Waldport beach at sunrise.
This was a tough week. Before sharing this week’s list, it seems like a good time to revisit its intention. Saying this is a list of “good” things doesn’t mean it’s all happiness, puppies, and sunshine. Rather, this list is things I think you need to see, stuff I want to share, items that either show the good that already exists in the world or can help us contribute to generating more good.
1. If you are white, educate yourself: Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism–from Ferguson to Charleston, and thinking thursday : racism edition, and On White Privilege and Taking Sides, and 4 Reasons Why the US Police Force Is an Extension of Slavery and White Supremacy (That You Were Probably Never Taught), and This advice on how to deal with “racist mouthy twats” has gone viral because it’s good advice, and Speak up. Say something., and 28 Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors, and Hard Conversations: An Introduction to Racism, and Confessions Of A (Former) White Savior, and 70+ Race Resources for White People, and The next time someone says ‘all lives matter,’ show them these 5 paragraphs, and Please Stop Telling Me That All Lives Matter, and Advice for White Folks in the Wake of the Police Murder of a Black Person.
2. In related news: People Killed by Police in the U.S. (a database), and Protester makes important point about Alton Sterling (“society failed Alton Sterling long before he was killed”), and Obama On Shootings Of Alton Sterling And Philando Castile: We’ve Got A ‘Serious Problem’, and Police officers explain how they’re encouraged to act in racist ways, and I’m a black ex-cop, and this is the real truth about race and policing, and Dallas Shooting Eyewitness Says Exactly What We Need To Hear After This Week, and Following Horrific Violence, Something More is Required of Us, and I fit the description…, and It’s time to understand the experiences of those hurting in the black community, and I Just Saw this Picture and I’m So Disturbed. Because it’s Me., Ta-Nehisi Coates, a national correspondent at The Atlantic, gives us his take on race, violence and police reform in America, and The Bravest Little Girl in the World, and Black Lives Matter Co-Founder: We Can Grieve For Dallas And Still Demand Accountability, and One Tweet Exposes the Racist Hypocrisy of Gun Control Debates in the United States.
3. The List of Books Men Must Read Before Messaging Me About Feminism, a great reading list for anyone.
4. Recommitting from Karen Walrond, who says “angry is no way to live. Because if we live angry, the bad guys win. So, here’s to recommitting to leading with love.”
5. 20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths And Psychopaths Use To Silence You.
6. #CarefreeBlackKids2k16 is anxiety relief after this week’s police killing news.
7. Couple Lets Their Dog Pick Out a Kitten at the Shelter and Now They’re Besties.
8. How one man repopulated a rare butterfly species in his backyard.
9. Recipes I want to try: Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake, and Broccoli Rolls, and Asian Noodle Salad.
10. Ways to help: #AltonSterlingFamily Scholarship, and Lisa and Sydney’s Fire Recovery, and Please help me get my Service Dog!
11. You’re going to feel guilty from Danielle LaPorte. “The guilt of following your heart is a weight you can bear if your dream is strong enough.”
12. When your project just doesn’t “take off,” a good reminder from Alexandra Franzen.
13. 15+ Hilarious Pinterest Baby Photoshoot Fails.
14. What It’s Like to Have ‘High-Functioning’ Anxiety.
15. 16 Ways I Blew My Marriage.
16. Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules For Writers.
17. Every night before the show, Stephen takes a few questions from the audience. Here’s a special one. “Q&A: How did you know she was the one?”
18. Wisdom from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “In the final analysis, the question of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.”
20. Japanese Magicians ARE TOO DAMN FUNNY!
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 