Tuesday, August 7, 2018


Your Celebratory Quote
FEATURED
Still Paving a Path, James Baldwin's Words Guide the Movement
Truly ahead of his time, the words of James Baldwin are engraved in American culture still to this day. Through Baldwin’s patient, elegant, and masterful words, he conveyed the tribulations that minorities faced every day—and still face today.
Baldwin was not shy about the multiplicity of his identity at a time when being so open was to risk death. He highlighted the racial friction that Blacks were facing in America, while also sharing his personal romantic life - loving both a man and a woman. His story and journey of self discovery and self love continues to be a shining example.
His works influenced modern culture tremendously by unapolgetically exposing the truths of racism in America. He asked questions people were too afraid to ask and hyper-examined problems through both the eyes of the oppressed and the oppressor, his unflinching words deconstructed while building deep paths of knowledge .
Baldwin once said, “Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.” While it may be easy to be strong in your own beliefs, sometimes the most growth can be by gaining perspective. Baldwin was a great listener and his inquisitive nature caused him to explore the world vividly through his essays, novels, and poems.
His novel If Beale Street Could Talk—about a Black couple expecting their first child while also dealing with the soon-to-be-father’s rape accusation—has been adapted into a film and will be in theaters this fall.
ARTICLES
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Black-Latina journalist creates history through photos
Black-Puerto Rican photojournalist Wanda Benvenutti sees a lack of documenting Puerto Rican history in the United States. So what is she doing about it? She’s doing it herself. Through her project titled “American Boricua”, Benvenutti is using beautiful portrait photography to capture the lives of Puerto Ricans in a way that words can’t. Make sure you take a look and support her work!
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Breaking barriers: gay, woman CEO appointed
Beth Ford is another truly one of a kind woman. After being named Land O’Lakes new president and CEO starting this August 1st, she becomes the first openly gay woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company. There was only one openly gay Fortune 500 CEO before Ford’s promotion so her achievement cannot be understated. Congratulations Beth!
SHOUT OUTS
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Harding Center
This week we are shouting out The Vincent and Rosemarie Harding Center for Social and Spiritual Restoration as we seek to bridge the social and spiritual. The center " offers the possibility of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration for all of us" by building a new generation of activists. Learn more about their work and how you can engage.

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