Learning Together. Building Community.

What happens when we live a lie for generations? What does it do to us when we pretend we are better than others? What happens to us when we build structures and institutions to keep the lie in place? Racism is damaging all of us—White, Black, Brown and everyone in between. When we buy into a lie, we become separated from ourselves. We become strangers to our souls. We begin to believe that this world is all there is and this is all that matters. We come to occupy a smaller a

Black history is not just some polite tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. during February. Black history is our history, American history. Native American history is our history. Our story. We—this generation—we have inherited all of this legacy. We come from enslaved people and we come from those who enslaved them. We are the ones whose land was stolen and we are the ones who stole it. We are the ones who were lynched and we are the ones who lynched them. We are the people wh

I recently watched “Strange Fruit,” the Billie Holiday song with all the images of the lynchings. It was horrifying—both on the side of the victims and on the side of the perpetrators. What must be the condition of the soul to wreak such devastation on another people? It’s easy to sit here at this distance and condemn these people. But what are we doing now that amounts to the same thing? Is not climate change a crime against humanity? Will not future generations condemn us f

We’ve been catching up on old episodes of The Unicorn and the one we watched last night profoundly impressed me. This was episode 3 (season 2) “It’s the Thought That Counts” and they actually played out that very awkward conversation when the white friend realizes he has been insensitive to his black friend. They walked through the whole thing—the white guilt, the black person explaining that you can’t put the burden of making you feel better on me, the constant vigilance tha

With a divisive election year, a nation polarized and public discourse that has disintegrated into contention, we are definitely facing turmoil. But how do we respond to all of this and keep our sanity? Looking for answers, I’ve been impressed by the Baha’i community in countries where they face active oppression. Despite being persecuted for their beliefs, these communities respond with an abiding sense of calm. How do they do it? By choosing a non-adversarial response to op

Interview with Mary Li Mary Li is the director of the Multnomah Idea Lab (MIL), a learning lab within the Multnomah County government that explores and tests innovative ideas to help people and communities thrive. I met Mary at the 2018 Elevating Impact Summit, where she participated in a panel focused on collaborative governance. It was so illuminating to meet someone in government who is actively seeking out new ideas and finding ways to implement them and bring them to sca

Interview with Ona Porter Ona Porter believes in people: if you give them the right tools, they’ll thrive. She’s been an advocate and an educator in one form or another from Texas to the Caribbean and now in New Mexico. Her organization, Prosperity WORKS!, helps low-income families lift themselves out of poverty by saving to purchase an asset (a house, a college education, or a business).  What these people have achieved is just incredible. Here’s Ona to tell the story… Prosp

Interview with Sharon Gary-Smith When I sit down and listen to the stories of Black women and Black men—not out of defensiveness—but actually open up my heart and really hear what their experiences are, I start to get a glimpse of how fractured this country really is. Sharon Gary-Smith is an agitator and leader for social justice. She is the Executive Director of MRG Foundation, which funds grassroots organizations that are dismantling structures that hold people back. She en

Another theme that is emerging from the interviews on this blog is Justice. We are accustomed to thinking of justice in punitive terms—a person commits a crime and is punished. Or that justice is blind. What does that mean, anyway? But really, justice is so much more than this. Baha’u’llah describes justice as the “best beloved of all things” in the sight of God. The Prosperity of Humankind explains that as we become aware of the oneness of humanity, justice is the force that

Interview with Micah McCarty Micah has an incredible story. From growing up away from the Makah Indian Reservation and nearly dropping out of high school, he went on to become the Tribal Chairman of the Makah Nation for three straight terms. He has a firm grasp of the intricacies of tribal and governmental relations. And he sees very clearly the urgent need for all parties—tribes, federal and state governments, environmentalists, fishermen and all concerned citizens— to work

Interview with Katherine Deumling Katherine has an incredible perspective on prosperity, at both the society level and the individual level. Her work in the Slow Food movement focuses on ensuring that food is Good, Clean and Fair—that is, food that is delicious (Good), healthy for us and the environment (Clean) and equitable (Fair) both in terms of wages for producers and prices people can afford. Her work in her own business focuses on helping individuals discover that simpl