
painting celebrates Tubman’s legendary intuitive powers. Pausing in the dark woods, she taps the
ether to divine critical information.
IMAGINE
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