ToBeRe… community member Lisa K requested we do a podcast on Victimhood. She wanted our take on how we define victimhood and how to recognize it; even if it’s us who play the victim. In this podcast, the guys respond to Lisa’s request.

Keith’s References:

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. Prior to this, Mandela served 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. Widely regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice, he received more than 250 honours—including the Nobel Peace Prize. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the “Father of the Nation”.

Mother Teresa, known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was a Roman Catholic nun and missionary. In 1950 Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation which had over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children’s- and family-counseling programs; orphanages, and schools. Members, who take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, also profess a fourth vow: to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”. Teresa received a number of honours, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was canonised (recognised by the church as a saint) on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day.

Jalen Anthony Rose is a former American professional basketball player and current sports analyst with ESPN. Rose also hosts an ESPN podcast with David Jacoby called Jalen & Jacoby. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines’ “Fab Five” that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores. Rose played in the NBA for six teams, most notably alongside Reggie Miller on the Indiana Pacers teams that made three consecutive Eastern Conference finals, including the 2000 NBA Finals. Rose was primarily a small forward; however, he sometimes played the role of a shooting guard.

Rick’s References:

Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) is an American band that has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, disco, pop, rock, Latin and African. They are one of the most successful bands of all time.[1][2] Rolling Stone Magazine described them as “innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing”.

Viktor Emil Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. Frankl was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of existential analysis, the “Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy”. His best-selling book Man’s Search for Meaning (published under a different title in 1959: From Death-Camp to Existentialism, and originally published in 1946 as Trotzdem Ja Zum Leben Sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, meaning Nevertheless, Say “Yes” to Life: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp) chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate, which led him to discover the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most brutal ones, and thus, a reason to continue living. Frankl became one of the key figures in existential therapy and a prominent source of inspiration for humanistic psychologists.