it's 3:23 in the morningand I'm awakebecause my great great grandchildrenwon't let me sleepmy great great grandchildrenask me in dreamswhat did you do while the Planet was plundered?what did you do when the Earth was unravelling? surely you did somethingwhen the seasons started failing? as the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying?…. did you fill the streets with … [Read more...] about What did you do when you knew?
arts
Cultural Sustainability
by Jenna Ashton Winton "What’s that?” is the most common question I’m asked when I tell people I work in cultural sustainability. My go-to explanation is “It’s supporting communities in maintaining their collective cultural identity during times of crisis or great change.” Cultural sustainability practices retain the social resources of a community’s unique local knowledge … [Read more...] about Cultural Sustainability
Festival UnBound
by Bill George Bethlehem was born from a utopian, communal Moravian experiment in 1740 that dissolved in the face of the philosophy of progress, the industrial revolution and the domination of Bethlehem Steel. Then, in 1998, after an almost 150-year history building our nation, Bethlehem Steel shut down. To help our community work through that trauma, Touchstone Theatre … [Read more...] about Festival UnBound
‘April’, by Sarah Mantz
In 1994, this poem by Sarah Mantz, then a sophomore at Salisbury High School, was selected as a winner in an Earth Day writing contest sponsored by the Lehigh County Office of Solid Waste Management. (Her winning poem was also published in Echoes Magazine.) Her poem seems to fit not only this month, but the ecosystem-threatening times in which we live: April I am the fourth … [Read more...] about ‘April’, by Sarah Mantz
Brecht, the Iroquois Confederacy, and You
It seems pretty obvious that we're on a track that leads to an extremely harsh future. Can we stop, take stock of where things are headed, and make some serious changes — before it's too late? Can each of us devote our talents and abilities to produce a future that's sustainable & just? Some thinkers of previous generations give us some clues as to how to … [Read more...] about Brecht, the Iroquois Confederacy, and You
Circle Sentencing
by Julia Ward After watching the documentary film by Shanti Thakur entitled "Circles", my eyes were open to a whole new social justice system which was very different from our own. The way that people are punished for the crimes that they commit in other countries around the world such as Canada, is nothing like the system that we have in the United States. While our system is … [Read more...] about Circle Sentencing