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Meet Ron Finley, the 'Guerilla Gardener'
In our current world, there is a lot about feminism, the #metoo movement and so on but rarely do we hear the about the current issues surrounding masculinism.
Men like women need to be empowered to do their best. This is why Los Angeles born Ron Finley is standing up for men, his aim is to educate young male minds to change their perspectives on masculinity. We have all heard it around us "man up", "men don't cry", "men have no emotions" and are less sensitive than women. However, Ron Finley is telling us that it is not true.
He goes on to explain in Positive News magazine that "I don’t really separate being a man and being a human being – being a conscious citizen of this planet. We all want healthy food, clean water, and to be loved. I don’t see holding back emotion or affection as being a man. I’ve cried on stage. All that ‘real men don’t cry’ bullshit? Yeah, we do. Real people cry."
Finley's urban gardening initiative is showing us just that. He calls himself a "gangsta gardener" changing the term gangsta into something more meaningful for young men in gang culture, to allow them to see themselves as gangsta in education, gangsta in gardening, gangsta in creativity and so on.
"Men are brought up being told that we’re supposed to be provider and protector. But, as far as I can see, a lot of our communities are basically designed to kill people, because you can’t find healthy or nutritious food in them. Why is it easier to get alcohol than an organic apple? Why, in certain communities here, is it easier to get a gun than it is to get an organic carrot? Cities are designed for commerce, not for people," Finley adds.
Eventually, Finley wants to awake male consciousness to all of this, gardening is for him the way to do this, a metaphor on how to live life in a more simple yet meaningful way, as he believes that nature is the greatest teacher of all.
In a 2013 TED Talk Finley expresses just that and it is also what pushed him to develop his current project The Ron Finley Project. Which we believe will bring a positive change to communities and possibly change the gang culture in the US.
