“Heroes” (for more than just one day)

The late David Bowie song “Heroes” (released in 1977) was reportedly inspired by him witnessing two lovers kissing at the Berlin Wall.  The lyrics, co-written with early Roxy Music member Brian Eno, include the memorable refrain:

We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day

According to Bowie biographer James Perone, “the song, at its core, represents two opposing forces: the couple’s love for each other, and a sense that the Berlin Wall will separate them.”  In that sense, the song is a story of love, tragedy, and the desire to change or challenge that tragedy.

I bring this up because of a recent exchange in the Twittersphere.  One Macedonian user commented on the need for a “new national hero” in light of the current demands by Bulgarians (aided and abetted by the US State Department and EU institutions), and the fact that the current government of DUI/SDS continues to give into such demands and the humiliations that accompany all of this madness.  Another user then asked the natural question, “Who would that be?” to which I responded, rather quickly, “I think the heroes should be - can be - the Macedonians, ignoring what their current government says and does, and claiming it all back - teaching their children, and grandchildren, at home, at church, wherever, the truth about Macedonia.”

This is a theme I’ve written about before.  In a column titled “Teach your children, Macedonia” written just four short years ago in February of 2019, I wrote “We’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important….If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the Macedonian memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the Macedonian spirit….The teaching and education of Macedonia’s children begins at home.  But it doesn’t end there.  And of course Macedonia has many wonderful and dedicated teachers and educators and administrators who will do all they can to resist the Government’s mandated changes.  These women and men are dedicated, love Macedonia, and love Macedonia’s children.  But in the years ahead, this will be a job for all those who are responsible for the children of Macedonia – starting with parents, grandparents, older brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, and others. And this teaching might need to happen after school and on weekends in informal associations or groups beyond the government’s reach….Teach your children, Macedonia. Nurture and encourage them and prepare them for the future and battles yet to come. It’s time to take back the agenda.”  Given what is going on in Macedonian schools these days (both in terms of curriculum, and lack of actual books), this is quite relevant today.

In March of 2019, in another column titled “A Macedonian Covenant,” I wrote, “Here’s how it might work: The parties to the Covenant would be, simply, the Macedonians; a Covenantal agreement among and between Macedonians – Macedonians in the Republic, Macedonians in Greece, Macedonians in Bulgaria, Macedonians in Albania and everywhere else that Macedonians live around the world.  At its core it would be a pledge and a promise to each other: to encourage each other to support Macedonia and Macedonians to the extent that each individual has ability and resources, and to support the very soul of Macedonia – those attitudes, that spirit, those things, which make Macedonia unique in our world. It would be, in a manner of speaking, a rediscovery: it would entail a renewed understanding of and appreciation and affirmation for the goodness of Macedonia and the Macedonians.  It would entail an undertaking of work and activities: the simple, or sometimes not-so-simple, but the necessary work and activities that make Macedonia what it is.”

All of the above necessitates the need for Macedonians to step up and do the work necessary and needed.  In doing so, we should remember the words of Krste Misirkov who wrote, in “On Macedonian Matters,” that “Complete political freedom is worthless if a man does not come to realize that his human debt, his debt towards his country and his people, is work, work and more work.” 

Now, step back for a moment and think about your own personal heroes.  They can certainly inspire because, in your own eyes and those of others who look to them, they have accomplished something great, or said or written something profound, or even sacrificed something, perhaps their own lives, in the service of someone or something greater than themselves.  And yet all of them, without exception, have some fault or, perhaps, many faults, for the simple reason that we all are fallen men and women, with our own failures, flaws, and weakness. And that’s fine.  That’s what makes them human and therefore relatable.  Knowing this also means that anyone, anywhere can be that hero.

I have Macedonian heroes.  Not just the ones we know from the past (and you can name them too), but Macedonian heroes here and now, people I know personally from my nearly three decades of being in and with Macedonia. Men and women who are grateful for Macedonia, men and women who have gratitude for all that being Macedonian means, men and women who do not take each and every day for granted, but get up and go to work with an intentional attitude of making things better, serving others, and then going to bed knowing that they did something good.

You, my Macedonian friends and family, can be, should be, heroes, and for more than just one day. 

Be heroes.  Be Macedonian heroes. For ever and ever.