#jane-goodall

#jane-goodall

Now more than ever, we must recognize that animals do matter. They are more than symbols of geographic and political divides. They deserve more out of life than to be casualties in our own failed efforts to coexist with one another, much less the natural world. Their worth is not a function of how "human" they look or act. And just as we appreciate individuality in people, so too must we value it in other animals.

Goodall's life journey stretches from marveling at the somewhat unremarkable creatures - though she would never call them that - in her English backyard as a wide-eyed little girl in the 1930s to challenging the very definition of what it means to be human through her research on chimpanzees in Tanzania. From there, she went on to become a global icon and a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

When I was a child growing up in the '60s and '70s, watching National Geographic specials on TV, I wanted to be Jane Goodall. Not like her. Her. I could imagine no better life than observing and learning about chimpanzees. But only Jane Goodall could be Jane Goodall, and I eventually fell into a more traditional path, even going to law school.