My Popular Icons

President Tito, Bruce Lee, and Đorđe Balašević were icons that I grew up with and highly admired. Those three icons represented all that I wanted to be: smart and loved like President Tito, strong and athletic like Bruce Lee, and sweet spoken and romantic like Đole. 

Retrieved on October 5, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito

Josip Broz Tito (1892 – 1980) emerged as a partisan’s leader and fought against the Nazi occupation. In 1945, after liberation, Tito became the premier of Yugoslavia. He was the force that united Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Macedonia into one state. He promoted brotherhood and unity, where all nations and ethnicities should be equal. With the proclamation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, Tito became the permanent Yugoslavian President.  Some think he was a dictator, but as far as I can remember, we had a very nice life under his rule. We had free education and free healthcare. Bearers of a Yugoslavian passport were welcome all over the world, and anyone could come and visit Yugoslavia for any reason. When Tito died, 209 delegations from 128 countries gathered to pay their last respects. Ten years after his death, the former Yugoslavia broke out in civil war, and that was the point at which I realized just how great a leader he was. 

Retrieved on October 5, 2011 from http://www.thefitnessreview.net

I could never forget the excitement we used to have for Bruce Lee movies.  Every Sunday, at 10:30, there was a Bruce Lee movie shown at a local, community cinema. My generation watched “Enter the Dragon” countless times. We were hooked on Bruce Lee; he was my generation’s addiction. We lived for watching his movies on Sundays. I was fortunate to have an uncle that was a cinema operator, and I had an opportunity to watch the movies for free. My uncle gave me all the Bruce Lee movie posters from the cinema, and I kept those on the walls of my room. Bruce Lee was so handsome. I believed that he could kill 20 guys by himself. He was a master of kung-fu, a real hero that was fighting for freedom and justice.  A bronze statue of Bruce Lee was erected in a Bosnian city even before his statue was unveiled in Hong Kong. It stood as a reminder of the happy life we lived before the war. For my generation, Bruce Lee was our childhood hero and one thing that we all have in common regardless of our ethnic background. We all loved Bruce Lee and should learn to love each other again.

Retrieved on October 5, 2011 from http://midiaccess.com

Đorđe Balašević is a very popular songwriter and singer. His songs always promote peace and love. Listening to his songs brings the listener into a different world: the world of peace, reason, unity, tolerance, and love. His unique way of singing is more like story telling. It has captivated audiences for almost 33 years. His music bridges the generational gap: his songs are popular within the older generations as well as with younger generation. The language of love and peace has that magic quality that unites people. During the war in ex-Yugoslavia, he critiqued the political situation in Serbia and the politics of Slobodan Milošević. It was as brave and absolutely crazy thing to do in that time. He faced threats from the Yugoslavian government and endangered his life and the life of his family. He had to stop writing songs and performing during that rough time. Through all that craziness, Đorđe Balašević stayed true to his songs and delivered the messages of those songs to his audience, who are fans for life.