I know. You can’t stop reading your social media feed, or thinking about the new Administration, or bailing out from the storm, or listening to analysis of today’s ruling on the immigration ban. I can’t either. But this is time sensitive because tickets to ACT’s production of A Thousand Splendid Suns are almost sold out. The performance is riveting, and centers on two women surviving domestic abuse and the oppression of the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan. Based on the novel written by Khaled Hosseini, the production has a hauntingly gorgeous original score written and performed by David Coulter. Timely, relevant and beautiful, the play touches on many issues related to today’s news — refugees, violence against women, resilience, and most importantly, the power of love. If you go, please stop at the table in the lobby to learn more about The Khaled Hosseini Foundation.
A Thousand Splendid Suns
What can I do?
This is the question I am asking myself a lot these days. Working for a nonpartisan journalism organization, I am bound to ethics guidelines that preclude me from expressing my political views publicly. So how do I express who I am at a time when free expression has never seemed more important? For starters, I am walking my talk. Saying yes to more opportunities to be of service. This morning at 6 a.m. I helped make and serve breakfast to women and children making the long and lonely journey from their homes in Southern California to Pelican Bay State Prison. On their way to see their sons, husbands and fathers, they stopped in my county and we showered them with love and nourishment. In return, I got to meet the incredible Frankie Guzman (National Center for Youth Law) and Dorsey Nunn (Legal Services for Prisoners with Children) — two amazing souls working to protect the human rights of children ensnared in the incarceration complex. Next month, I will be representing The Khaled Hosseini Foundation at one of ACT’s performances of A Thousand Splendid Suns. I am looking to say yes to March and April so if you have an idea, please be in touch.
Help survivors in Aleppo
Looking to help the survivors of the Aleppo massacres? Take a look at International Rescue Committee (IRC). They are well established in Syria and as violence continues to escalate in the region, are focusing their efforts by: partnering with local and diaspora groups to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medicines, supplies, and equipment; supporting clinics and mobile teams to deliver healthcare and trauma services; supplying displaced people with clothing and emergency supplies; running counseling and protection services for thousands of children in camps and communities; creating safe spaces for women and girls that offer services for survivors of violence; and providing emergency cash assistance to help displaced families meet immediate needs. To help, click here.
Back to School
Last week, I was at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University for the beginning of what will be a yearlong course of study. For five days, my cohort and I were immersed in academic study, skill building, peer learning and radical self-inquiry. Among the many professors who taught us was the legendary community organizing “guru” Marshall Ganz, who worked alongside Martin Luther King in 1964, devoted 16 years to the United Farm Workers led by Cesar Chavez, and is credited with devising the grassroots fundraising model used in 2008 by Barack Obama. I am so grateful for my new community of worldwide leaders and their generosity of wisdom and warmth.
Justice Department to end use of private prisons
Long overdue news yesterday from the U.S. Justice Department saying they plan to end use of private prisons because research shows they are less safe and less effective, do not save substantially on costs, and do not maintain the same level of safety and security. To truly grasp the enormity of the problems at some of these profit-driven facilities, read Shane Bauer’s exposé of his four months undercover as a private prison guard in Louisiana or The Nation magazine’s story about deaths in privately operated facilities, both of which were cited by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in her announcement. (You can also hear great podcasts about these stories on Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.) This is a big win for the power of investigative journalism to shed light on secrets others want to keep hidden and hold the powerful accountable. The push must continue to end profit-making private prisons still used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service and states.
Do you have a $100 million idea?
A new competition launched by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will award a $100 million grant to a single proposal designed to help solve a critical problem affecting people, places, or the planet. The Foundation’s competition, called 100&Change, is open to organizations working in any field of endeavor anywhere. Applicants must identify both the problem they are trying to solve, as well as their proposed solution. Every three years, the foundation will award $100 million to help make one of these solutions a reality. To learn more about this extraordinary opportunity visit the competition website or check out the foundation’s press release here.
Too young to wed
Thanks to Huffington Post, I have a new hero. Theresa Kachindamoto, senior chief in the Dedza District in Central Malawi made 50 of her sub-chiefs sign an agreement to end child marriage in her area of authority. She also made the leaders annul any existing underage unions, and send all of the children involved back to school. Last year, Malawi’s parliament passed a law forbidding marriage before the age of 18. But under customary law of the traditional authorities, and the constitution, Malawian children can still marry with parental consent, and 1 in 2 girls in the country is married before she is 18. As in many nations, impoverished parents marry off their young daughters in exchange for a dowry and see no alternative to doing so. “I talk to the parents,” Kachindamoto said to U.N. Women last year. “I tell them: if you educate your girls you will have everything in the future.” Over the past three years, Kachindamoto has annulled close to 850 marriages. Hers is a beautiful example of changing the world by acting where you can–with as much conviction and power as you can muster.
AB 2855 is a bad bill. Help stop it.
Introduced by Assemblymember Jim Frazier, AB 2855 places duplicative and unnecessary requirements on nonprofits and then imposes penalties that are far out of proportion for noncompliance. The bill fuels misconceptions about nonprofits and overhead, relying on stories of a few high-profile scam charities to create an undue burden on all. Importantly, it does nothing to protect the public from bad players. CalNonprofits is organizing a campaign to stop the bill and you can help. First, for more information, read their open letter to Assemblymember Frazier to familiarize yourself with the issues. Second, Frazier’s office now with this simple message: “I am asking you to withdraw AB2855.” Call 916-319-2011 today. Then pass this information on to your nonprofit colleagues and ask them to oppose AB 2855.
Google.org got it right
On Friday, February 26, Google.org announced a grant of $1 million to Bryan Stevenson and the nonprofit he founded, Equal Justice Initiative. And I could not be happier to hear it. The grant, “to push America to confront its violent racial history,” will help fund online public education programs, as well as Stevenson’s efforts to create civil rights landmarks such as the nation’s first lynching memorial and memorial markers at lynching sites. Stevenson is an experienced and credible leader, as well as an inspiration. If you are not already familiar with his work, I strongly recommend reading his book Just Mercy (reviewed here by the New York Times), or taking a few moments to watch his TED talk.
Love Heals
I am just back from Nashville, Tennessee, where I had the great privilege of visiting Thistle Farms — a community of women who have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction, and established the most successful social enterprise of its kind anywhere in the world. Spending time with Becca Stevens, the organization’s founder and spiritual leader, and learning more about how the women harness the power of love to heal was one of the most profound and beautiful experiences of my life. Their accomplishments are far too many to share here, but I hope next time you want to buy a gift for someone you love you will shop for Thistle Farm products as well as those from their Shared Trade partners — small enterprises worldwide that are also protecting and economically empowering women. (Pictured right: Becca Stevens, Thistle graduate Anika and Isabel Allende)