www.abetterworld.tv has been promoting the Pachamama Alliance for the past few years as its values & mission are parallel with ours. This is a Free Event. To register:
http://www.pachamama.org/workshop/3075/awakening-the-dreamer?utm_source=Host%20Published%20Event&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Auto%20Emails
The Symposium in NY Sat., April 30, 1-5pm. It’s a powerful education across a broad spectrum of social, economic and environmental, indigenous issues and justice.
See you soon–
Mitchell J. Rabin, M.A., L.AC.
Creative Consulting, Stress Management
Host & Producer, A Better World Radio & TV
212 420-0800
www.abetterworld.tv
www.mitchellrabin.com
http://www.youtube.com/abetterworldtvshow
www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-j-rabin
www.naturalnews.com/Author_Mitchell_Rabin.html
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead
‘GRANDMOTHERS ON THE MOVE’ Podcast Episodes
Click HERE!
NO START TIME and NO END TIME – LISTEN to past and current podcasts!
Grandmothers To Grandmothers Campaign
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign exists to support the indomitable African grandmothers who are caring for the millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Members of the Grandmothers Campaign share three goals. They work to:
- Raise funds to meet the needs of African grandmothers and the children in their care;
- Listen to African grandmothers, respect their expertise and amplify their voices, in order to promote authentic and substantive responses to the epidemic in Africa;
- Build solidarity among African and Canadian grandmothers in order to motivate and sustain the vital work of turning the tide of AIDS in Africa.
Canadian grandmothers groups are tremendously active in their communities. They put on concerts, organize card tournaments, and sell jewellery. They visit countless schools and community organizations. They bake, cook, sew, knit, paint, write, organize cycle tours, walks, and even ride motorcycles – all to raise funds and awareness for grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
To learn more about how you can get involved in the Campaign, write to Ilana here.
Articles About The Campaign
What started as a conversation around a kitchen table has grown to become a movement to empower women, especially grandmothers, in Africa.
The Grandmothers Campaign, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is known as Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers in Regina, which was among the very first places in Canada where women took on projects to support families in Africa.
‘We know the power of women’s organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.’– Ilana Landsberg-Lewis
As Ilana Landsberg-Lewis explains, the movement arose in response to the human crisis, observed by her father Stephen Lewis during his time as a special envoy for the United Nations, afflicting the African continent during the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Millions of children were orphaned by the deaths of their parents. Their grandmothers were left to raise them, with little or no support.
“Grandmothers were just in an agony of loss,” Landsberg-Lewis said. “Death was everywhere. They were left with no income and often isolated by the terrible stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS.”
Landsberg-Lewis recalled how requests seeking aid referred to the grandmothers as “caregivers” and when she asked why, she learned there was a strong bias in play.
“Nobody wants to fund them because they’re older women and nobody sees them as a meaningful investment,” she learned.
“We decided if Canadian grandmothers knew what was happening on the [African] continent then it would surely resonate with them and boy did it ever,” Landsberg-Lewis said.
“I wish I could say that I was prescient but it would be overstating it,” she said, talking about how the success of the organization, which quickly grew from a handful of activists brain-storming at a kitchen table (her own) to over 250 chapters across the country.
Since 2006 they have raised about $25 million.
“It was really extraordinary but I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said. “Older women in our communities, we know the power of women organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.”
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The Campaign currently boasts more than 240 grandmothers groups across the country. Many of the groups have organized into regional and national networks in order to support each other’s efforts in solidarity with African grandmothers and the children in their care.
Resources from the Grandmothers Campaign go to grassroots organizations that support African grandmothers with food, health care, school fees and school uniforms for their grandchildren, income-generating programmes, counselling, social support, essential shelter, and other necessities. Throughout Africa, grassroots organizations run by and for grandmothers are sharing insights, deepening their expertise, collaborating with other local organizations, and building their capacity to turn the tide of AIDS at community level.
These calls are designed to
bring together Pachamama Alliance
participants, leaders, and supporters who are actively engaged
in creating a shift in humanity to a worldview
that honors and sustains life
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By coming together and grounding in this vision, you will:
*Feel supported in your work.
**Be inspired and energized in your unique role in a worldwide
network committed to a new future for all.
***Strengthen your connection to like-hearted people and to the spirit
that has inspired Pachamama Alliance since its inception.
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GO TO: https://www.pachamama.org/events
to reserve your space for the conversation.
Fill out the online form and submit.
You will receive a confirmation email.
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HONOR NATIVE LAND:
A GUIDE AND CALL TO ACKNOWLEDGMENT
IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, AND AMONG TRIBAL NATIONS IN THE U.S., it is commonplace, even policy, to open events and gatherings by acknowledging the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of that land. While some individuals and cultural and educational institutions in the United States have adopted this custom, the vast majority have not. Together, we can spark a movement to change that.
We call on all individuals and organizations to open public events and gatherings with acknowledgment of the traditional Native inhabitants of the land.
Acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth. Imagine this practice widely adopted: imagine cultural venues, classrooms, conference settings, places of worship, sports stadiums, and town halls, acknowledging traditional lands. Millions would be exposed—many for the first time—to the names of the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of the lands they are on, inspiring them to ongoing awareness and action.
For more than five hundred years, Native communities across the Americas have demonstrated resilience and resistance in the face of violent efforts to separate them from their land, culture, and each other. They remain at the forefront of movements to protect Mother Earth and the life it sustains. Today, corporate greed and federal policy push agendas to extract wealth from the earth, degrading sacred land in blatant disregard of treaty rights. Acknowledgment is a critical public intervention, a necessary step toward honoring Native communities and enacting the much larger project of decolonization and reconciliation. Join us in adopting, calling for, and spreading this practice.
Download the Guide: Created in partnership with Native allies and organizations, the Guide offers context about the practice of acknowledgment, gives step-by-step instructions for how to begin wherever you are, and provides tips for moving beyond acknowledgment into action.
Download the #HonorNativeLand Guide
Fill out the form to download the guide
WHY INTRODUCE THE PRACTICE OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT?
- Offer recognition and respect.
- Counter the “doctrine of discovery” with the true story of the people who were already here.
- Create a broader public awareness of the history that has led to this moment.
- Begin to repair relationships with Native communities and with the land.
- Support larger truth-telling and reconciliation efforts.
- Remind people that colonization an ongoing process, with Native lands still occupied due to deceptive and broken treaties.
- Take a cue from Indigenous protocol, opening up space with reverence and respect.
- Inspire ongoing action and relationship.
Acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture. It becomes meaningful when coupled with authentic relationship and informed action. But this beginning can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation.
Print, Customize, and Post #HonorNativeLand Art
Imagine going to a local coffee shop, music venue, grocery store, or town hall, and finding a sign on the wall acknowledging traditional lands. Sound far-fetched? It doesn’t have to be! As part of this campaign to #HonorNativeLand, we partnered with Native artists to create downloadable signs that you can print, customize, and post in your community.
After Downloading the Guide, Take the Pledge
We urge organizations, collectives, institutions, and agencies to publicly commit to practicing traditional Native land acknowledgment.
Those who have taken the Pledge:
- Artist’s Laboratory Theatre
- Arts in a Changing America (ArtChangeUS)
- ArtSpark
- ArtWell
- California Indian Culture & Sovereignty Center
- Dancing Earth
- Democracy at Work Institute
- Emerging Arts Leaders/Los Angeles
- Indigenous Women Rise in Gallup
- Ink People, Inc.
- IU First Nations Educational & Cultural Center
- Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
- Marietta Ohio Arts Innovation Lab
- National Council for Science and Faith
- Native American Music Awards
- Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
- New Economy Coalition
- SOMArts
- Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA)
- Artivists LA
- Kamiah Community Library
- Peñasco Theatre Collective
- Self Help Graphics & Art
- The Field
- YWCA Olympia
As a step toward honoring the truth and achieving healing and reconciliation, our organization commits to open all public events and gatherings with a statement acknowledging the traditional Native lands on which we stand. Such statements become truly meaningful when coupled with authentic relationships and sustained commitment. We therefore commit to move beyond words into programs and actions that fully embody a commitment to Indigenous rights and cultural equity.
Honoring the Past • Healing the Present • Celebrating the Future
A CELEBRATION OF NATIVE AMERICAN ART, MUSIC AND CULTURES
Thank you Joanne and Monte for this inspiring, hope-infused interview.
Tickets: www.sheatheater.org
Note that the concert is at the Shea Theater at 17 Avenue A in Turners Falls at 7:30 pm on Saturday and tickets are available before the event at a reduced rate and also available at the door.
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Festival details and schedule: www.nolumbekaproject.org
P.O. Box 285, 91 Main St., Greenfield, MA 01302
The mission of the Nolumbeka Project is to promote a deeper, broader and more accurate depiction of the history of the Native Americans/American Indians of New England before and during European contact and colonization;
To protect and preserve sites sacred to, and of historic value to, the Native Americans/American Indians of New England; to create and promote related educational opportunities, preservation projects and cultural events; and to work in partnership, as much as possible, with the tribes.
We will strive to exemplify the Native American/American Indian peoples’ respect for Mother Earth and all living beings; to be mindful of our role as caretakers for future generations; and to honor our connection to the Earth and Sky and to the Creator.
The Nolumbeka Project, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the history of Native Americans/American Indians of New England through educational programs, art, history, music, heritage seed preservation and cultural events. We are actively building, maintaining and expanding an historical archive research library for use by the Tribes and Educators of the Northeast and beyond.
Our Board of Directors is comprised of volunteers who have been active for more than 40 years in a number of other preservation, historical research, environmental and social justice organizations.