This is the third and last Twitter-compilation post for 2013 (Part 1: Seeing the Real | Part 2: Evolving Deliberately). Changing the World includes tweets on social development, justice, activism, politics, and progress. 3. Changing the World “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” […]
The Horror of Grace
Her church dean read the parable of the vineyard. And the children at Vacation Bible School protested the rules of the game. “Grace is not attractive,” she thought. “It’s not fair!” [Watch the video.] Once upon a time, I shared Brene Brown’s TED talk on vulnerability and shame with some relatives. The blowback I got […]
A Writing November
I’ve decided to participate in this year’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo 2013), and will be using the 50,000 word-challenge to reboot my research on the British executive branch’s structure, values, personnel, and communications during the 18 months before the UK- and US invaded Iraq.* This year marked the 10th anniversary of the March 2003 […]
Split Court, Split Future?
5-4. With this vote on the case United States vs. Windsor, a divided US Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (1996) as unconstitutional and ended Edith Windsor’s six-year battle with the government. After her wife Thea Spyer’s death, the now 83-year-old Windsor was forced to pay more than $600,000 in state and […]
Makers: A Reflection
I enjoyed watching PBS’ Makers documentaries a few weekends ago: Women Who Make America. I also enjoyed reading other people’s reactions to it on Twitter and other sites where women activists gather. Sometimes these historical retrospectives make me nervous because it seems that we prefer to remember great movements as clean; we like our heroes […]
Women Fired Up
A book recommendation via the Son of Baldwin community: Dr. Barbara Ransby‘s biography of Ella Baker, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. Ella Josephine Baker (1903-1986) was an under-recognized organizer and operative in the 20th Century U.S Black civil rights movement. In Virginia, North Carolina, New York, and across the Southern states over nearly 30 years, […]