I recall from my catechism days that Jesus (an idealist if there ever was one) taught that we must feed the hungry. Here’s the story about a 78-year-old Arizona grandmother who tried to do just that but was arrested—in this case, because she was feeding many who had come over the border. And here’s the pretty incredible story about how the hospital bill for Julia Roberts’ (yes, that Julia Roberts!) birth was paid for by Dr. King. Of course, that happened… 

Here is a video about skin color pride (or the lack thereof) and a follow-up podcast discussion about how children are taught about skin color. Also, the movie, “Till” is now out—it’s the story of how Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, relentlessly pursued justice for her son after his brutal murder at the hands of white-color terrorists in 1955. (And if you have an interest, here’s my October 2019 Ellio 2.O Radiointerview with a representative of the Emmett Till Interpretative Center in Mississippi.) Finally, I’ve resumed listing upcoming events on my website; see here if you have an interest. 

I was finalizing this issue as the tragedy of Colorado Springs was being reported. Why oh why do people need to hate LGBTQ+ folks? We are simply attempting to lead our lives! Please, push back on hate and intolerance! This my friends, is one of the reasons I ran for school board. Otherwise, see this story of “Jeopardy” champion Amy Schneider who testified before the Ohio legislature about the harms of a proposed bill outlawing gender affirming care for transgender adolescents and teens. On top of that, check out this piece about how Florida is hot to join the club of states (presently four in number) that ban gender affirming care for humans younger than 18 (and thus ensuring that transgender women will have voices like Ellie Krug’s). But on the bright side, NPR reports that the vast, vast majority of teens who undergo gender affirming care continue on to lead productive (and alive) lives in accordance with their gender identity. Really, why can’t we leave these incredibly vulnerable humans alone? (I should also note that yesterday [11/20] was Transgender Day of Remembrance where we honor all the transgender humans across the world who were killed simply because of who they were as trans people. Damn.)

This month we begin Relief with mothers—a chimpanzee mom reunited with her infant chimp after a cesarean birth (!); and then a sea otter mom with her baby (see here). From there we go to artist Sergi Cadenas and his incredible dual imaging paintings. Watch and rejoice with this video of an unassuming high school football player singing the “Star Spangled Banner.” Then there’s this video of a bicyclist literally demonstrating the laws of aerodynamics. Finally, check out this video of incredibly accomplished women musicians having fun with Vivaldi! Nice! 

Here is a NYT video about the Great Teacher Resignation—it’s well worth your time to watch and underscores why I was motivated to run for a seat on my local school board. We need to support our educators! See also this story (courtesy of Ripple reader John Anderson) about the USA Soccer team wearing LGBTQ+ themed rainbow crests at the World Cup. Additionally, my dear sister Kathy sent along this story about a Des Moines TV news journalist coming out as transgender and being supported by her news colleagues. 

Lastly, several of you have recently donated to Human Ripple Works, Inc., the nonprofit which makes it possible for me to do more work for organizations that lack budgets for training (like talking to Gender and Sexuality Alliances at various schools across the country). Thank you for that!! If you’d like to support this work, please click here on the HRW website.