Let Us Make Sanctuary
"In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Bayo Akomolafe about how sanctuary is where slowing down and healing happens. They discuss: how the function of slowing down in urgent times is not about simply resting so that we can continue forward in the same direction, but about how to engage in deep inquiry about where we are going; pouring drink to earthan African spiritual te... posted on Jun 16 2022, 2,478 reads

The Age of Stolen Salt
Salt is an ancestor. Older than ocean, old as stars. Salt flows through your saltwater body even now like blood, as blood. Salt is nonnegotiable, necessary for the working of every single cell.
Salt is time. Evidence of how long since evaporation. Resident time of water in basins. Measured future for the preserved dead. Salt is first and lasting." More in this beautiful piece from Orion. posted on Jun 15 2022, 2,064 reads

Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Health Issues
"A recent study published in December by the JAMA Network Open suggests that things may finally be starting to change. But the picture is complicated: Some kinds of illness are becoming less stigmatized, true, but people still want to keep distance from other forms. The good news is that young people are much less likely to stigmatize mental illness than older generations, and that there are speci... posted on Jun 14 2022, 2,676 reads

What Fear Can Teach Us
We all have fears, some of which can be quite vivid for those with active imaginations. As children, were encouraged to think of fear as a weakness, something we must conquer, fight, or overcome. In this TED Talk, Karen Thompson Walker invites listeners to conceptualize their fears in a different way: as stories. Fear is an unintentional form of storytelling, she argues, with characters, plots, i... posted on Jun 13 2022, 0 reads

Where Children Sleep
"When Fabrica (Benetton's creative research center) asked me to come up with an idea for engaging with children's rights, I found myself thinking about my bedroom: how significant it was during my childhood, and how it reflected what I had and who I was--my bedroom was my personal kingdom. It occurred to me that a way to address some of the complex situations and social issues affecting children w... posted on Jun 12 2022, 2,512 reads

Lily Yeh: Art for Social Transformation
On a 1989 trip to showcase her art in China, artist Lily Yeh witnessed the tragic events of Tiananmen Square and found her calling of "bringing colors" and beauty to communities with a dearth of hope. That put her on a journey to initiate various organizations, write a pioneering book, receive numerous awards, and most importantly, transform many communities -- from rundown areas of Philadelphia t... posted on Jun 11 2022, 1,538 reads

Why Rivers Should Have The Same Rights as Us
Who is water? This question presents a fundamental change in thinking by giving legal personhood to water and will transform our approach to water as a culture. In this TED talk, Kelsey Leonard argues that water needs legal rights just as people do. Leonard is a legal scholar and scientist in the the Shinnecock Nation--an indigenous tribe of people in the state of California, USA. Her tribe believ... posted on Jun 10 2022, 1,189 reads

Spoken Without Words: ASL Poetry Slam
"It's spoken word without spoken words. ASL SLAM is an open space for poets to perform their work in American Sign Language (ASL). As ASL SLAM's executive director Douglas Ridloff explains, ASL poetry doesn't rely on rhyming patterns or meter within auditory or written wordplay; rather, the art is "more about the movement, a visual rhyme versus an audio rhyme." Its performance is a stunning and em... posted on Jun 09 2022, 2,603 reads

Black Joy in Pursuit of Racial Justice
"I've been longing to talk about all the ways in which these last couple of years have been so much of a gift for me. And yet I struggle with holding that fact in the same space with all the ways these last couple of years have challenged the very core of who I am as a human being and the way I navigate this world as a Black woman. And yet, in writing my book Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resi... posted on Jun 08 2022, 2,663 reads

Sami Awad: A Holy Land for All
When Sami Awad was 16, his uncle was permanently exiled for leading Palestinian nonviolent resistance during the first Intifada. That is how dangerous non-violence is, says Sami. His parents were refugees, displaced by the conflict, and Sami watched his own father abused by Israeli authorities. Yet his mother emphasized the Christian teachings of loving your enemies and forgiveness, while his uncl... posted on Jun 07 2022, 2,138 reads