“What seems to us more important, more painful, and more unendurable is really not what is more important, more painful and more unendurable, but merely that which is closer to home. Everything distant which for all its moans and muffled cries, its ruined lives and millions of victims, that does not threaten to come rolling up to our threshold today, we consider endur­able and of tolerable dimensions.”

             –        Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 

Through the journal of eleven-year-old Javier Mendoza, Eliz­abeth Hankins brings the horrors of past and ongoing genocides closer to our threshold. And without a doubt, we cannot consider any of them endurable.

The twentieth century was the bloodiest century in the his­tory of mankind. More than 100 million persons were killed in our wars; another 100 million persons were deprived of living happy, fruitful, and contributing lives because of political re­pression, systematic killing of “the other” - genocide.

So then, are wars and genocide inevitable? To this, I would offer a resounding “no” though I recognize that many believe vio­lent conflict is the natural state of man, an unavoidable malady. And to the argument that the best we can hope for is minimiz­ing “collateral damage” as nations and peoples war to win – and then hold fast to power by every means imaginable in hopes of remaining victorious when the next conflict arises – I would offer an alternative vision to consider.

To be sure, history does seem to support the inescapable cycle of violence argument. Yet I believe, as Elizabeth Hankins does, that sustainable peace must be worked for – and can be achieved. What I mean by “sustainable peace” is a diverse com­munity striving together, across all that usually divides us, to meet the needs of all of its members.

And who builds such a community?

Imagine living in a society where a critical mass of people decide over and again, in countless small decisions everyday, to seek the interests of others – the common good – and not just the good of themselves. Then imagine these same individuals working tirelessly to influence the structures of their society – the organizations, companies, governments – to do the same.

Oscar Romero wrote: “Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the si­lent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty.”

So then forging that kinder, more generous critical mass may be more of a reality than we imagine. And perhaps our journey toward it begins when we commit to bear witness not only to that which is broken and horrific in our world, but the truth that each one of us can – and should – make a differ­ence. We see this principle reflected simply, yet eloquently, in I Learned a New Word Today…Genocide.

I hope that teachers of young readers nationwide will give this book to their students to help them understand how our world works and what will be required of them to change history and build a different future. I hope that children will read and shudder with Javier. Yet I hope they’ll not just be saddened, but instead choose to commit, as he does “to do that thing they can do to make a difference.”

And I hope that many, many adults will do the same.

Randall Butler

The Institute for Sustainable Peace