This was originally published on Medium; thanks for all the views, recommendations, and comments you left there. I appreciate your support! As a college student, I became obsessed with ecovillages. Ecovillages are modern-day Utopian housing projects, community-building in “harmony with nature.” My thoughts ran like this: “People are lonely and isolated. The planet is being…
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When the Black Lives Matter protests happened outside my Oakland office, many of my white friends were annoyed, worried about their commute and their safety. When I said, “We shouldn’t be avoiding the protests. We should be joining them,” my words fell into a little nervous silence. When I blogged about joining the protests, some…
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Yes, I find the people who say, “technology is causing social isolation,” to be heartless and lacking in imagination. Also, technology opens up possibilities for the elderly, the sick, and the disabled to be part of the active life of a community. Some examples: 1. The elderly. My friend used Twitter to help her elderly…
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Do you think the world is becoming a better place or a worse one over time? Can our small actions today have repercussions far, far in the future? Can we live our lives in service to a positive future? When I read this headline: It’s Unconstitutional to Ban the Homeless from Sleeping Outside, the Federal…
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We responded to 9-11 attacks, by killing 63 civilians for each American who was killed by the attacks. Protesters have responded to police brutality (which has killed MORE people than 9-11) by breaking shop windows, including the window of my favorite coffee shop, Bittersweet. Tell me again how the protesters aren’t nonviolent enough. I believe…
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This video I took while marching in the Ferguson protests in Oakland contains one of the most memorable and important moments of my life- a young organizer begging his fellow protesters not to intimidate and frighten a trapped white businessman. “We’re not going to let each other be split apart. That’s what they want us…
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Today is a big day- I get to officially unveil a project I’ve been working on for weeks. A group of writers, including me, have created a website dedicated to promoting strong female characters in literature. Check us out! Website: Rewriting Mary Sue Facebook: RewritingMarySue Twitter: @RewriteMarySue My friend Amy who started the group said she…
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In my lifetime, I’ve seen society move from reviling nerds to glorifying them. It’s an incredible social change. But does the revolution go far enough? We’ve embraced the positive: the nerd’s endearing love & enthusiasm for obscure branches of knowledge. But there’s still discomfort with the dark side of nerddom, aka social disability. That is not to…
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I’m very upset about Robin William’s suicide. He was my favorite actor. The characters he depicted were in terrible, tough situations and dealt with them using humor. I’m wondering now how much his characters were based on himself. Society treats depression like a character flaw you can overcome using willpower. People feel they have a…
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A fable in the style of Rousseau’s fable, “The Origin of Inequality.” Inspired by divisive nature of the social media conversation about misogyny following the Santa Barbara shooting. This story is to prove why the cause of defeating patriarchy should unite us, not divide us. (Trigger warning: rape, violence.) When time had freshly dawned and…
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