Frances Moore Lappé is putting herself on the line as part of the April 2016 Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening.
Quaker
Big Turtle & Art for Peace
The David McLimans Art for Peace Memorial Scholarship was launched this year at a 2/27/16 event, conceived of by Eva Hagenhofer, sponsored by Madison Veterans for Peace, and hosted at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice, and Sustainability. David was author of 3 books, including Big Turtle.
Religions & Nonviolence: Roots & Reality
Rachel MacNair is the author of Religions and Nonviolence: The Rise of Effective Advocacy for Peace, an enthralling look inside a number of religions. Rachel's interdisciplinary Ph.D. is in Psychology & Sociology, and her BA was in Peace & Conflict Studies.
Researching Sustainability: The GLBRC & Wisconsin Energy Institute
John Greenler is part of 2 institutions looking for energy ways forward in Wisconsin, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the Wisconsin Energy Institute, where John works as director of education & outreach. In addition to these professional roles, John is co-owner of a CSA called Zephyr Farm, which keeps him grounded in hands-on sustainable alternatives as well.
American Unrootedness & Dysfunction
In his memoir, Not From Here, sociologist & author Allan G. Johnson takes us on an odyssey of introspection about our unrootedness and the symptoms of that dysfunction in our personal and national identities, things like the native genocide, slavery, but also the holes in our lives because we don't belong.
Botswana, Ireland, Simplicity, & Climate Change
From a financially-strapped Irish-American upbringing, to Peace Corps Service in Botswana, to the the trade-offs of life, family, and finances, and, now, to deeply engaged activism with Global Warming and environmental responsibility, Renewable: One Woman’s Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope is Eileen Flanagan's story of wrestling with the big issues and putting her life in service
Doing the Work of Noah: Growing the Ark
Tom Small found a way to take on species extinction on the local level, and he tells about it in his book, Using Native Plants to Restore Community (In Southwest Michigan and Beyond). By converting his grass-lawn into native flora, creating habitat for native fauna, Tom found a way to make a difference, locally.
Nicaragua Inter-oceanic Canal - NO!
Don't know about the planned (and underway) Nicaragua Inter-oceanic Canal? Tere Campos, Nicaraguan native, and her husband, Brad Stocker, are working to put out the word about this potentially disastrous plan which would put at risk the 9th largest lake of the Americas, and much more.
Law & Making Peace with the Earth
While there are many roots to the global environmental crisis we face, some of the most important emerge from our concepts of ownership, especially of land. Howard Vogel is an emeritus professor of law at Hamline University, having taught constitutional law, restorative justice, international human rights, and a seminar in ethics after having done extensive public interest litigation in environmental law.
Sustainable Spirit-led Activism
Greg Elliott is helping the American Friends Service Committee to launch a program, innovated by Unitarian-Universalists, and adapted to Quakers to help avoid the burn-out & lack of results which result from un-centered, though well-motivated, activism. With an approach that ties together spirit & action, using worship, story-telling, & deepening relationships, we are helped to remember the ways in which we can be faithful to our work of world-healing, without giving in to a exhausting and unfocused treadmill.