Buzz
While everyone enjoys a powerful story of redemption, many don't realize that real-life accounts can be even more compelling than those imagined.
10. Abdel Nasser Ould Ethmane
Abdel Nasser Ould Ethmane grew up in a nomadic village in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, where slavery was a common practice. On his seventh birthday, he was given his first slave, a gift as ordinary to him as receiving a toy or bicycle.
At the age of 12, Ethmane was sent to the capital of Mauritania to pursue formal education. There, he developed a passion for reading and learned about world history, discovering that other nations had abolished slavery long ago.
Over time, Ethmane began to understand that slavery was a deeply immoral practice. However, publicly opposing the deeply rooted traditions in Mauritania could have led to his imprisonment or even death.
As a teenager, Ethmane started organizing private conversations about the issue of slavery. Eventually, he established SOS Slaves, a global initiative aimed at eradicating slavery. He also served as an advisor for the United Nations Office for West Africa and is a member of the Human Rights Foundation's council.
9. Libby Phelps-Alvarez
Libby Phelps-Alvarez, the granddaughter of Fred Phelps, the founder of Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), was raised to protest at soldiers' funerals, display anti-LGBTQ+ signs, and condemn anyone who didn’t share the WBC’s extremist beliefs.
She was taught to reject holidays as “too pagan” and was forbidden from cutting her hair, wearing revealing clothes, dating, or attending school dances. After 9/11, she and her family viewed the tragedy as a form of divine retribution against the US.
As a teenager, Phelps-Alvarez began to question the teachings of the church. However, she continued following its strict beliefs into her twenties, knowing that leaving would mean losing her family and everything she had ever known.
Since departing the church in 2009, Phelps-Alvarez has publicly apologized to the family of a deceased soldier whose funeral she once protested. She now also advocates for Planting Peace, an LGBT organization, whose rainbow-painted headquarters stands just across from the WBC.
Although her sister and two cousins left the church some years later, Phelps-Alvarez has not had any contact with most of her family—including her parents—for seven years. Nevertheless, she still holds out hope that they will eventually leave the church and reconnect with her.
8. Mike Anderson
In 2000, 23-year-old Cornealious Anderson III, known as Mike, was arrested for a Burger King robbery at gunpoint. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, granted bail, and instructed to await further orders on when to report to serve his sentence.
The orders never came. Due to a clerical oversight, Anderson was never sent to prison.
Rather than using his newfound freedom to commit more crimes, Anderson built his own construction business, became a youth football coach, and volunteered at his local church. He also married, had three children, and became a respected figure in his community.
Thirteen years later, the state realized the mistake and imprisoned Anderson for nearly a year. As the case garnered international attention, an online petition for his release collected over 35,000 signatures.
After a brief 10-minute court hearing, the judge acknowledged that Anderson had truly changed and granted him credit for the time he should have served. With tears in his eyes, Anderson exited the courthouse with his wife and daughter, expressing his gratitude to God.
7. Michael Slusher
For many years, Michael Slusher conducted medical experiments on mice, dogs, monkeys, and numerous other animals, all while grappling with his emotional attachment to them. He convinced himself that his research was valuable and would lead to important scientific discoveries.
However, after facing a lack of employment opportunities, Slusher turned to veganism and crowdfunded his memoir, *They All Had Eyes: Confessions of a Vivisectionist*. In an interview with Reasonable Vegan, he shared, “One of the reasons I wrote the book was so that I could confront my demons and hopefully slay them. […] It still depresses me greatly that I didn’t see what I was doing at the time.”
His book not only raises awareness about the moral implications of animal testing but also addresses the medical issues tied to it. While the medical field has historically relied on animal models, *They All Had Eyes* presents recent evidence showing that the practice is both outdated and cruel, ultimately causing more harm than good to both humans and animals.
A portion of the proceeds from his book goes toward supporting Triangle Chance for All, a sanctuary dedicated to rescuing farm animals.
6. Frank Meeink
Frank Meeink grew up in the tough neighborhoods of South Philadelphia, where, at the age of 13, he was recruited by a skinhead gang. Before long, he was traveling across the US as a neo-Nazi recruiter, even hosting a cable-access TV show called *The Reich* in Illinois, where he broadcasted a call for new members.
At 18, Meeink was convicted of kidnapping members of a rival gang at gunpoint, then filming their beatings and torture. During his three-year prison sentence, he formed unlikely friendships with inmates from different racial backgrounds and even participated in a prison football league with African-American teammates.
Though Meeink attempted to return to his skinhead group after being released, he soon realized that he had changed too much to go back to that life. When a Jewish doctor offered to help remove his neo-Nazi tattoos, he took the opportunity.
Since then, Meeink has transformed into a motivational speaker and authored a memoir titled *Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead*. He also coaches youth hockey, using the sport to promote racial tolerance and keep inner-city kids away from gangs.
Meeink has worked alongside South African activist Desmond Tutu and has spoken for the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism. His life story inspired the 1998 film *American History X*.
5. Faustin Ntiranyibagira
Burundi is known for its harsh treatment of women, so it's no surprise that many men there grow up learning to mistreat their wives. Faustin Ntiranyibagira was one of them. Although his father was an abusive alcoholic, Ntiranyibagira confessed, 'I envied him. […] I told myself that one day I would get married so that I could also have a woman and children to whom I would give orders.'
Ntiranyibagira did, in fact, beat his wife. He also encouraged his friends at the local bar to do the same, believing that the best way to manage a household was through violence.
However, after attending community development meetings hosted by the relief agency CARE, he learned about nonviolent conflict resolution. He began to appreciate the value of an equal partnership with his wife. As a result, he stopped beating her, started assisting with household chores, and began collaborating with her on financial decisions.
Today, Ntiranyibagira organizes public gatherings to speak out against domestic violence and teach his male peers to treat their wives with respect. His message promotes peace, nonviolence, and gender equality.
4. Alvaro Munera
Alvaro Munera grew up in Medellin, Colombia, where his father took him to his first bullfight when he was just four years old. By the age of 12, he had decided to become a bullfighter, and at 17, he made his debut at the Medellin Fair.
However, as he progressed in his career, Munera began to recognize the cruelty of the sport. After killing a pregnant cow and witnessing the extraction of its fetus, he was horrified and considered quitting. Despite his initial reluctance, he continued, driven by the allure of fame and wealth, until he was ultimately gored by a bull and left paralyzed.
After his injury, Munera traveled to the US for physical therapy and eventually decided to attend college there. Upon arriving in a country largely opposed to bullfighting, he encountered hostility from doctors, nurses, and fellow disabled individuals, all of whom told him he deserved his paralysis.
In the safety of this new environment, Munera came to a painful realization that he agreed with their assessment. He decided to leave the world of bullfighting behind and became an outspoken animal rights activist.
3. General Butt Naked
Before Joseph Kony became infamous, there was Joshua Milton Blahyi, known by the chilling moniker General Butt Naked, due to his habit of fighting wars with only shoes on his feet.
This Liberian warlord confessed to horrific crimes: recruiting child soldiers as young as nine, conducting sacrificial rituals to ensure divine protection during battles, mutilating pregnant women, dismembering villagers, and even consuming human hearts. He claims to have killed at least 20,000 people during his reign of terror.
At some point, Blahyi experienced a profound religious awakening.
He now serves as a preacher, works to rehabilitate child soldiers, and visits the families of his victims to seek forgiveness and offer restitution. While Liberia’s unstable legal system has spared him from formal charges, Blahyi insists he would willingly accept imprisonment or even execution if it meant atoning for his past actions.
2. Jerry Givens
In 1982, Jerry Givens began his career as one of the most notorious executioners in US history. When he first took the position, he had little understanding of the prison system and couldn’t fathom why individuals would deliberately commit crimes deserving of execution. To him, it seemed like a form of suicide.
During his 17 years in the role, Givens carried out 62 executions. This involved praying with the condemned, preparing their last meals, shaving their heads, and administering the lethal injection or electrocution.
Givens, burdened by guilt for his role in the executions, kept his job secret from his family, including his wife, who believed he worked as a prison guard.
In 1999, Givens was arrested for purchasing a car with drug money and convicted of money laundering and perjury. Despite maintaining his innocence, he served four years in prison. After his release, Givens became a vocal opponent of the death penalty, having realized that some of the men he executed might have been innocent.
Givens is now an active member of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. He has delivered speeches across the country about his experiences and testified at legislative hearings regarding capital punishment bills.
1. Ric O’Barry
Prior to the 1960s TV series *Flipper*, the practice of training dolphins and whales was uncommon. However, trainers at the Miami Seaquarium captured five wild dolphins to feature in the show. Ric O’Barry, one of these trainers, worked in this field for a decade. Since 1970, he has committed his life to opposing it.
Flipper’s role was primarily portrayed by a dolphin named Kathy, who later died in O’Barry’s arms. This heartbreaking incident led him to understand that imprisoning these highly intelligent animals and forcing them to perform for entertainment was wrong.
In response, O’Barry left his career and founded the *Dolphin Project*, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates dolphins globally. The group also actively campaigns against dolphin hunting in countries like Japan and the Solomon Islands.
O’Barry is the author of two books: *Behind the Dolphin Smile* (1989) and *To Free a Dolphin* (2000). He also appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary *The Cove* and in the Animal Planet series *Blood Dolphins*. In 2010, he was recognized as The Huffington Post’s Most Influential Green Game Changer.
