Matthew Boger & Tim Zaal
Benefitting C.H.A.N.G.E Memphis & Freedom Writers Foundation
It took three months of working together at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles before Matthew Boger and Tim Zaal realized they had met before, as teenagers in the 80's, when then Neo-Nazi skinhead Tim beat Matthew, a homeless, gay 14-year old, nearly to death. This moment of recognition began a process of healing and forgiveness that led the two men to speak together on stages across the country about their unlikely friendship. Today, Matthew and Tim share a vision that all things are possible, and provide hope to those who feel lost or otherwise unable to break free from the past.
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Wise Words
“I was angry. I was angry at the world. It didn’t matter who it was. I was angry at them. I didn’t like the middle-class people, the cheerleaders, the jocks, that sort of thing.”
“Anybody who did not think the way that I thought even if they happen to be white folks, they were the enemy, which meant that they were just fair game, which meant that enacting violence on those or a particular individual was justified.”
“What do you remember about the night that you were the victim of a beating that almost took your life?”
“She said, “I think you killed him, I think you killed him,” and we told her to shut up and then we started to look at each other like, “Oh my God, maybe we did,” and we got in our cars and we left. We left the area. We dispersed into several different directions and went back home to the nice leafy suburbs where the birds are singing, and really for the most part, never even spoke of it. These sort of things, when you’re involved with these sort of things, you don’t talk about them.”
“And the leaser of White Aryan Resistance told me that I was a fine specimen of an Aryan warrior and the things like that, positive affirmations and I ate it up, and it was through that initial meeting with the national leader of the White Aryan Resistance that I was given a card and I called the people, the number on the card and it was a local group of skinheads. I went to one of their gatherings and there was beer drinking and there was violence. Of course, me being new to this crowd, I felt that I needed to prove myself. So I was the one who initiated many violent confrontations that evening. For the next 10, 15 years, I was up to my eyebrows in this lifestyle. Every part of my existence, every fiber of my being at that time, as far as I can tell, had something to do with race, far-right politics, violence.”
“The way that I was attempting and still to this day attempt to present myself and to live my life is that when I am at fault, that I admit it and I own up to it.
“A victim cannot heal if they don’t know why they were victimized.”
“When dealing with violent extremism, political extremism, it’s very easy for us as individuals to look at a group of people or an individual and say, “That’s my enemy.” And there’s way too much of that going on.”
“You can’t hear the other side if you’re screaming.”
“Change does not happen without work. It takes hard work, sometimes for a very long time. And if we do work towards a better future and a better understanding of one another, there’s hope.”
Links
Matt’s Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.boger1
Tim’s Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/timothy.zaalworkrelated
Matt & Tim’s website: hate2hope.org
Tim’s Charity: C.H.A.N.G.E Memphis
Matt’s Charity: Freedom Writers Foundation