When Kumbaya Doesn’t Cut It

When words land empty and ideals are fruitless; when it’s hard to soothe the weariness aroused by a world gripped in ignorance – I go looking for truth tellers.

So, I listened to the President of Ghana address to the 81st United Nations General Assembly.  It’s good to listen to independent media; you find some of the best food for thought there. I heard his speech listening to Joy Reid, and I am grateful for the spark of humanity he championed. 

President John Dramani Mahama  spoke of the immutable declaration of the UN charter that ‘every human being belongs to the human family’. He went on to say: “No race is superior, no nation inferior” and addressed the need for healing. He acknowledged that the woundedness created by the slave trade must be repaired and noted how that inequity remains embedded in today’s power systems.

He challenged the inequality of the UN security council, noting the lack of African voices and asserted the need for that to change in order to restore the UN’s credibility and survival.  And most importantly he challenged the veto power of that council that has been used to hide or validate what we now know as crimes against humanity.

He slammed the archaic notion of “might is right” (which I thoroughly applauded). And he called out the slaughter of 20,000 Palestinian children and asked, when would we act with “decisive moral authority”.

He spoke with the power of humility and a keen knowledge of humanity. He ended the speech as he began, with a wakeup call reminding us of our mutual belonging.  

What faces us is not insurmountable; we have the means to make things right.

President Mahama concluded, “What we lack is the political courage to see one another as a part of a single human family”.  

His words remind me of the possibility of a better tomorrow. Let us act upon them.

Yes. We all belong.

And another powerful discussion for your consideration. We need more than Kumbaya today.

Rediscover Normal

None of what we are witnessing today is normal. While not new, this rise of authoritarian rule; this acceptance of “to the victor goes the spoils” and this “might is right” are far from normal. The legacies of misogyny, racism and capitalism and their hold on this country and countries around the world are also not new and not normal. They are defaults that we have accepted.

This hijacking of human individuality is an old story. Divide and conquer works well on those who have forgotten who they are. Ideologies and beliefs hold a grip on us and choke our will to be human. We’re trading creativity for robotic ease, and sacrificing compassion and empathy to fit into a culture that no longer cares. None of this is normal.

Kindness is normal. Benevolence is normal. Working for the betterment of everyone – with appreciation for those who have come before us and laying a good foundation for those who will come after. That is normal.

Racism, transphobia and hatred towards Queer people are symptoms of those who have forgotten their humanity. The lack of dignity displayed by the dominant culture is vile and unworthy. And definitely not normal. Stop accepting it as such. Find your uniqueness and celebrate it. Flaunt it. Discover the depths of your humanity and savor it. We are built for this, not for senseless suffering.

Decades ago, I knew an old woman who had led a turbulent life. Yet with a glint in her eye, she told me she planted roses wherever she had lived to leave a legacy of beauty there. She triumphed. That is human. That is normal.

Leave your legacy. Touch this world and those around you with love. Plant the seeds of kindness and dignity and even if you do not live to see them sprout, know that they will.

Rose buds Photo: JLPC / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Choosing Our Way Forward

The latest buzz of distraction now projects the human race has ten years before superintelligent AI finds a way to destroy us. 

Doomsday scrolling is enticing but it never seems to be enough to help us change course.

I’m always looking for the “tell”. Why now? Who benefits as we are caught in the end of the world spin once again?

Maybe the “tell” is the fact that the very purveyors of AI are now the ones crying the loudest about their concerns. One has to ask, where are their concerns as community after community rallies to protect their environments from data centers fueling AI? One has to consider the timing, as we’re finally achieving some sense of political unity against these data centers and the realities of chatbot dangers that are coming to light. 

This, as Open AI struggles to defend against lawsuits from the Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia mass school shooting. The lawsuits contend that the shooter was provoked by ChatGPT chatbot and that Open AI leadership was aware of the potential horror before it ensued.

Here’s another bizarre happening. People, knowing the potential harms, are still cashing in on AI. I heard an interview with techies who will be podcasting about AI’s glories. When asked by the interviewer, “What keeps you up at night?” One responded: “That we will not be able to instill human values into these machines”. I laughed.

It would make more sense to be kept up at night by the realization that we have forgotten to instill human values into human beings…that we’ve put everything else before what truly matters; that all of these insanities are human-made and can be undone. If I am kept up at night, it is with the vantage of reaching people with the possibility of peace and clarity taking the lead in our lives, not worry from doomsday scrolling. Our way forward will always be a choice, both individually and collectively.

And here’s the beauty…it’s never too late to be human.

“As human beings it is time to take responsibility for the power of our Intelligence and use the power of our intelligence to think coherently This isn’t about whether we can or we can’t This is about whether we will or we won’t.”

-John Trudell, Lines from a Mined Mind: The Words of John Trudell

Moving Forward with Love

My sister often reminds me that I have a few years on her. She sent me a meme that said, “Sometimes I feel old, but then I realize my sister is older”

It makes me smile and I hold my tongue about the wisdom that comes with years. I don’t want to ruin her fun.

Time is such a strange phenomenon.  I’ve never been quite good at remembering dates, but I have a fondness of remembering moments. I’ve never been quite good at accepting years as mile markers of success. But I revel in the joys of being alive. Up until this week I had three sheep who were eighteen years old. Now there are two. They teach me a lot about aging. The orchard still calls them after all these years and they climb the hills with a bit more effort, but delight in the rewards they find beneath the trees. I honor their simplicity and am grateful for their company, however fleeting.

Passages. There are many leaving us these days, the famous and the not so famous. Some I have never met, yet learning about their lives and efforts leave lasting impressions on me. Some I have only known for brief moments, yet their kindnesses, smiles and laughter still ring in my ears and touch my heart. I suppose it is a bit blasphemous to prefer to hold memories close rather than to mourn. But my understanding is this: grief washes over us; there is no wall that can stop the flood of emotion, but we don’t need to be washed away by the sadness. Rather, let us live well, to honor those who have gone before us.

What a glorious tapestry is woven into living.    

      

It’s Never Too Late to Walk Barefoot

In my sixth decade, foot pain was getting my attention and I realized wearing (any and all) shoes had taken a toll. Hesitant at first, I decided to go barefoot as often as possible. There was a need to let my feet touch the earth again. Now in my seventh decade, I’m certain that this choice among others saved my gait. 

It’s never too late to heal. It’s never too late to turn the tide on bad choices or imposed circumstances. And while healing may not be curing, it’s empowering and freeing in its own right.

We are massively in need of healing these days. The imposed circumstances of our lives have made us complicit in self-destruction – much like wearing the wrong shoes. But here is the good news, you can stop; you can change. You can heal.

I’m reminded of an aunt who spent her young years in the garden. She was an awesome cook and she advanced her education as much as she was able. I owe my love of reading and inquisitiveness to her coaching. But as the years advanced, she spiraled into bitterness and eventual depression. It was hard to witness this suffering. At her end, when I visited her in a nursing home, a nun who cared for her told me she always prayed for peace. This came as a bit of a surprise because years earlier she had mocked my pursuit of peace, yet, now she was asking for that simplicity for herself. It’s our birth right, this quest for peace. It is a natural outpouring of the deepest part of our nature, whenever it surfaces.

And who is to say when it’s too late to ask? Time is not the ruler of our hearts; it’s merely a mile marker. We can all live lifetimes in moments – both joyous and painful; and the memories are ours to keep.  

At this time of great uncertainty, seek the certainty that exists within the silent moments. There is a cry from the heart for peace. Let it unfold for you as it has for those before you. We honor those who lived with dignity. Let us emulate them. It’s never too late.

Dolly(s) of the World Unite

We lost a great example of what humanity could be this week with the passing of Dolly Parton. There are many new and old stories being told about her kindness, her fierce independence, her brilliant wit, her love of life, and of her fellow human beings and her God, but that is not my focus here. Those tellings will live on as her legend continues to grow and touch people, as it surely will.

What I want to highlight is the significance of the outpouring of love and appreciation that is being offered in her name. What I want us to consider is how the Goodness of one human being has had the capacity to touch so many of us. And most importantly how this moment of recognition can create a wave of kindness among us. The greatest reciprocity that we could offer this magnificent, bright light of a human being is to walk our own path as she did. To be valiant in the face of hardship, to be resilient before those who would diminish us and to never give up.

The greatest homage we could pay at this time would be to step fully into ourselves as she did. To embrace the gift of life with celebration and joy. If we can unleash the freedom of spirit and the unrelenting care for all people that she demonstrated; it would be the honor deserved.

A gay interviewer once asked Dolly how she felt about drag queens loving and emulating her, in so many words she told him she appreciated them, and then she said, “If I hadn’t been a girl, I would have been a drag queen.” There is an abundance of freedom in that. There is unbridled love.

Compassion was her constant companion. That compassion exists in all of us. It was not unique to her. She embodied it; she owned it. And so can we. Dolly(s) of the world arise. You are needed.  

Forget-Me-Nots

Go Deeper

As an “endless” war carries on; a genocide continues without consequence; as we grapple with the inhumanity of ICE; and too many are going hungry or without adequate care, hopelessness and fear are palpable. But we cannot let them win. There are attributes to be cultivated, things we have not tried, that could help us. First, we must confront two realities: one is our history of violence and oppression, the other is our compliance with it. 

This confrontation of our history requires us to go deeper. Our “exceptionalism”has been built on indigenous conquest and slavery. Our refusal to demand equity and human dignity is telling. We are tied to systems which do not serve all of us. In fact very few are served and the trends towards de-humanization are escalating, not abetting. By recognizing our complicity to oppressive systems, we can extract ourselves from them and bring them to their rightful end. This takes courage and clarity and heaps of determination because at every turn we’re reminded that our compliance is needed to maintain the status quo. Then I ask myself, “What exactly am I agreeing to and participating in?”

And when I stop, when I listen to the simple cries of my heart, this is when I come back to being human. We have the opportunity to choose compliance with our humanity, nothing else. As people line up behind candidates and parties looking to belong, seeking solutions and comfort in ideas that have never served us; we can choose the belonging and comfort of being human. We can let that be our starting point. Life gets much simpler. We are built for this.

The beauty of living here in the Driftless is a gift. The day to day activities have challenges and rewards. Gratitude is a welcomed companion; it helps relieve the weariness of a world gone mad. Maintaining a practice of benevolence towards oneself and others is not a weakness; it is our super power.

It is a choice to live with dignity. In that choice there is little left to debate. One people, one planet, one love; and one effort to leave this beautiful earth better than we found it. That belonging is possible. We just need to go a bit deeper.

Take time for yourself. Take time to discover the best in us… This is a free ten week zoom, please register in advance.

EVH PEP March 2026.Download

The Sin of Incrementalism

Money and fear. They’re a bad combination. When money is used to sway people to take positions that are counter to their benefit, there’s no other word than “evil” to describe the intent and the outcome. Fear is the hammer and money is the force behind the swing. People who don’t even know the meaning of socialism are now obsessed with decrying it. Forget the facts that most of our society has thrived because of socialized principles. For those whose number one enemy is socialism, stop cheering on the Packers. Don’t call your fire department and definitely don’t cash that social security check.

We’re losing every safety net that was consciously created by human beings who cared for one another and hoped the best for future generations. Roosevelt’s New Deal carried bold visions for economic, social and political reforms. We have squandered that capital – and wait until more of the “big beautiful bill” comes due later this year. Rural hospitals will pay that price. And now we have republicans and republican light vying for control. How much change do you think is going to come down that corridor?What kind of change? Who will benefit?

It won’t be Black or Brown people. It won’t be Trans and Gays. It won’t be those of lessor means.

Congress has ensured ICE and detention centers will thrive while too many of our children go hungry. They’ve walked lock step with militarism and supporting genocide while our schools flounder and health care is diminished.

I hate politics. Please don’t tell me “Vote blue no matter who”. That is the very thinking that keeps us on this merry -go -round. The “blue” we keep electing are incrementalists.  The ones who placate us with “it will take a bit more time and a bit more money” while we continue paying the price.

We blew some chances Wisconsin, but the game ain’t over. Stand up and fight.

If Crowley can in fact beat Tiffany in November it will be with the help of 311,475 Hong supporters. In order for disenfranchised voters, independents and people tired of politics as usual to cross over in support of a “moderate centrist” some things will need to be addressed. If Crowley doesn’t want his name to follow the stupendous losses of Clinton and Harris, he will have to move the centrist needle left.

Here is a partial ask: state clearly the need for a moratorium on data centers in Wisconsin; address the health care needs for all without kicking the can for another time; and let us know how ICE will be dealt with by police in our state – will 287g be outlawed as Illinois has done? Let’s also get police out of our schools and address the lack of equity in voucher programs. But here is the absolute litmus test: Crowley must answer questions he dodged by his last minute refusal to attend the forum held by the Wisconsin Muslim Community Alliance in July. Is what is occurring to Palestinians in Gaza a genocide by Israel? Yes or no. At this point in time, if a candidate cannot answer that question, many of us will be taking a hard pass. Human life can not be subject to our incrementalism.

And that goes for Rebecca Cooke who hopes to unseat Derrick Van Orden in the third congressional district. No more kicking the can. Don’t let the primary win fool you. Cooke will not win if she continues on with Third Way mindsets.

Hold their feet to the fire. It’s still ours to win.

Empowering Hope to Action – Wisconsin Rising

Politics has not held much weight with me. The game has always seemed too rigged, but something is definitely stirring that may prove to be enough to welcome a new day. The discourse is changing. People across the nation are feeling empowered to hope again.

It is time to remember the old childhood song, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt”. The insults and lies are flying. We have met the supreme insulter in chief and his vitriol has emboldened far too many. But we are taking back our courage and dignity as human beings, and it shows.

We are standing empowered to demand what we want and need. And if you have a mind to vote, make sure you are certain of what and who you are giving your permission toward. Maybe this time we will demand the empowerment of everyone. The bots and AI commercials can’t rock you when you are committed to humanity.

Here are two podcasts from Changing the Narrative. The first is with Francesca Hong. the second with Emily Berge. I give time for people to express their humanity and invite them to express why they are engaged so passionately in whatever they do. These two people are unstoppable and regardless of the outcome in the Aug 11 primary, or the Nov 3 midterm, they will have made their mark on our culture and our politics. And it is good.

Please listen and share.

A Force For Good. Francesca Hong is running as an unapologetic Democratic Socialist on the Democratic ticket to be the next governor of Wisconsin. “We Make Better Possible, ” is proving to be a welcoming, big tent idea.

A Human Being Who Happens To Be a Politician Emily Berge is running to unseat Derrick Van Orden in the Third Congressional District challenging the notion that Washington insiders should pick the Democratic Candidate and has insisted on having a primary for the 3rd allowing local voters to decide.

The Curse of Militarized Police

Ten years ago, I had my first taste of militarized police. For weeks and months at Standing Rock, Natives and other citizens of this country were brutally treated. I wrote then about my concerns that this was the tip of the iceberg. That was under Obama. Since that time, more and more police are equipped and trained to protect property over people, and now with ICE they have been given permission to destroy families, communities and take lives, as we watch.

The police execution of Corey Ruiz in broad daylight in Madison on July 22 was inevitable if you follow the trajectory of permission granted to those in authority. Couple that with decades of killings by police and now ICE and you have a tinder box waiting to be ignited. And the refusal of government to uphold the law on murder by police is without conscience or compassion. 

How long must a family wait for accountability? Emmett Till’s family waited 65 years and still there is none. How long must a community suffer the lack of dignity afforded them? 

What is even more heart wrenching are the people and bots who deny the victim’s humanity with cruel accusations and chiding. 

And to those who refuse to see what has always been true and is now on steroids, we are a lawless people who hide behind wealth and power. But there is hope. The marginalized and youth are not accepting our history to be our future. People are rising up, in large part due to the increased inhumanity, income disparity, and stripped safety nets. People want humanity to win. And no amount of power and arsenal will keep that tide from turning.

If you don’t like “Defund the police” or “Abolish ICE” and you’re OK with your tax dollars funding a genocide, you have betrayed yourself. It’s time to come back. Come home to your self and your humanity.

“No One Else should be hurt in Corey’s name”. Ruiz family statement:

“Corey was quiet, soft-spoken, and giving. He thought about other people before he thought about himself. He had a family who loved him. He was not alone in this world, and he was not without help. We ask that he not be reduced to a label he never carried.

“To the activists who have shown up for Corey, thank you. Keep fighting for justice, peacefully and together. Our family is not affiliated with any group, and you do not need our approval to demand accountability. Please work through our liaison rather than contacting our family directly.

“Our family did not organize or authorize the encampment at Williamson and Baldwin streets. We learned of it the day after it was set up. We were never asked, and we never agreed to the statement released in our name.

“The city cleared that intersection yesterday. We ask everyone at that corner and everyone wearing a badge to keep this peaceful. No one else should be hurt in Corey’s name.

 “This family has authorized one GoFundMe, and only one:https://gofund.me/1d3ee8937. Any campaign raising money for protest or advocacy work should say so plainly, and should not tell donors the money is going to Corey’s family.

 “We would welcome a respectful memorial for Corey that honors the man he was. 

 “We are asking for privacy while we grieve. Please work through our legal representatives and liaisons on any requests for our family.”

  • Courtesy: Senator Chris Larson / Facebook