What Is A Hero?

If you ever think of a hero, you think of a brave warrior who saves lives and defeats the enemy. But that is not what being a hero is all about. Any ordinary person like you or me can be a hero. So your so called “perfect” cartoon hero isn't really a hero?   I guess not. In real life, all it takes to be a hero is to cause change for the better and have an impact on people's lives. Having values that are in the image of the Lord can be a mandatory trait of heroes, but not so important. Even if they don’t believe during their journey, God is still with them. On earth, the characteristics needed to define a hero are integrity above all others and a voice for those who aren’t able to speak for themselves. 

When people think of a hero, they think honorable. All heroes have to have integrity because, otherwise, how are they a hero? A great example of this is John F Kennedy. It all started with the brutal Bay Of Pigs invasion on April 17, 1961.  Americans thought it was a genius plot devised by the one and only JFK. As it turned out, not so much. Now let me tell you what occurred. So, the Communist Soviets (who hated America because we were better than them) wanted to have missiles nearby so they could reach us. Well, Cuba is 90 miles from the coast of Florida, so it was perfect for their missiles. The US found out, and boy oh boy were they mad, enraged in fact. In came Kennedy with “The Genius” plan. He had a plan so well developed, so marvelous, that it blew away the CIA and they immediately accepted. The genius plan was to invade the Cubans on the Bay of Pigs. This so called “marvelous” plan did not go well, and that’s an understatement. He ended up sending half of the troops needed with no naval or air support. The battle ended rapidly after only three days. We surrendered and many Americans were killed, and others were put into Cuban prisons. This massacre was all John F Kennedy’s fault. Since this went so horribly, he decided to make a statement to all of America. He could’ve blamed others or not taken responsibility, but he made the brave decision to be honest. He took all the blame for himself in front of all of America. He asked the entire country for forgiveness and hoped they would forgive him. They did, and the whole country respected him afterwards because he had great integrity. The examples of his honorability place him into a category of ideal heroes. 

 The last part of the perfect hero build is being an advocate for those in need. The absolute best example of this is Martin Luther King Jr. He advocated for millions of people all across America. He led marches and boycotts and protests. He revolutionized the Civil Rights Movement. MLK designed and led non-violent protests, even though he was arrested multiple times and beaten. He continued to speak out against Jim Crow laws that were unfair and just plain awful. His immense contributions to the Civil Rights Movement brought many supporters on board. As the movement expanded, he continued to use his same theory of nonviolence. He never gave up during the movement even after death threats and failures. Even if he swung and missed, he just kept swinging. His massive contributions to the civil rights movement lead to colossal change in America. In the years following his death, Jim Crow laws were abolished and Blacks were given the freedom they fought so hard for. In the end he spoke out for countless people and made the greatest change to American society ever recorded in history. As Martin Luther King Jr. marvelously demonstrates, advocacy is very crucial in being a great hero. 

How I view a hero nowadays has drastically changed due to the unit on heroism. I no longer think of them as a cartoon character who saves lives like Superman. Nowadays when I think of a hero, I think of your normal, average, everyday person who does the little things to help improve others’ lives. They have to possess these characteristics: the ability to speak out for people who don't have the chance or opportunity, advocacy.  To have great virtue; always do what's right no matter the reaction of others. These traits are so critical in being a hero because without them how can you consider yourself or have others consider you a hero? Overall this lesson has been very essential to me, in the fact that I learned how simple it is to be a hero and your average everyday people in your life could be heroes. But do you even notice?