Category: activism

The January Just Posts

Welcome to the latest edition of the Just Posts, a monthly roundtable of posts on topics of social justice hosted here and at Holly’s.

January was tough month. The earthquake in Port-au-Prince was a tragedy of such mind-numbing proportions, and the healing and recovery for Haiti has barely begun. Many of the writers this month’s roundtable have reflected on these events.

January also saw the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, an occasion which inspired some happier reflections on progress our society has made.

Slow as it seems, it helps to remember that progress has been made. In my quest for new voices to bring into the Just Posts community, I came across a short post from early February that really stuck with me:

On February 1, 1960, for the first time, black students went to a drugstore, made some purchases, sat down at the lunch counter, and wouldn’t get up. It was the first sit-in.

In six months, that drugstore counter in Greensboro, NC, was desegregated.

(An excerpt from Fifty Years Ago Today By Morganna of UUCIF Social Justice)

Something to think about.

And now, the The January Just Posts:

This month’s posts were nominated by:

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you would like to have a post included next month, you can find out how to submit posts and all sorts of other stuff about the Just Posts at the information page.

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We should have more updates soon on our big project to highlight the fantastic Just Posts of 2009. We have gotten 2 independent reviews on all 300 posts, and are working on finalizing our lists of finalists. (Hmmm…our final lists of finalists…) Thanks so much to all of you who have participated in this project! We couldn’t do it without you.

The December Just Posts

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Welcome to the December 2009 edition of the Just Posts. Holly (of Cold Spaghetti) and I are pleased to be hosting our 12 roundtable.

It’s hard to know what to say in response to some world events. The world is reeling from news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti yesterday. Living far away as we are, it is hard to know how to help.

Many organizations around the world are gearing up to join relief efforts, and many people are ready and willing to go to Haiti. (I was very moved reading the comments on this post from Mercy Corps, as dozens of people offered up their qualifications to serve as relief workers in Haiti, and offered to fly there immediately to help.)

For most of us, though, the best way to help is to donate to organizations that are active in relief efforts.

I made a donation this morning to UNICEF, and will probably make one to IRC as well. Both are international relief organizations of which I am a regular supporter, and both are actively sending relief to Haiti.

Holly has suggested donations to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer as a smaller, Haiti-based organization where funds will have more of an immediate impact.

You can also find a fairly extensive list assembled on the NPR blog of ways to help.

And now, for this month’s list. As ever, I am inspired and heartened by the range of voices speaking out on topics of social justice.

The December 2009 Just Posts:

Thank you for your support in our efforts this past year. Your comments and contributions are what keep us going!

The November Just Posts

Holly (of Cold Spaghetti) are pleased as ever to offer up the latest roundtable of posts on topics of social justice.

The November Just Posts:

This month’s posts were submitted by:

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you would like to have a post included next month, you can find out how to submit posts and all sorts of other stuff about the Just Posts at the information page.

The October Just Posts

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Welcome to the October Just Posts, the latest edition of our monthly round-up of blog posts on topics of social justice. Holly and I appreciate your continued support.

This month’s nominators:

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you would like to have a post included next month, you can find out how to submit posts and all sorts of other stuff about the Just Posts at the information page.

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The September Just Posts

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Just Posts, the monthly roundtable of posts on topics of social justice and activism hosted here and at Cold Spaghetti.

I have a confession to make. Putting together the Just Posts is hard. I don’t particularly mean hard work, though the act of putting together the list of links and formatting and checking links and so forth is a bit of a chore. Chores I can manage. What I really mean is that putting together the Just Posts is hard on me. Especially my monthly attempt to actually write with seriousness about issues that are important to me. You see, I blog primarily to be creative, to have an outlet to play with words, and to express my silly side. I think about serious issues a lot, mind you, but when it comes down to it, I find writing about serious things to be both mentally taxing and emotionally draining. One problem is that there are a daunting number of issues that I think about, each one of them even more daunting in its complexity. Another problem is that I am a slow writer. The more serious the topic, the more carefully (and slowly) I choose my words.

That being said, I truly appreciate it when others choose to write about topics that make a difference to our world. Reading such posts inspires me. Hearing your voices speaking out edifies me. Knowing that others are also reading motivates me. The individual posts we write may not move mountains, but our efforts combined are part of a powerful force for positive change.¹

I’ll finish up my ramblings here by offering up one of my favorite protest songs from the late, great, legendary Bob Marley: “Get Up, Stand Up.”


Don’t give up the fight.

And now, the all important list: The September Just Posts.

The posts of this month’s roundtable were submitted by:

Thanks so much for reading! We really appreciate your support. And not just appreciate it. We need your support to keep the Just Posts going.

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you would like to have a post included next month, you can find out how to submit posts and all sorts of other stuff about the Just Posts at the information page.
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¹ This seems a good time to mention that Blog Action Day is coming up, a day when thousands bloggers around the world speak out on a common topic. This year’s theme is Climate Change. The big day is tomorrow (October 15th), but there is still time to participate. I haven’t yet committed to writing, but I certainly expect to do some reading.

The August Just Posts

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Just Posts, featuring posts from the month of August on topics of social justice. Holly (of Cold Spaghetti) and I are pleased to share with you this phenomenal gathering of bloggers who are speaking out about causes that are important to them.

I’d also direct your attention to the blog Violence Unsilenced, a site “shedding light on the epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault.” The inaugural post of the blog was included in our February Just Post round-up, but the site is still going strong. The site gives a space for individuals to share their own personal stories, and readers are encouraged to leave comments to show their support. Telling personal stories of this sort is extremely courageous, and each of these women (and occasionally men, too), deserve recognition and encouragement. The site provides an important outlet that is not only cathartic for those who share their stories, but can help those who are still grappling with, or (worse yet) living with, their own ordeals.

I confess that only visit the site periodically, but I do make efforts to return and to leave comments. I entreat you to do the same if you have it in you to do so.

Each month for the Just Posts, I have been highlighting a song that speaks to (or perhaps sings to) some of the issues that the roundtable highlights. My selection for this month is Tracy Chapman’s “Behind the Wall,” a chilling yet beautiful a cappella song that tells a story of domestic violence.

And without further ado, here is this month’s roundtable.

The August 2009 Just Posts:

This month’s posts were nominated by:

Thanks so much for reading! We really appreciate your support. And not just appreciate it. We need your support to keep the Just Posts going.

Please drop by Holly’s to see what she has to say this month.

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you are unfamiliar with the Just Posts, please visit the information page.
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The July Just Posts

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Welcome to the latest Just Posts, a monthly roundtable of posts on topics of social justice and activism from around the blogosphere. Holly (of Cold Spaghetti) and I are pleased to present an excellent round-up of posts that explore a range of topics that affect our world and our worldview: race and gender, health and wellness, lifestyle and socioeconomic disparities, to name a few.

Each month that I’ve been hosting the Just Posts, I’ve been highlighting a song that speaks to some of the issues that get discussed in the posts of the roundtable. This time I’ll put it at the end so we can get right to the all-important lists.

The July Just Posts:

The posts of this month’s roundtable were nominated by:

And now for something completely different. Or for the song. This month, I’ve been drawn to a somewhat odd choice: Chumbawamba’s “Pass it Along.”


(Forgive the bizarre video. It’s a zombie montage. It’s what’s available.)

It’s got nice harmonies and a good beat, and it’s catchy. This catchiness landed the song a role in a car commercial for GM in 2002. Amusingly, after the band accepted the $100,000 from GM, they handed the money over to “the anti-corporate activist groups Indymedia and CorpWatch who used the money to launch an information and environmental campaign against GM.” (From the Chumbawamba wiki page. You can read the full scoop on Salon.)

This song popped up on my iPod, while I was driving around a few days ago, and simple as it is, it’s one of those songs that has made me think.

Pass it along by word of mouse
Save the world, don’t leave the house

With my insatiable appetite for puns, the “word of mouse” phrase really caught my attention. The Just Posts are all about transmitting ideas by “word of mouse.” And, well, we want to save the world.

It’s easy to wonder how much we can do to save the world without leaving the house. I still haven’t forgotten the call to action from jen and Mad, illustrious co-founders of the Just Posts, to get up off our sofas and volunteer. To put our hands to work in ways that impact the world more directly than typing on our laptops.

But I’m sorry to say that I still haven’t acted, even on my idea to volunteer with Phoebe and Theo. I don’t want to make excuses, but lately there hasn’t been enough of me to go around without committing hours and energy to volunteer work. I’ll get there one of these days.

Enough about me. Back to the song.

Because a virtual office in a virtual home
Means you never have to drive through the wrong part of town

Hey! Are you guys dissing telecommuting? Because at least working from home can save gas.

I know, I know. It’s not just about telecommuting. The lyrics speak to the tendency of the better-off to hole up in safety, and avoid looking at, and interacting with, the problems that threaten our world. It’s a protest against closed gates, closed minds, and corporate greed. (It’s no coincidence that a line from the refrain of the song, “Where do you want to go today,” was also a slogan used by Microsoft.)

So here’s your final resting place
Your heaven is protected by security gates
Shut out the world, it’s getting worse
Save yourself, don’t leave the house
Because a happy future is a thing of the past

I take your point, Chumbwamba. But hopefully we can still work towards that happy future.

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Thank you for visiting this month’s Just Posts. Please drop by Holly’s to see what she has to say this month.

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you are unfamiliar with the Just Posts, please visit the information page.
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The June Just Posts

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Welcome to the June edition of the Just Posts, a monthly roundtable of posts about topics of social justice and activism in all shapes and sizes. Holly and I are pleased to share this wealth of posts that inspire and move and make us think.

The beginning of June saw the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989. Not even two weeks later, the world’s eyes turned to Iran as news came through of suspected fraud in the results of the presidential election. Reports and images of large scale protests of the disputed results were followed by those of violent crackdown against the protesters.

Each month, I have been highlighting a protest song in my introduction of the Just Posts list. The Tiananmen anniversary and the ongoing crackdown against protesters in Iran bring to mind the song “Ohio,” by Neil Young:

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

The song was written in response to the the 1970 shootings at Kent State University in Ohio, in which 4 unarmed students were shot during a protest of the Vietnam War.


    (This is a concert performance by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, with not-so-great sound quality. You can find a better quality acoustic version by Neil Young here.)

Whether or not the Iranian election results are legitimate (and I’m inclined to doubt their validity), it has been inspiring to witness the passion of so many in Iran as they call for reform in their government and demand that their voices be heard and their votes be counted. It has also been sobering to see the violent and repressive response from the government of Iran and the conservative supporters of that government, who have been acting to suppress the free flow of information.

While there is little that we can do to help, as individuals outside of Iran, recent technologies (like Twitter) have empowered those who are speaking out within Iran, and provided tools for organization and communication in the face of official attempt to silence the protests.

I’d like to take this as reminder that the act of speaking out by an individual can be part of a powerful movement for change. To speak out against the violent crackdown against protesters in Iran, you can add your voice to those of others around the world, such as by signing the petition organized by Avaaz.

I would also like to cheer on those people in the list below for speaking out on topics that are meaningful to them. I’d like to entreat you to visit their posts and encourage them to continue to speak out. Please click on the links!

And now, here are the June Just Posts:

This month’s readers:

Please drop by Holly’s to see what she has to say this month.

If you have a post above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you are unfamiliar with the Just Posts, please visit the information page.

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May Just Posts

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Holly and I are pleased to share the May Just Posts, the latest installment of the social justice blogging roundtable. This month’s collection of posts cover a range topics. Poverty. Racism. Sexism. Marriage equality. There are also several posts about the impact of health concerns and health care.

Each month, I’ve been sharing a song that speaks to topics of social justice. The song I’ve chosen this month is “Dust Bowl” by 10,000 Maniacs, a title fitting for these lean times being dubbed the “Great Recession.” Natalie Merchant gives voice to a mother struggling to make ends meet for her family. The illness of her daughter leads to additional hardship due to loss of work time and medical costs:

My youngest girl has bad fever, sure. All night with alcohol to cool and rub her down. Ruby, I’m tired, try and get some sleep. I’m adding doctor’s fees to remedies with the cost of three day’s work lost.

I try and try but I can’t save. Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. I’ve tried and tried but I can’t save. The hole in my pocketbook is growing.

Sadly, many families can’t afford adequate healthcare for their children. SCHIP programs exist to provide insurance to children in low income families. However, many families still fall through the cracks, as they neither qualify for those programs, nor can they afford other insurance options. (For a very personal and eloquent account of these issues, please go read Kyla’s recent post.)


(The sound quality isn’t great in that video. Someone has posted the studio version, as well. )

Please go pay a visit to the blogs below, and encourage the bloggers to keep speaking out (well, keep writing out) for social justice. Let them know that their voices matter to you.

The May Just Posts:

readers:

Please also drop by to see what Holly has to say this month.
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If you have a post above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you are unfamiliar with the Just Posts, please visit the information page.
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