Carl Fields emerged from 16 years in prison with a passion & a gift for healing. In addition to his work a program manager with the Hospitality Center at St.
Baptist
Magic Medicine Mountain Singer
So much to love about Ash Devine - her songs, her singing, her humanitarian clowning, her Magic Penny instrument gifting, her Earth connection, her social activism, & much more. Combining indie-folk and Appalachian music influences with her Theater & Community Arts for Social Change studies, Ash is a captivating performer, breathing spirit & joy through her vocals and a dance of the soul through her instruments.
Singing As We Rise - Joe Newberry
Joe Newberry has a wonderful voice, and writes tunes & lyrics to enrich that wonderful voice to the point of sublime. Writing music that tends toward old-timey, bluegrass, spirituals, torch songs, & more beyond that, Joe's songs draw deeply on the Missouri of his youth and the North Carolina of his adulthood. Renowned for his clawhammer banjo playing, Joe has won multiple awards from the IBMA, and was a frequent performer on A Prairie Home Companion.
Common Chords
Robert B. Jones, Sr works joyfully to build bridges of understanding through music in an organization & project called Common Chords. Using tools of music, story-telling, history, & inspiration, Robert brings pleasure and insight to diverse audiences. Part of his richness is that he is also pastor of Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church of inner-city Detroit, where he seeks to inspire & heal the world in other ways.
Civil Rights Pilgrimage
A visit with 3 people connected with UWEC's alternative spring break trip, the Civil Rights Pilgrimage. Kiersten Bauer has been a student participant in the pilgrimage twice. Jodi Thesing-Ritter is UW-EC Associate Dean of Students and teacher of Women's Studies, and she is the founder of the pilgrimage in 2008, and Bluegold Beginnings more recently.
Orphanages Without Walls - in Haiti
Jean Alix Lusma grew up in a village near Les Cayes, Haiti. Pioneering the practice of keeping orphans in the community, instead of in an institution, Jean is working to heal people and uplift communities in Haiti through an organization, L.O.G.I.C (Let Orphans Grow In their Communities) of Christian Mission South Haiti. Jean studied at the College of the Scriptures in Louisville, Kentucky.
People Power Against Big Money, Corrupt Politicians, & Casinos - Strategy & Soul
Daniel Hunter vs The Casinos is a case of David vs Goliath, only more impressive. Daniel co-led that battle retold in Strategy & Soul: A Campaigner's Tale of Fighting Billionaires, Corrupt Officials, and Philadelphia Casinos. Ingenious, creative, & steadfastly principled, this is a tale of inspiration and adventure, and there's an immense amount of info about community organizing that is absorbed effortlessly!
Making Friends Among the Taliban - Jonathan P. Larson
Dan Terry did things that are unbelievable in many Western eyes - being welcomed among diverse peoples of Afghanistan, including some among the Taliban. After a life of aid, friendship, and living on the edge in the region, Dan was killed in 2010, and his story and stories are captured in Making Friends Among the Taliban: A Peacemaker's Journey in Afghanistan, written by Jonathan P. Larson.
Singing & Biking Afghan Vet Jacob George
Number 1 in America - Song/Stories to Change Hearts
David Massengill paints a griping and moving picture of the USA through his music - of race, immigrants, adoption, and much more. Instead of speechifying about politics, David brings change by involving listeners in real stories that move our hearts, all the more powerful because of his Tennessee vernacular and accent.