Wisconsin
Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow
As we reflect on our goals and ambitions for 2011, we are reminded of the setbacks we’ve had in 2010. However, we must be mindful of our accomplishments as well. Setbacks are temporary defeats that challenge us to rise above the situation and improve ourselves every step of the way until we reach the success [...]
Working a Different Side of the Streets
At night, Rangel hits the streets on his own, sometimes to find a particular child, but just as often to cruise rougher parts of town, checking on kids he knows and making himself available to anyone needing help. During the day, he steps into classrooms to deliver life lessons.
Food Revolution: Peaceful Minds for Healthier Bodies
When I introduced the warrior yoga poses, I asked the kids how we could be peaceful warriors. We talked about how we can make peace in our minds and bodies by standing firm in who we are no matter what anyone asks of us and who others try to tell us we are. Yoga as a practice helps bring unity to mind, body and spirit.
TJ Leyden: former racist skinhead now author and Peace activist—Part II
TJ: The old Aryan lie, “The Zionist Occupational Government put me in prison!” Well maybe it’s the fact that you went out there and beat that 90 year old homeless man.
…between Then and Now
The concept of interdependence—the idea that all of our fates are intertwined and that every action has either a positive or negative consequence that iterates through the lives of others—was discussed throughout the activities, and literally demonstrated as everyone supported each other.
Silent Resistance
Lately I have been asking myself what I would have done during the Holocaust had I lived at that time in Germany. I’d like to think I would have done something to resist the Nazis. I’d especially like to think I would have risked my life and spoken out. But of course I cannot know [...]
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, DO THINK!
Believe it or not, there has been some type of prohibition of homosexuals and homosexual behavior in the military going back to Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. In 1778, Lieutenant Frederick Gotthold Enslin faced a court-martial for attempting to commit Sodomy, found guilty, and was literally “drummed out of Camp.” During World War II, [...]
¡Bienvenidos a la Vida despues de odio: numero cinco!
In the past 30 days, we’ve celebrated Earth Day and then Mother’s Day. Both holidays pay homage to the being who brought us into being, and both have interesting stories of how they were brought about. Earth Day was founded by Environmentalist and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970. Since then, Earth-conscious people worldwide have [...]
Will Fellows: Shall Not Be Recognized co-creator
“I view some of what’s going on in the political arena, this roller-coaster going back and forth, as just a natural process of cultural change happening. It’s not all going to happen in a neat all-at-once kind of way. It’s going to go this way and then that way and forward and backward, and then lurch left and right.”
Saved in a Small Town
At 3:58 p.m., I smelled the burning rubber before I saw it. Thick, blue smoke rushed in through the open car windows. It took me a few seconds to work through the confusion of what was happening (the tire blew out) and what my next move should be, in a car with my six-year old [...]
Sammy Rangel “FOURBEARS: Myths of Forgiveness”
FourBears: The Myth of Forgiveness: isn't a simple memoir; it is a graphically illustrated guide from tortured child, to remorseless beast, to healing and change. This book is about helping others find their way out of their history and into the here and now. Proof that what once held you down can now hold you up. After the book reflects on a horrific upbringing it looks to offer key and ground breaking insights of the inner workings of the mind of a victim and later a perpetrator of hate and violence. Service providers working in treatment centers and institutional settings would greatly benefit from this work. Anyone facing issues with forgiveness and change might find a process toward healing and recovery.
Recommended Reading
Frank Meeink—Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead
TJ Leyden—Skinhead Confessions
Arno Michaels—My Life After HateMusic
Wizard Fingaz & Soul Sathe embarked on a collaborative project known as Tribal Sorcery · deep conscious hip-hop
