Real-Life Heroes: Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Last night at the Poets Asylum, before The Duende Project went on, I was chatting with Bill Macmillan about the shooting in Tuscon. That was the first time I had heard that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' life had been saved by a quick-thinking 20-year old student intern who had been on the job for a mere five days. At that juncture, I didn't even know his name.
This morning, as I read through my news feeds, I learn that he's also an openly gay Latino. It's unclear what sort of first-aid training he's had, but he obviously knew enough to check multiple gunshot victims' pulses, apply pressure to open wounds, and keep the congresswoman upright so she wouldn't choke on her own blood. He was brave and selfless enough to run into the line of fire to save others.
This is a hero. Unequivocally.
I've gone on and on about the importance of portraying persons people of a variety of background as heroes in media. I don't do this simply out of a vapid political correctness. I do this because people -- all people -- believing that they can be anything that they want to be, that they can, indeed, be heroes, makes all of us better.
There are deep currents of racism, homophobia and misogyny in our culture, mostly politically driven, yes, but rooted in the misguided belief that if one group has opportunities, another loses something. This idea is nonsense. Our world is better for having Daniel Henrandez Jr. in it, a man who's smart, selfless, community involved, brave and, yes, gay and Latino. To echo the Joe My God blog, "This means he could be stopped anytime in Arizona and asked to produce proof of citizenship. And, until a few weeks ago, he would have been barred from military service." In most states in the union, including Arizona, he can't marry.
Our fears are the flipside of our violence, and always have been. We only need to look at people like Hernandez to see what we have to gain by letting go of them.
This morning, as I read through my news feeds, I learn that he's also an openly gay Latino. It's unclear what sort of first-aid training he's had, but he obviously knew enough to check multiple gunshot victims' pulses, apply pressure to open wounds, and keep the congresswoman upright so she wouldn't choke on her own blood. He was brave and selfless enough to run into the line of fire to save others.
This is a hero. Unequivocally.
I've gone on and on about the importance of portraying persons people of a variety of background as heroes in media. I don't do this simply out of a vapid political correctness. I do this because people -- all people -- believing that they can be anything that they want to be, that they can, indeed, be heroes, makes all of us better.
There are deep currents of racism, homophobia and misogyny in our culture, mostly politically driven, yes, but rooted in the misguided belief that if one group has opportunities, another loses something. This idea is nonsense. Our world is better for having Daniel Henrandez Jr. in it, a man who's smart, selfless, community involved, brave and, yes, gay and Latino. To echo the Joe My God blog, "This means he could be stopped anytime in Arizona and asked to produce proof of citizenship. And, until a few weeks ago, he would have been barred from military service." In most states in the union, including Arizona, he can't marry.
Our fears are the flipside of our violence, and always have been. We only need to look at people like Hernandez to see what we have to gain by letting go of them.
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