You never know what you’ll find out when you get an adult talking

Real Change
Masks mean we dance with other parts of our faces. Can you dance to executive orders if they come fast enough?

By Dr. Wes Browning | January 27, 2021

This column didn’t start out well. I wanted to talk about things I hadn’t got around to in previous weeks because of our last president. I dug up my notes to myself from previous weeks to see what I was thinking. The first note I came across was “Need butter, garlic, some random meat, bread, TP and paper towels. Grapes?”

The next note I found was “They take a back seat in the ’39 Studebaker of their consciousness.” They who? I’ll never remember! Who’s driving? Is this all a metaphor I don’t want to understand? If so, why did I write it? ...
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Real Change
Grocery store workers deserve hazard pay

By By Elaine Lyon and Joe Mizrahi | January 27, 2021

Grocery store workers have been on the front lines of serving our local neighborhoods for generations. We show up every day and serve our customers so they can purchase the food and other products they need to use every day of their lives. ...
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Real Change
Inaugural Tim Harris Day

By James Lauinger | January 20, 2021

Real Change founder honored for decades of anti-poverty and rehumanizing work

Ever since I first read, as a teenager, John Kennedy’s prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage,” I have been drawn to the many heroes, and in particular their stories that came to life over the ’60s and to this day. Kennedy’s title had the key word, courage, that illuminated them all in their quests to make our world a better place. ...
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Real Change
Celebrating Dr. King during a wave of racial violence in 2021

By Jill Mullins | January 20, 2021

This article will come out the week we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the day of the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. As I write it, I am reeling from the way this year has started and the threats of violence leading up to the inauguration. At our current coronavirus death rate, even if no additional armed violence occurs, the U.S. will likely have lost an additional 24,500 people. ...
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Are fascists going downhill in more ways than one?

By Dr. Wes Browning | January 20, 2021

All of a sudden after more than five years of seeing tweet after tweet from at realdonaldtrump all night long while he devours cheeseburgers and fries in bed, now Twitter bans him. Now as he’s on his way out. And then Facebook bans him. Gee thanks, guys, for saving the country from all that.

Politico reported this morning (it’s last Friday to you) that Joe Biden’s inauguration was being postponed. I was stunned. Then I read the article and found out that the rehearsal was being postponed. The rehearsal — not the inauguration itself. Politico yanked my chain. ...
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How many emperors invited barbarians to sack Rome?

By Dr. Wes Browning | January 13, 2021

In the waning days of his presidency, Trump is resembling evil genius Sideshow Bob, stepping on rakes. Or, Wile E. Coyote running into walls painted to look like tunnel entrances.

Betsy DeVos resigned as secretary of education because Trump’s handling of the Capitol Hill riot has set a bad example for America’s children. But she had no problem with the Access Hollywood tape?

She followed many other administration officials who resigned the day before, including Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary and wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell. ...
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Cults, insurrections and emancipating love

By John Helmiere | January 13, 2021

I believe that conventional American Christian theology bears much of the responsibility for the takeover of the Capitol building by Trump’s cult followers last week. I make this claim not as someone antagonistic to Christianity, or against religion in general, but as an ordained Christian minister actively serving a church. ...
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Real Change
A message of gratitude in the new year

By Camilla Walter | January 13, 2021

Dear Real Change community,

On behalf of everyone at Real Change, I’m wishing you a happy and healthy 2021!

Thank you for your support that has kept us strong - and helped us beat the Winter Fund Drive goal! I am humbled by the outpouring of support for Real Change.

This past year has been full of uncertainty and unexpected challenges. Over the past 26 years at Real Change, we have never weathered a storm quite like this one. And yet, our community of supporters kept us strong and anchored in the work that matters. ...
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Real Change
The pursuit of dryness

By Hanna Brooks Olsen | January 6, 2021

Soldiers during World War I were frequently afflicted by an ailment of the skin called “trench foot.” As they crouched in knee-deep mud and fetid sewage, the skin of their feet was never able to fully dry, leading to damage that could reach the bone. In an attempt to help soldiers keep all 10 toes intact, they were inspected often and encouraged to change their socks and clean their feet regularly. ...
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Real Change
You never know what you’ll find out when you get an adult talking

By Dr. Wes Browning | January 6, 2021

It’s New Year’s Eve as I write this. I was thinking I’d list some New Year’s resolutions, but midnight is still hours away. So, for now, I’m more in the mood to look back. Way back.

One of the aspects of my life that has given me the most satisfaction has been the fact that I’ve been able to carry on reasonably amiable conversations with a huge range of people from all walks of life. The range is so huge that when I share this fact in detail, a lot of people get horrified. ...
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