Spirit in Action

Selika Ducksworth-Lawton is Professor of History at UW-Eau Claire and an educator & activist, raising awareness and working for our civil rights. From a rural black Louisianan upbringing, Selika has an incisive perspective on race & cultural dynamics in the USA.

Bias & prejudice are hard-wired in us, we've got the studies to prove it, so what can we do about bias, hate, & division? In Our Search For Belonging: How Our Need to Connect Is Tearing Us Apart by Howard J. Ross we explore the mind, our behavior, & our possibility of acting better than we're programmed for.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Eastern, Jewish, Non-affiliated

Robert Friedman, founder of Prosperity Now, & author of A Few Thousand Dollars: Sparking Prosperity for Everyone, says, "Given a chance, low-income people do amazing things and can be, not just beneficiaries, trainees, employees, but entrepreneurs, home-owners, college material, skilled workers, creators of wealth".

Henna Hundal of Harvard Radio hosts Spirit In Action this week. Her first guest is Paul Hoffman, an American coxswain who competed in the 1968 & 1972 Summer Olympics, and a supporter of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR). Her second guest is Dr. Howard Bauchner, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), concerning initiatives to expand the digital reach of JAMA and the publishing in JAMA of President Obama's piece on US Health Care Reform.

Jerry Edwards acts as an educational conduit between the medical system and Plain Communities (Amish, Mennonnite & other people who cautiously engage with mainstream technology & practices). In particular, he has been sharing in medical circles an inexpensive & effective technique for burn & wound treatment, innovated among the Amish about 30 years ago. A significant issue is trust & mutual respect for the different priorities & decisions of Plain folks accessing medical services.

There are many aspects to care for the Earth, experiencial & experimental. Sam Thayer of Forager's Harvest in one of the preminent experts in harvesting from the Earth's bounty. He shares here the concluding essay of his new book, 3rd in a series, called Incredibile Wild Edibles: 36 Plants That Can Change Your Life, speaking of Ecoculture instead of Agriculture. Our second guest is Crispin Pierce, Prof of Environmental Public Health at UW-EC, and member of Eau Claire's Sustainability Advisory Committee, speaking of his research & paper on Monitoring of Airborne Particulates Near Industrial Silica Sand Mining & Processing Facilities.

George Lakey's new book, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning brings it all together and changes the prospects for a better world. Drawing on some 60 years experience in all kinds of social change movements & having trained activists from dozens of nations, George is a true expert and a great communicator.

We mostly take it for granted in the USA, but many places in the world are risking their lives to have a drink of water. In the midst of rape, war, & crushing poverty, Friendly Water for the World performs & witnesses miracles. Using appropriate technology & native ingenuity, the organization helps people in decimated areas of Africa & India to find new, transformed life. David Albert is co-founder and board chairman.

We want a better world, and Gordon Whitman shows us how in Stand Up! How to get involved, speak out, and win in a world on fire. With 25 years experience in Chile & the USA, and as deputy director of Faith in Action, Gordon is well-situated to see what works and how to guide willing hands to more powerful work.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:

Jewish 

Alaine Duncan of Integrative Healing Works started her education in the area of western science, but after contracting hepatitis C, found much-needed help through acupuncture & Asian medicine. Her new book is The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner's Guide For Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment. In it Alaine & co-author Kathy Kain significantly add resources for a hard-to-treat condition.