what are some modern examples of perseverance??

Answer 1

The war on terrorism.

Answer 2

1. The most amazing example I have come across recently was the Discovery Channel documentary on the Emperor Penguins braving the winter. The penguins have to travel in a bunched herd, and take turns walking on the inside or the outside, so they don't freeze to death. At one point the males huddle with the young hatchlings, while the females leave and return months later with food and switch off.

Even the film crew that had to work under extreme conditions over the change of seasons demonstrate perseverance, where I could not imagine tolerating that weather for that long.

2. Any controversial court case that takes years to come to a result.

Three examples I can think of:
(a) Clarence Brandley and his supporters who worked for 12 years to free him from death row as an innocent man
(b) The controversial case of Terri Schiavo in Florida, where both her parents and her former husband Michael Schiavo consistently pushed and pushed for the legal defense of their opposing interests, even involving the Florida Governor and the U.S. Congress in a combination of political and public pressure through both the media, the legislature and the courts.
(c) The 2005 convictions for murders during the 1960's Civil Rights movement (and similar cases):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_worker_murders

Perseverance pays off for civil rights activist - USATODAY.com

Only state charges related to murder or manslaughter remained possible. ... won the conviction of Raymond Bledsoe on federal civil rights violation charges.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-19-civil-rights-activist_N.htm?csp=34

3. Any country or region where the people are struggling to live peacefully while war or violence is going on around them:
Palestinian/Israeli conflict
Kashmir Indian/Pakistani conflict
Darfur
Iraq

One person I admire the most for her perseverance is Marla Rusicka who founded Civic Worldwide before she died in a bombing in Iraq. She was known for persistently seeking funds from Congress and support from the military to assist civilians injured or left homeless or without family support due to war. She considered helping the civilians affected by war as part of the military budget, and would not take no for an answer. She would ask and ask until she found someone who would help meet emergency needs. I would certainly cite her and her efforts as "perseverance" in seeking cooperative solutions, despite opposing sides deadlocked in fighting another war for or against war. She was working firsthand with civilians to help families no matter what was happening politically. See http://www.civicworldwide.org
I think we need to reward more people like that to encourage more independent action and investing directly in solutions.