July 2019
Welcome to my month-end, heart-and-mind-shap
“Recommended”
Viewing, Listening & Reading
“The Problem with the Solution,” a 2016 Invisibilia podcast on a Belgian town’s creative and compassionate approach to addressing the connection between housing and mental health, is well worth a listen. 59 minutes.
“This Land,” a new podcast hosted by Rebecca Nagle, an Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, is now up to its eighth episode! This program examines how a cut-and-dry murder case opened an investigation into half the land in Oklahoma and the treaty rights of five tribes. Must listen!
Gregory J. Riley’s One Jesus, Many Christs: How Jesus Inspired Not One True Christianity But Many lives up to its provocative title via its claim that Christians’ over-focus on doctrinal unity has caused us to pass over a crucial element of Jesus’ story.
“Food for Thought”
Clean water isn’t just a “Third World” issue — Citizens of Flint, Mich., struggle to trust their civic leaders after years of having to deal with unsafe drinking water.
Desegregation revisited — This article recalls Seattle’s attempt to desegregate American schools through busing. I experienced busing first-hand as a teenager in Denver.
U.S. citizen in fourth grade detained for two days — This sort of thing should be unbelievable, but sadly in today’s climate, it is not…Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol officials have been dealing with the fallout from a racist Facebook group…
100 years since 19 — Is the work of the women’s suffrage movement unfinished?
Manufacturing community — Might a return to small-town values help us Americans regain a sense of community and connection?
“Stories of Need”
At Home — Another mass shooting inspired by white supremacist ideology, this time in Gilroy, Calif…A recent commission found that racial disparities exist in the frequency and targets of school discipline…The protests of Puerto Ricans led to the resignation of embattled Gov. Ricardo Rosselló…While the “homelessness crisis” worsens, few solutions are forthcoming from the federal government…
Abroad — Inequality is one root of Guatemala’s contribution to the migrant crisis…One Macedonian beekeeper’s attempt to maintain her venerable profession has become a cautionary tale about how peaceful ecosystems can be destroyed by human greed…Education has become a casualty of instability and conflict in Cameroon…Congo’s health minister resigned in the midst of the nation’s current Ebola crisis…
“Everyday Epics”
These “ordinary” individuals, families, businesses and communities have done or are doing extraordinary things…or both:
NASHVILLE (Tenn.) — Jason Carney brings (solar) power to the people, who otherwise assume solar is for “the rich.”
BROOMFIELD (Colo.) — Candy Villalba shared her painful story to help prevent others from becoming victims of sexual abuse.
OREGON — The Oregon legislature passed the nation’s most ambitious housing legislation, including rent controls and eliminating single-family-only zoning in many neighborhoods.
DES MOINES (Iowa) — Before he died in 2005, Dale Schroeder, a hard-working carpenter, made arrangements to pay for 33 strangers to go to college for free.
LONDON (England, UK) — Greta Thunberg, 16, has become a figurehead of the call for a climate change revolution.
