{"id":5768,"date":"2010-09-09T12:59:19","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T20:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.reallifesuperheroes.org\/?p=5767"},"modified":"2010-09-09T12:59:19","modified_gmt":"2010-09-09T20:59:19","slug":"a-hero-in-all-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/2010\/09\/09\/a-hero-in-all-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hero in All of Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"supersuperdara\"<\/a>Originally posted: http:\/\/volumeone.org\/magazine\/articles\/1695\/A_Hero_in_All_of_Us.html\/page\/1<\/a>
\ninternational group the Real Life SuperHeroes<\/strong>
\nby Eric Larson
\nMarco Rasc\u00f3n C\u00f3rdova has always felt a calling to stand out. And for the past 20 years, he\u2019s answered it in a most peculiar fashion: by patrolling the working class neighborhoods of Mexico City in cranberry-red tights and responding only to the name, \u201cSuperbarrio.\u201d
\nOne glance at him \u2013 overweight, middle-aged, and by all means slower than a speeding bullet \u2013 and it\u2019s clear that, by traditional standards, he\u2019s far from super. But to C\u00f3rdova, \u201ctraditional\u201d isn\u2019t the kind of hero he\u2019s going for. In fact, he\u2019s not looking to beat criminals to a pulp at all. He\u2019s striving to protect the rights of the working class through organized protests and petitions, all the while donning his brightly colored get-up. And the best part? He\u2019s not alone.
\nOver the past several years, dozens of inspired people across the globe \u2013 representing both the early-twenty-something and near-senior segment \u2013 have tied capes to their necks and set out to do good for the public. Look up to the sky: here come the Real Life Super Heroes. (Holy new phenomenon, Batman!)
\nBefore I continue, I think it\u2019s important to note how widespread this occurrence actually is. In September of last year, an official Real Life Super Hero project was established serving as a meeting ground\/alliance for emerging heroes across the globe. According to the website, more than 150 individuals are currently in action, serving both publicly and privately. Meetings and conferences are continually held across the country to share ideas and teach strategies to old members and newbies alike. In short: this is the closest thing to the Justice League this world will ever see.
\nWithin it, the personalities and \u201cpowers\u201d are unique to each hero involved. Take Angle Grinder Man from England: lanky with shoulder length hair and a baby blue onesie, he works pro bono on the streets of London by cutting the wheel clamps off paralyzed vehicles. Then there\u2019s Terrifica from New York City, who prowls the downtown bars to keep inebriated women from getting taken advantage of. Polar Man from Canada shovels driveways for the elderly, and Recycle Boy teaches children the importance of being resourceful \u2026 and the list goes on.
\nA particularly intriguing hero is SuperSuperDara, hailing from Brazil. Similar to most RLSHs, she deems public service one of her greatest contributions. To SuperSuperDara storytelling is the best weapon to teach children about the dangers of sexual abuse.
\n\u201c(It\u2019s) a serious problem, which leads to psychological scars that will last forever,\u201d she told me. \u201cI try to warn children and make parents, educators, and community members aware of this paradigm shift they need to do.\u201d
\nA day in the life of our Brazilian hero involves visiting schools and reading aloud her favorite story, Segredo Segred\u00eessimo, which, according to her, strongly reiterates the importance of sexual abuse awareness. Her contributions are well-received by her community, and her tweets are regularly followed by congressmen and popular Brazil-based magazines, she said. Her ultimate goal is to make a radical shift and teach protection techniques to the younger generation.
\n\u201cChanging paradigm is necessary in Brazil, and in order to do so a superhero is required,\u201d she said. \u201cMere mortals couldn\u2019t do such a thing.\u201d
\nNow with all these people across the globe standing up to serve their communities, I\u2019m forced to ask: why not Eau Claire? Sure, the city\u2019s been named one of the safest places to live in the country, and the biggest crimes I\u2019ve seen in my four years of residency have been petty at worst. (To the thief of my patio chair: the hunt continues.) But as these RLSHs have proven you don\u2019t need invisibility, inhuman strength, or even web-shooting wrists to be considered super. Volunteering and displaying pro social values in any atmosphere are steps in the right direction. The project stems much deeper than a group of adults who spent too much time with comic books as kids; although, as some have stated, the reading material was definitely an inspiration.
\nINTERVIEW: Rochester Superhero Geist<\/strong>
\nOf the more well-known heroes from the RLSH alliance is Geist from Rochester, Minnesota. Although relatively new to the league, Geist has managed to make his name quite well-known. His costume, which he describes as \u201cgreen Space Cowboy-chic,\u201d is as bizarre as it is badass. I was able to get in contact with him via e-mail a few weeks back. Here\u2019s a snippet of my ventures into his mind:
\nVolume One:<\/strong> So, Geist \u2013 how long have you been doing this?
\nGeist:<\/strong> I became active as Geist, doing charitable missions and crime patrols, in April of
\n2007.
\nV1:<\/strong> That\u2019s cool. What was it that inspired you to pursue something like this?
\nINTERVIEW: Rochester Superhero Geist<\/strong>
\nOf the more well-known heroes from the RLSH alliance is Geist from Rochester, Minnesota. Although relatively new to the league, Geist has managed to make his name quite well-known. His costume, which he describes as \u201cgreen Space Cowboy-chic,\u201d is as bizarre as it is badass. I was able to get in contact with him via e-mail a few weeks back. Here\u2019s a snippet of my ventures into his mind:
\nVolume One:<\/strong> So, Geist \u2013 how long have you been doing this?
\nGeist:<\/strong> I became active as Geist, doing charitable missions and crime patrols, in April of
\n2007.
\nV1:<\/strong> That\u2019s cool. What was it that inspired you to pursue something like this?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volume One reviews the RLSH culture, including Super Super Dara and Geist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[161,259,376,429,864,1017,1018,1393,1669,1710,1841,2026,2060,2181,2187,2236,2544,2548],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}