Learning at Gunpoint
I was reading a recent ar��cle from the New ��ork Times about the
growing threat of the Taliban against what else, girls’ educa��on.
They will set schools on ��re and destroy precious and expensive
resources for learning. �� can’t tell you how many schools were set on
��re, but one is too many. This ar��cle reminded me of the girl who
was shot in the face by a Taliban agent for ��gh��ng for girls’ rights
to an educa��on, and that really made me realize what �� had��safe
schools, great educa��on, and laws preven��ng me from not ge��ng
one. ��t forced me to evaluate the value of educa��on in a life well
lived.
��t would help to de��ne educa��on and what is it that makes it
like gold? ��s it to advance career opportuni��es? The chance to go
to a school and socialize, or to play on a sports team? Why learn
mathema��cs, literature, or history? ��s it to be be��er at ��nances,
reading, and free yourself from repea��ng the past? Maybe those are
all by��products, but they aren’t what makes educa��on worth ge��ng
shot over.
What makes educa��on ge��ng shot over is the singular fact that
learning is��at its core��TH�� human experience. ��very day we exist
is an opportunity to experience something new. Our brain takes
what we experience and commits it to memory, or not, and that
is essen��ally what learning is. ��f you aren’t out experiencing the
new, then you are simply not living. Mind you, this may be di��erent
for di��erent people. A chess player gets a li��le be��er at chess�� a
grandmother gets a li��le more skilled at sewing�� a baby takes its
��rst steps��all of these are the slight and important experiences that
build up our knowledge. Then there are the big pieces of knowledge
such as math, physics, history, theology–all the things that are a
��2 | June 2019 | Real Hero Report
collec��ve treasure trove of humani��es li��le steps chipping away at
the mysteries of the ques��on ��why?’
Why are we here? Why was �� born this way? Why was �� born in
America and not somewhere else?
For so long we have accepted that we learn in order to solve the
riddle of life, but �� declare that we learn in order to live the riddle
of life. �� base this declara��on on two truths. One, �� cannot go a
day without reading or learning something new. Facts have always
fascinated me, and �� en��oy acquiring more and more of them. ��f ��
went a day without learning or experiencing something new, �� am
certain �� would go crazy. Two, go to a mental ins��tu��on and stare
at the blank white walls of solitary con��nement. ��ou get nothing in
return. ��t is as close to death as you can get.
��f to learn is to live, and to live is to learn, then why are the big
endless ques��ons that plague us so haun��ng? Simply put, they are
forever. We may never know for certain why we are here or what
the end goal is, but �� know for certain we always will ��ght to get a
li��le closer to the answer. ��f �� am not mistaken, each answer only
leads to more ques��ons. Just as soon as we learn why we are here,
we may ��nd ourselves asking why that reason?
Which brings me back to the Afghani girls whose schools are being
targeted by men with an agenda. They s��ll go back. ��ven afraid for
their lives, they return to what is le�� of their classroom, and they sit,
learn, and live. These girls are a testament to what makes learning
at gunpoint so powerful. They are being denied, not the right to
an educa��on, not the right to a be��er ��ob, but to the right to truly
live. Such atroci��es are no mere criminal acts, but an abomina��on
towards humanity’s true purpose. To deny anyone the right to learn
is atrocious. To squander your freedom to learn is pi��ful.
Through it all, the girls return to empty classrooms, burned
books, and frightened teachers’ intent on living and knowing life. ��f
this does not s��r a sheer respect for those who ��ght to learn when
there is a regime intent on stopping them, then what will? Try as the
Taliban might to keep their women in darkness, they have only made
them shine brighter.
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2019 Hero Ride
The Hero Ride is a group of cyclists organized by Joey
Brown, who is a re��red ��ieutenant with the Georgia
State ��atrol. The group primarily consists of cyclists
who are ac��ve or re��red law enforcement o��cers. Some
have been family members of law enforcement o��cers.
��ach year since 2014, Hero Riders have been cycling various
routes, usually origina��ng in North Carolina and traversing
more than ��00 miles in �� days, with arrival at the Na��onal ��aw
��nforcement Memorial in Washington, DC during Na��onal
��olice Week, which was held the week of May 1�� this year.
The cyclists seek to honor the law enforcement profession and
those who have paid the ul��mate sacri��ce in service to their
fellow ci��zens.
From 2014��201��, the Hero Ride also raised funds for the
North Carolina Troopers Associa��on Caisson Unit ��Unit��.
The Caisson Unit provides their services to honor fallen law
enforcement o��cers, free of charge. The Unit is supported by
private dona��ons and receives no public funds. Over the ��ve��
Pictured from
left to right: Clint
������������������������������
Brush, Derick
Durden, Todd
Berry, Joey
Brown.
year period, the Hero Ride has raised more than ����0,000 for
the Unit. This year, Hero Riders raised funds to support the law
enforcement charity of their choice.
This year’s riders were Joey Brown ��Re��red, Georgia State
��atrol��, Clint Williams, Jack Brush ��St. Johns County Florida
Sheri��’s Department��, Derick Durden ��Georgia State ��atrol��,
and Todd Berry. ��roviding support were Ray Dean ��Georgia
State ��atrol�� and Ron Faircloth ��St. Johns County Florida
Sheri��’s Department��.