Seeking Justice, Fighting Crime

I'm sure all of us have wanted to be a superhero at one time or another. Well, maybe not all of us, but enough of us that you can understand what I'm talking about. However, most of these aspirations are thwarted for one reason or another. Maybe you remember that being a superhero usually requires either superpowers or enough cash to build a batmobile out of hundred-dollar bills. Maybe you remember that you're a student, and you already get a dangerously low amount of sleep and really don't have the time to go galavanting about at night. Or maybe you realize "Hey, I've never won a fight in my life, I'd probably be in the hospital within an hour if I tried that".

Or, if you're one of a rare and fascinating few people, maybe you think "You know, that's not a bad idea", don a costume, and hit the streets. This is how many of the members of the Real Life Super Hero project got their start. Some people, like San Diego's Mr. Xtreme, were driven to their calling by personal trauma. In an interview, Mr. Xtreme revealed his origin story as one of pain "...the thing that really made me get involved in this is that I myself have been a victim of violent crime and have also come from a struggling background. I’ve been jumped by gang members, bullied at school…I wanted to do something positive, heroic and also as a way of protest against indifference in society. People are being victimized, and I feel that someone has to take a stand. Someone has to stand up and put a stop to it". Others, like Liberia's Lion Heart, do what they do for a better tomorrow. Lion Heart saw firsthand the struggles that people in his country faced when he made a trek from his hometown in the countryside to the country's capital of Monrovia to try and reunite with his family. "I made a vow to God,” he says, “that if he would bring me home, I would go help my people, Help them to live a healthier life". Lion Heart never forgot his promise, and now works to spread knowledge all over his country about how to live better, showing villages the safest ways to get clean water, and how to prevent disease. 

These heroes aren't quite like they seem in comic books, however. None of them go out at night looking to beat up gangs or stop mysterious serial killers. All of the heroes that are part of the movement work strictly within the bounds of the law, and usually leave more serious and dangerous situations up to the police. This builds an interesting distinction between "superheros" and vigilantes, and these people work in a different way than the Minutemen that patrol the border. Most of the work that these men and women do isn't in pursuit of eliminating criminals, but in the interest of fostering a better world for the communities they live in. Most of the heroes work in community service, handing out meals and coats to the homeless, running charities, and speaking at events to promote the values of justice, compassion and active effort to improve the world that they all share. Some of the heroes are married, or have children, but for the most part, the movement consists of men and women who care most about making a difference. Some are part of teams of like-minded people, and each hero profile on the RLSH website ends with a link to the hero's charity of choice, where they request donations be sent. 

Do these heroes match up to how superheroes are portrayed in media? No, none of them can lift a tank, shoot concussive beams from their eyeballs or leap tall buildings in a single bound. But all of them spend their time doing everything they can to make the world a better place. Even if they might look a little silly doing it, I don't think any super-protagonist from any fictional universe would say for a moment that they aren't worthy of the title "Hero".

Source: "The Real Life Super Hero Project." The Real Life Super Hero Project. Accessed April 25, 2016. http://reallifesuperheroes.com/.