You know what they say about us don’t you?
They say we’re a bunch of slackers who sit around in our jammies with nothing better to do than to pontificate about our anger into our keyboards.
While I don’t know any of you in RL, my guess is that there’s not much truth to that characterization. But then, what do I know? I thought it might be interesting to check it out. I’d be willing to wager that the folks who show up here are some of the people that are actually most invested in making their communities and the world a better place. I’d like to find out if I would win that bet.
So I’d like to hear from you about what, other than blogging, you are doing to “be the change you want to see in the world.” Its really not bragging. I just think that if we capture all of what we are already doing, we might get a glimpse of the power we have as a collective group of people.
I’ll be happy to jump in first with a few excerpts from my off-line life. As a starting point, I’d suggest a look at the recent report by the Children’s Defense Fund titled America’s Cradle to Prison Pipeline that opens with this shocker: if you are a young black boy in this country, you have a one in three chance of spending time in prison.
I spend most of my professional time and energy trying to do something to change those odds. I work as the Executive Director of a small urban non-profit organization whose mission is “To work with families and the community to redirect youth who are starting to get in trouble at home, at school or with the law.” We see tremendous success in the lives of the over 1,000 youth we serve every year, but its often an uphill battle to get people to try something other than “zero tolerance.” We’re all about asking folks to take a look at what can happen when we hold youth accountable for their mistakes while helping them deal with many of the struggles they face on a daily basis.
I’d like to hear from you about what you’re doing, whether its traditional politics, professional commitments, or volunteer activities. My guess is that this movement we are all a part of is bigger than any of us can imagine. Am I right?
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dive in with your story. Lets bust this myth once and for all!!
Professionally, I work in the realm of historic preservation, both in my own business as a practioner and as a consultant, and currently for a large institution. One of the most fulfilling things I’ve done and continue to do is work with Native American communities, exchanging information about cultural preservation. I teach the scientific methods I have studied in exchange for information about traditional methods, seeking a common ground.
Since all that takes up most of my conscious time I try to support non-profits in my community, through donations, that do good works to improve social and environmental conditions. I also support the local arts and artists whenever possible, because that is another of my passions.
Thanks for the work you are doing in your community, NL. From what I know about many of the bloggers I’ve come to know over the past several years, I would guess you are correct in your assumptions.
…for over 31 years. I taught mathematics for 24 years and have spent the past seven teaching computer languages. I’ve gained tenure twice, once in each subject. I now am teaching at a college with a mostly educationally-underserved student body.
I’ve got a rather impressive list of GLBT activism involvements, if I do say so myself, including some of the integration variety and much in the way of coalition building. Ultimately, it was not enough to hold together during the recent ENDA fiasco.
I am old. I am tired. I’d love to be lounging around in my pajamas.
I’ve also got a string of “I was there when…”‘s that could rival Forrest Gump.
…for the people who pay me :} And yes, I’d do launch codes if sufficiently well paid, and encrypted MFSK TCP/IP stacks just for the thrill of it, if someone were nutty enough to give me the job. I’ve written systems to control thousands individual computers on a network as per corporate or governmental policy which were at one time in use all over the world. Also stuff to help my neighbor create large document databases for a mom and pop business of 50 years standing. In short, I’m a technical ho who loves her work and there it is. I like all of it, from the technical challenges to the opprotunity to build stuff with other sharp cookies to the chance to participate in international teams of more smart cookies to the sheer existential pleasure of making something new that works.
Politically I was active in gender rights stuff for a few years and still participate in that “community” as time allows. I was sufficiently close to the process I won’t name the orgs (not that they’d remember me). I used to be active in CISPES and regret that I’m no longer active on latin american issues. I am an out transsexual woman who is living her life. That’s a kudos I’d give Robyn up there on this list, as well. For many folks that’s a huge and lifelong political commitment. I’ve been the first “one of those” whole large companies have ever seen, and negotiated and advocated for corporate policy on the issue. I’ve worked very, very hard to leave people with a better understanding of difference and themselves, whenever possible. Sometimes, of course, one must simply live ones life.
Heh, and I’m blogging in my pyjamas. Right now!