Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve…. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
Amen to that!
Born in Laâyoune (largest city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara); I’ve been deeply immersed in the most important moments that shaped the history of Morocco.
The Glorious “ Green March” is one of them!
(Arabic المسيرة الخضراء, Amazigh ⵜⴰⵡⴰⴷⴰ ⵜⴰⵣⴳⵣⴰⵡⵜ)
On November the 6th, 1975, more than 350,000 Moroccan women and men headed to the Sahara desert holding the Qur’an in one hand, the flag and the picture of their leader in the other. They marched peacefully to put an end to the Spanish colonization; they crossed the borders of the occupied territories without any use of violence..confronted by their courage, determination and love, Spain had no choice but to disengage from the region.
Although I wasn’t born yet to witness this magic moment; the stories never ceased to amaze me. Like many other Moroccans, it will remain forever engraved in my memory and heart!
My grandfather describes it as “the best time of his life”. He always felt grateful and blessed to have met beautiful souls in the journey…..My grandmother said “she was so proud of her husband…marching in poursuit of what is right”. My dad said it’s “the best human experience he ever had as a young man in the army” ….
Well, I can only imagine how special it must be to cross the country with all these volunteers marching hand in hand to defend Morocco’s territorial integrity…But I was even more impressed with the genius man who made it happen and his leadership philosophy…The architect of this mass human movement…
His Majesty King Hassan II
I’ll never get tired of listening to his remarkable speech. Being a true servant leader**, he mobilized his people with faith and a clear vision translated into simple yet powerful inspiring words…
“Tomorrow you’ll cross the border. Tomorrow you’ll start your March. Tomorrow, you’ll walk on a land that is yours. You will feel the sands that is yours.Tomorrow you will embrace a land that is an integral part of your beloved country…”
…….Faith, Love and Strength are your weapons…
….And off they marched exactly the way he envisioned it…his call to action was received with enthusiasm . What can I say; a brilliant political move from a genius servant leader!
I am not writing this post to talk about this exceptional Monarch. I just can’t help but be impressed how he managed to create a strong spiritual bond with his followers. He transformed with 40min speech thousands of people into effective human leaders!!
His spectacular leadership decision changed the destiny of a nation…So here is what his Majesty taught me about true servant leaders :
They lead with Faith. There is something spiritual about servant leadership. These are leaders who want to serve and serve first before they lead. It is a deep feeling driving their leadership style and vision.
Visionary. Their vision becomes people’s dream to get to and they steer the « ship » in the right direction. King Hassan II envisioned Moroccan people undertaking a long peaceful March to liberate the Western Sahara and he made it happen.
ONE Team, ONE Purpose, ONE Belief- they create collective “We” living and breathing the same purpose. All Moroccans are one when it comes to their country. This “Green March” united Moroccan people behind an admirable goal with a strong sense of purpose « The pursuit of what is right »
Discipline & Clarity. Servant leaders are capable of convincing people in different ways…king Hassan II addressed a historic speech to the volunteers in which he explained the last recommendations before the big event. All planned and executed to perfection.
And their legacy will never stop to instil a sense of purpose!
Great leaders are Unstoppable!
This post is dedicated to 350000 Moroccans who took part in the Green March to reclaim Morocco’s sovereignty
Most courageous leaders of all time!
XoXo,
Hindy
Witness History “Green March” with English subtitles
Moroccan TV journalist, Seddik Maaninou, was on the march and spoke to Witness about a turning point in North African history.
King Hassan II speech- https://youtu.be/ydYIMcHJVwg
“We have to do one thing dear people and that is to undertake a peaceful march from the north, the east, the west to the south. It behooves us to act as one man in order to join the Sahara,” …..he concluded his speech by asking all volunteers to be generous when meeting the Spanish. He asked them to greet and invite them to share a meal…He said Moroccans don’t feel any resentment and the intentions are not to trigger a war otherwise he wouldn’t be sending unarmed civilians.
He insisted on the participation of women as a symbole of pacification.
They sang the song “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar… Ferhi y’a ard bladi ard’ak seb’hat hurra”or“God is the greatest, God is the Greatest …May you (Land of Morocco) be cheerful, you are free.”
** servant leadership philosophy was first started in the 1970s with an essay by Robert Greenleaf entitled " The Servant as a LEADER".
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