Turkish Tuesdays, Arts/Media and Public Policy, and how Time Banks can help!

When I lived in Izmir, a Turkish TV spot shocked me: it showed an image of an elderly Black man, evidently homeless, sleeping in a stairwell directly beneath a sign that pointed up the stairs and read “White House” followed by the caption “Yorum Yok” or “No Comment.” This was about the same time that a major Turkish newspaper criticized the Erdoğan government over the death by hypothermia of an elderly homeless man up in Istanbul, sparking outrage among my Turkish coworkers. These two media pieces, taken together, led me to wonder about the links between the media and public policy.

When I was a kid, PBS School House Rock spots taught me things like the Preamble to the US Constitution, and how bills become law.  These and other PBS shows like Sesame Street demonstrated the concept of cooperation and taught a generation of kids ideas of fairness, social justice, and may have helped pave the way for later laws passed once we became adults on issues ranging from birth control and same-sex marriage to the Affordable Care Act.

In like manner, shows like El Ministerio del Tiempo, in Spain, provide social commentary and critique, while framing various often opposing views on social justice, cooperation, and the policy elements that can encourage those values. Similarly, the Turkish family show Sihirli Annem also showed a generation of kids in Turkey respect for women, social justice and cooperation. That generation is now part of the push-back against radicalism in Turkey today.

All of these shows are examples of how the Arts and Media can influence Public Policy, and vice-versa. Time Banks, when encouraged by local government and community-based organizations, can help in facilitating access to the arts through Open Access Cable, local arts organizations, and extending Time Bank credit to local artists through mural projects and other local culture projects, for the benefit of both local and extended communities.

Join or start one in your community now!

Read, Write, Dream, Walk !
ShiraDest

orig. posted: October 18th, 12017 HE

Adulting for the Common Good, Black and Jewish Americans fought together in Spain

They went to fight for the Spanish Republic, and for equality.  A friend from my synagogue in Albuquerque, NM, mentioned, speaking of a TV episode about the Spanish Civil War, her personal connection to this war:

–

As we discussed my all time favorite show, El Ministerio del Tiempo (sorry B5!!), a friend recently told me that one of her relatives had fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of the Lincoln Brigade which turned out to have been known officially as the Lincoln Batallion.

Looking into the history of the Lincoln Batallion, I found, among others, Oliver Law, a Black man who had to leave the USA to become the first African-American in US history to command a military unit (not counting NCOs during the US Civil War like Robert A. Pinn, who picked up the standard and command after the deaths of all of his officers), during the Spanish Civil War.

In total, one Black woman and 54 Black men volunteered from the United States, where they were treated with disdain, to fight racism and oppression on the other side of the Atlantic. They hoped to change things back home in the US, and they were following the calling of their consciences, to fight racism and oppression where they could: in Europe.  For Tom Page, it was the first time he was treated with human dignity, and for Salaria Kea, the only Black woman to volunteer, it was a dashing of hopes upon returning home.  But for all, it was honorable service to humanity.

Like Delmer Berg, the last surviving American to travel to Spain, 1/3 of the volunteers were Jewish. This was in keeping with a long but little-known tradition of cooperation between the Black and Jewish communities well before the 1960s.  In that sacred tradition, led by Dr. King, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Gandhi and many others, we must continue the cooperation between individuals, families, communities and states that so desperately needs to continue, to move us all forward as a united human race.

May all of their memories be a blessing to us all, and a reminder of Human Cooperation
Zichronam LiVrachah,
Shira Destinie Jones

Read, Write, Dream, Teach !
ShiraDest
March 16th, 12017 HE

–

So, it turns out that Langston Hughes also fought Franco, and lived to tell about it:

“90 African-Americans who took up arms in Spain under the banner of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. … Baltimoreans who read the Afro-American would have learned about the war from its correspondent Langston Hughes.”

Continuing self and pro-bono education (aka Adulting Ed.) is part of Phase I of the Four Freedoms movement and part of increasing cooperation for the common good.  Now, rather than going off to fight, we can help to build:

Action Items:

1.) Search for two more examples of community cooperation.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Share your thoughts on how you feel such cooperation increases the Common Good,

4.) Write a book, blog post or tweet that uses this history, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy #WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. Once published, if you wrote a book, please consider donating to your local public library.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write -one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GR button:

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

 

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

ShiraDest

Dedember, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Shira Destinie Jones by ShiraDest is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Moody Mondays, Community Cooperation, and Adulting Education

As part of the responsibility for knowing how cooperation had previously taken place in order to improve cooperation in our present and future, I recommend that you read my free and short book:

–

Seeking reviews for my second book, available for free, on Community Cooperation and shared history in the Nation’s Capital (applicable all across the USA):

GoodReads (the Archive link is in the GR book description)

Open Archive: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnFreedomsCall

WP : https://shiradest.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/stayed-on-freedoms-call.pdf

ShiraDest, in the year 12015 HE

Edit:  1st Walking Tour: Early Integration Neighborhoods of DC -Shepherd Park
Many thanks to those who joined us for this tour today!
Join us, if you missed this one, or again!, on Sunday, 8 Jan. 2012!!
Please feel free to leave feedback and suggestions for me on the reply comments below!
Peace.  Join us for a musical walk back in time, to the turbulent times of BlockBusting and Cooperative struggle to integrate neighborhoods, drawing together White, Jewish and Black neighbors to form a new and unique thing of beauty.
(The response to this tour, particularly by Andra, inspired me to continue with the Black-Jewish Cooperation Tours, and then to write the book…)
Read, Write, Dream, Teach !

ShiraDest
23 February, 12016 HE

–

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of literacy and hope that you can take right now:

1.) Download Stayed… in your favorite format from the Archive (see GoodReads description for the link),

2.) Share your thoughts on the book  with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Share your thoughts as a review on your GoodReads please!

4.) Write a book, blog post or tweet that uses something from Stayed, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy #WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. Once published, donate one or more copies to your local public library, as I intend to do.

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

ShiraDest

NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

November, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Sacred Study Saturdays and dream journaling as Adulting Health Care

If a dream is 1/60 of prophecy, doesn’t that make it nullified by 60 parts, and what do you do, anyway, when it’s about a dead relative?

—

When I hear 1/60th, I always think of “butel b’Shishim” or nullified by 1/60, which is a concept behind why we (back when I was in the Orthodox Jewish community) boil eggs in odd numbers of at least 3 at a time, if I recall correctly, but applying the concept to dreams as part prophecy seems to wipe the whole idea out, no? And why write down a dream, anyway, if it is nothing but “a bit of undigested potato,” as Scrooge retorts?  (‘Tis the season, right?)

If “Adulting” includes taking care of one’s mental health, then it would seem, to me, to be imperative to use every tool at one’s disposal to take care of that health.  Journals have long been ack’d as such a tool.  Poetry, not so much, but possible also useful.

In any case, if the heat coming on can recall the cigarette smoke of one’s dead parent in a DC summer, and thus (presumably) force a dream about being in a sinking boat with that parent as dead weight (no smoking in the dream, oddly), then maybe it is less prophecy, and more therapy.  (Need I add that accessible and affordable long-term trauma therapy would help millions of people who are merely coping to actually thrive??)

I’ve always kept a dream journal, even when I had to hide, cipher, or destroy it.  I find that the act of writing something down by hand does two things for me:

1.  I never need to look at it again, as I remember what I write down (came in handy in university), and
2. I seem to think far more clearly with a pen in my hand.

With Shabbat coming, I’ll have more time to ponder the question of whether this question is still worth pondering, and how to attack the issue of useless disappointment with the failures of  failed parental units, and anger with the one that threw you under the bus.  At least the lockdown makes it easier to deal with the constant expectation of smiling and looking happy, so that being alone allows time to sit with the emotions and sift through them, seeking to solve the problems, or to engineer solutions.  Mine have involved seeking a community (does that make me a True Seeker, and can I join the Anlashok, please?)  that will enable me to build family connections who can help me believe that this world is worth bothering with, and who will not condemn my decision, 38 years ago now, to refuse to bring any new life into this world until it was safe for every possible child I might bear.  We’re not there yet, and I’m gladly awaiting the end of my potential to bear new lives, even if Mother Nature still seems to think it’s a good idea (I’ve been telling her for years that my uterus is useless, to no avail most months, except the 6 month stretches that I went without, notably at Annapolis, when I was at least trying to eat!).  Sorry for this ramble, which was meant to say that keeping a journal can at least help in processing some of the debris of a broken life, and more importantly, a journal tells you what your emotional processes look like, less subjectively than your memory, and a journal keeps a record of how others have treated you, which I’ve found crucial in more than one abusive relationship.

The dreams, I guess they will keep until I review them later, in a different frame of mind.  For now, time to finish getting ready for Shabbat (this post I’ll schedule for a less busy time…).

Shabbat Shalom     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of literacy and hope that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different resources to translate the word “dream” into Hebrew.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Share your thoughts on how you think the USA having EU style health care might change American society,

4.) Write a blog post or tweet that uses a Hebrew word, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy #WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. Once published, donate one or more copies to your local public library, as I intend to do.

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

 

ShiraDest

NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

November, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

– Moody Mondays and Adulting ed via GED: Day 45/67, High School Equivalency in Five Months:

Day 45/67, HSE in Five Months: Middle of week 12/18

—

Week Twelve:

Day 45 lesson plan

Grammar: Coordinating conjunctions

Simplify Roots

Day45ExitTicket

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of literacy and hope that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different reps in your state for whom you are a constituent.

2.) Email them to ask for increased Community College funding.

3.) Share  how each of the reps responded.

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

ShiraDest

NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

November, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Thoughtful Thursdays, Health Care, and a sense of honor

Self-worth, a sense of self, and a sense of meaning or purpose, are all closely tied up with both mental and emotional health, as well as another reason that we need a Universal Health Care system that includes full mental health services. These things do not come easily nor quickly, the thorny problems that we think about when looking at reasons to live or die. Reasons to stay, reasons to simply stop, let go, and give up, permanently. Some find inspiration to live in art, or in religion, or in happiness, but what about the longer term view?

It was a tumultuous time when the General spoke these words, as we have again now. 1962 seems to have come again in 2020, and I do not agree with all of his words, but with his sentiment that we have a duty to uphold our commitment to community and to humanity, I will always agree and work toward fulfilling.

 

Honor, Duty, and … Community:

These are still sacred concepts for me.  Quoting from one of my favorite speeches (The Long Grey Line, Gen. Douglas MacArthur‘s speech to the Corps of Cadets
at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., May 12, 1962):

“to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness; the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.”

These words inspired me, as a CAP and Jr. ROTC cadet, to a life of service towards Duty, Honor, and Loyalty to equality for all… Shira

Here is why I am thinking of this topic now:

–

Much of my life has revolved around the ideals of service, duty, and honor embodied in the General´s West Point address, which I first read and found so inspiring as a cadet in both the Civil Air Patrol and Jr. ROTC.  The text is available here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1068922/posts

That speech and the ideals it represents may be what got me kicked out of Annapolis, in fact. When I arrived at the Naval Academy, I expected the ideas I had been taught as a cadet to continue to the Brigade of Midshipmen and to the officer corps: Nobless Oblige, defend and support the weak, work together to serve the ideals that make our democracy great. But I found a very different reality there, and in questioning, earned the ire of both my upper classmen and several of my classmates to boot.

Contemplating the meaning of friendship, and the twilight of one´s life, I find that I have been told that I was out of touch, or had my head in the clouds, or lived life as the world should be rather than as it really is, been called a Crusader, over and over. The courage of my convictions remains with me, yet I tire of the struggle. What do I want from my life? Only to make that contribution which only I can make, to be a bridge, to help re-create the cooperation which existed, not only between communities, but to inspire people to recall and rebuild what was old Al Andalus, and the cooperation of La Convivencia. To gather and encourage people of good will and decency to promote cooperation and community for the sake of us all.
Peace,
Shira
 April, 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era)

–

I later added, regarding Community Cooperation, that as Hillary Clinton pointed out, it does indeed take a village, a united sense of purpose, and conviction to give meaning to life, and to our way of life. We should learn to ask why, before we arrive at the twilight of our lives. A newly revived Civilian Conservation Corps would help accomplish that, mingling various classes as mandatory military service once did, but with the goal, now, of building, rather than destroying.

 

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

 

ShiraDest

Preptober for NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

October, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Less Wonderful, but more important Wednesday Utterances

Maybe the most important, especially for girls and women:

–“I Refuse”

 = the 2 most powerful words in the English language

We are taught to avoid strangers, which is important. Vigilance is important, but we have been taught to trust those in authority and to trust those who are close to our families, which may not be the best for our health. Girls, especially, are often penalized for saying No, or for refusing what can turn out to be Grooming on the part of family or friends of family/babysitters/authority figures, and pressured to keep the secrets of those known the the victim. I believe that the “I Refuse” principle taught by Gandhi could help prevent some of these sexual abuse cases, if children are taught to respect their own judgement and to refuse to remain silent when touched.
Peace,
ShiraDestinie “Community Cooperation”

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of a sense of safety for all, that you can take right now:

1.) Imagine 3 ways to keep kids safe.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

 

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

 

ShiraDest

Preptober for NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

October, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Wonderful Wednesday Utterances

Or, if not wonderful, at least, hopefully, relevant or interesting?

—

Here is a response to a request from an old friend of mine, regarding a non-theist version of the 10 Commandments.

These ‘Commandments’ are part of how I personally define Adulthood:
“My personal 10 Commandments

I still prefer this as my own form of the Ten Utterances (especially since the Rabbis tell us that each person heard something slightly different…)

—
I. I am what I am becoming. Thou shalt have no blind followers among you. I am a jealous defender of the conscience, pursuing mercilessly unto the 10th generation of those who will not learn from history. Thou art the keeper of thine own conscience. Thou shalt follow the calling of thine heart.

II. Thou shalt be of utmost honesty to thyself.
III. Thou shalt be autonomous and guard zealously thine independence, for only as a free and thinking intelligence may thou be of service.
IV. Thou shalt take charge of thine own learning for as long as thou drawest breath.
V. Thou shalt feed thy curiosity meticulously, neither too little nor too slowly, but faster is ok.
VI. Thou shalt ever be vigilant to take the initiative in all thy dealings in the world.
VII. Thou shalt ever be careful to honor all people’s expertise and experience, to ensure full and true equality and egalitarianism in all thy ways, ever honoring the wisdom of elders whilst deferring to and honoring the experiences and expertise of others. You are the keeper of your conscience.
VIII. Maintain open-mindedness/reflection/questioning/exploring
IX. Have respect for yourself and others.
X. Guard your self-sacrifice, nobility, and sense of honor.
—

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of a sense of honor for all, that you can take right now:

1.) Imagine what 10 principles you would choose to live by.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

ShiraDest

Preptober for NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

October, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Moody Mondays and marriage as a social good, rather than just an individual right

In considering the arguments about same-sex marriage, I only recall hearing about individual rights versus property and religious concerns. What I don’t recall seeing, though, is any recognition of the functions other then the traditional property consolidating measure that marriage has always been, as well as sometimes protecting the woman, in the case of the latter Rabbis as cited by Rabbi Jill Jacobs. But I see marriage as benefiting society, in general.

If we encourage people to pair up in the hope of being more productive and protective, for themselves and others, together than separately, then they can also help the rest of the community more effectively.

 

I spotted an old post that I made a few years ago, as discussions about Marriage Equality were starting to come out into the open.  Many things in our society need to be discussed openly, and in rational and cooperative and empathetic terms.  This was one discussion that turned out to be interesting and reassuring, if not conclusive:

–

from September 8, 12014 at 9:20 AM

 I had an interesting discussion on the bus today with a gentleman who began opposing same-sex marriage on the grounds that the human race would end, and parted promising to continue the dialogue, and admitting to seeing another point of view. I began by pointing out that since statistically only 10percent of men and 5 percent of women prefer same-sex partners, the human race is not about to end if we refuse to reproduce. I then compared prohibiting gay marriage to prohibiting mixed race marriages, with which he strongly disagreed. I rebutted with the point that both interracial and gay marriages were prohibited on moral and biblical grounds, and that the importance in both cases, human rights aside, is that marriage is about commitment in the context of community. All marriages strengthen community by allowing the community to support the couple and encouraging the couple to commit their contributions and energy to the community. This gives both the community and the couple a vested interest and a stake in the success of the other. Interestingly enough he responded that people need to talk more about these things openly, which is exactly what my friends had said in Spanish as we discussed the immigration law reform, at the bus stop! :-). God talking to me in stereo again Tammy!!

–

 

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of community and cooperation that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different ideas.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

 

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

 

ShiraDest

Preptober for NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

October, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)

Spanish Sunday is now: fitting in by your own definition as Universal (self) Health Care, and building community via local currencies

We need a Universal health care system, but in the meantime, take care of yourself, and your mental health, by letting yourself fit in to your own universe: you get to choose who you are, since you are always there with yourself (and so you’d better get to like yourself).

—

For me, contribution is a major part of meaning, and that is what I want to have when I look back upon my life: contributed in some long-term meaningful way to humanity, just in some small area, in my own small way, but as much as I possibly can.

Here is where I am in my study of caring for myself as part of caring for others (so as not to be a burden to others): I measure my value by asking myself how I’ve contributed.  Here is a large part of my answer thus far:

–

 

I recall giving a class on Community Cooperation that had far more impact than I’d expected, generating heated discussion, and thanks.  I was surprised that folks thanked me for bringing up the topic of Community, and protection of the most vulnerable members of society, but I was also grateful to have been able to make that impact.  To reach people who otherwise may not have seen Community in that light.

I think it was actually the class I taught in 2011, but this class, in 2010, taught me how to teach in Community:

Page 1 of Handout:

Community Empowerment via Local Currencies “Mifnei Tikkun Ha-Olam”
Shira Jones, DC Beit Midrash, DC JCC, 16 August 2010, Ki Tetse
In Ki Tetse, Aliyah 5, (24:1-24:4 of Dvarim), a man is required to write a Get in order to divorce his wife.
Rabban Gamliel: Mishnah Gittin 4:21
“At first, a man would convene a court in a different location [from where his wife was living]and cancel the get [he had sent and not inform her of his actions]. Rabban Gamliel the Elderpassed a law prohibiting men from doing so, in order to repair the social order Mipnei TikkunHa-Olam.”
Other uses of the principle of Tikkun Ha-Olam occur with an apparently similar aim, accordingto Jill Jacobs2, namely the aim of protecting society and the most vulnerable members ofsociety.
In this vein, money which is created by and issued in and for the local community alsoconstitutes an act of Tikkun Olam, benefiting the most vulnerable members of society.
Local currencies are forms of money created by communities for local circulation in thosecommunities. These locally created forms of money accomplish three main objectivesrelated to protecting vulnerable members of society.
•When issued on the basis of local goods or services, they increase the amount of moneyavailable in local communities, further empowering communities to create sustainable localbusinesses and making more money available for loans, donations and local projects;
•They encourage buying local, thus keeping resources in local communities and reducingsupply and distribution chain travel distances, thereby reducing carbon emmissions;
•When issued on the basis of real goods or services, local currencies incentivize long-terminvestment in the local economy, rather than short-term investment in capital markets.
These currencies return monetary decision-making to communities directly affected bymoney (while by contrast, monetary decisions are generally made outside the community),and retain more overall money in the local community. Local currencies are often referred toas Green MoneyGreen MoneyGreen MoneyGreen MoneyGreen Money Green Money Green MoneyGreen MoneyGreen Money for reasons related to both Governance and Economic Benefit of Money.
1Drawn from “Annulment of Marriage”, Judith Hauptman, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/annul.html
2Jill Jacobs, The History of “Tikkun Olam”, http://www.zeek.net/706tohu/index.php?page=2
Shira D. Jones, destinie_jones@yahoo.com, DC Beit Midrash, “Green Money, Tikkun Olam”

Page 2 of Handout:

How do Green or Local Currencies provide (get, keep and grow) these benefits?
Governance of Money
Economic Benefit of Money
By increasing overall levels of available money, theyprovide more opportunities for community participationin economic decision-making and project development.
By increasing overall levels of available money, theyprovide more resources for donation, loans to theunemployed, the vulnerable, local businesses, etc.
By keeping more resources in local communities, theyallow greater (practical) economic priority-settingparticipation by more members of those communities.
By keeping more resources in local communities, theystop the draining of local resources to distant areas (sothe wealth is no longer accessible to the community).
By providing a stake in local institutions, localcurrencies provide incentives to ensure transparencyand accountability in local community institutions.
By providing a stake in local institutions, localcurrencies provide incentives to invest in long-termlocal production and to upgrade local infrastructure.
Local Currencies in Washington, DC:
Anacostia Hours, issued and accepted in Mt. Rainier, MD and accepted by some DC businesses
http://www.anacostiahours.org
Potomacs, exchanged and accepted at local businesses in Petworth, DC
TakomaTime, a Time Bank3 issuing Time Dollars in Takoma Park and Adams Morgan, DC
The Catalyst Bank, a Time Bank issuing Time Dollars in DC and VA
http://community.timebanks.org/group.php?mode=curr&sid=f0f0291be3a33d7b7729da4e03f57948
Currencies which are issued by community based institutions are generally easier to obtain,particularly for vulnerable members of the community who have difficulty accessing market-based (jobs or credit) means of obtaining more scare Federal money.
Local currencies also tend to allow greater levels of inclusion to members of the localcommunity in the decision-making processes of those currencies, while General PurposeMoney, such as the US Dollar, tends to have far more closed (non-inclusive) and lesstransparent and less publicly accountable decision-making processes. This lack of inclusionshuts out most of the direct stakeholders from governance, preventing most money usersfrom having a voice in money, which so vitally affects all of our lives.
Community-based currencies expand the number of Direct Currency Stakeholders who canexcercise participatory decision-making power over money. Thus more people can create,keep, and grow their own resources, to the benefit of the entire community, by building,using and investing in local community institutions.
3With thanks to Deborah Hittleman Flank for information on both Time Banks listed here…
Shira D. Jones, destinie_jones@yahoo.com, DC Beit Midrash, “Green Money, Tikkun Olam”

DC Beit Midrash Sources for 16 August class:
Mishnah Gittin 4:2
“Annulment of Marriage”, Judith Hauptman, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/annul.html
Jill Jacobs, The History of “Tikkun Olam”, http://www.zeek.net/706tohu/index.php?page=2
http://www.anacostiahours.org
http://community.timebanks.org/group.php?mode=curr&sid=f0f0291be3a33d7b7729da4e03f57948
Shira Destinie A. Jones, Mphil dissertation, 2010, University of Bath, http://opus.bath.ac.uk/18960/
Bio Blurb:
Shira Destinie Jones is a native Washingtonian, teacher of mathematics, Hebrew, and Greekfolk dance, and singing enthusiast with 12 years of Unix expertise. She holds a Master ofArts in Teaching Secondary Mathematics, a Masters of Philosophy in economic social policy,and is a published poet and author working to help restore the balance of justice in our damaged world.
(Now I am grateful to be working to build a Kinder world…)
Read, Write, Dream, Teach !

ShiraDest
29 February, 12016 HE

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So, it turns out that …  More on my continuing striving with stuff next week, friends:

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of literacy and hope that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different resources to translate the word “Hello” into your favorite language.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Share your thoughts on how you like each of the resources you found,  perhaps as an update on your GoodReads reading,

4.) Write a blog post or tweet that uses your favorite word, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy #WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. Once published, donate one or more copies to your local public library, as I intend to do.

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

ShiraDest

September, 12020 HE

(The previous lesson plan since this post, and the most recent lesson plan…)