I don’t know about you but when I was 12 it was all about me. Junior lifesavers, wanting to be a karate fighter, hockey, sailing, fishing with Dad and having fun. The environment was my backyard where I swam and played from morning until night. It wasn’t an “issue”. I wasn’t aware of “issues” then. It was a different time and I was too busy playing. But this young lady!

My student and friend Mike Whitten mailed this clip. This young girl, daughter of well-known environmentalist and author David Suzuki, hits the nail on the head when she addressed the UN Earth Summit in 1992. For me, the most powerful moment  is when she says, “We are afraid to share, we are afraid to let go of some of our wealth.” And when she said, “If a child on the street who has nothing is willing to share, why are we, who have everything, still so greedy?”

What is truly sad is that address, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 1992, is 18 years old, one and a half times older than she was when she addressed the Summit, and not enough people are taking any notice. Poverty is heartbreaking. Financial institutions have virtually destroyed the world’s economy with their seemingly endless greed.

Poor nations are very irresponsible on a global scale because of the abuse of the local environments. But we can’t condemn them until we walk in their footsteps. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs dictates that they will do what is necessary to survive and we cannot say anything about that. But we, the developed nations, the people who do have what we need in abundance and more, who still refuse to share, who waste so much, who are just incredibly greedy, are responsible.

As teachers and students of something as profound as Kyokushin, we should reflect on what this young lady clearly feels with such passion. When she reminds us of the things we are taught as children by adults, whilst the same adults disregard their own truths, I think of Kyokushin too. The whole destruction, disintegration of Kyokushin, is, I believe, caused by a handful of greedy, self-serving, smug opportunists who preach rules of behavior kneeling in front of the dojo but whose own behavior is despicable. If our own children behaved the way these self-made 8th and 9th dans do, we would paddle their behinds and tell them to behave.

What became of this young girl? She is still fighting the fight. She is a remarkable woman who has spoken worldwide and written profusely. Why not look her up on Google? She walks the walk and lives her truth and that is a beautiful and rare quality.

Since Rio, Severn has given many speeches to schools and corporations, conferences and international meetings worldwide (see below). In 1993 she received UNEP's Global 500 Award in Beijing, China.

Severn has appeared and participated in TV many programs in Canada, the U.S., and Britain. Most recently she was the host of Suzuki's NatureQuest, a children's television series currently airing around the world. She has written numerous articles on environmental issues for magazines and newspapers, and has also published a book called “Tell the World”. From 1997 to 2001 Severn served as a Commissioner for the UN's Earth Charter, a document that strives to serve as a code of ethics for human conduct towards our resources, our planet, and each other. She was also an active participate in the Johannesburg World Summit of 2002, the ten year anniversary of Rio '92.

Severn graduated from Yale University and then in 2006 enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Victoria to study ethnobotany.

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s most famous words were more aimed at the fading of the physical battery as we move into old age, disease and death. But this lady shows that if you really believe in something, you have to fight for it and bring an awareness of the issues to those who, whilst being right amongst it, are just not aware.

THAT is the Spirit of Osu!

I used the YouTube clip with Spanish subtitles so Spanish speakers can watch it.

I have also added a couple more videos of Severn Suzuki’s activities in more recent times.