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The Optimistic Anthropologist Volume 31
People On Every Continent Have Stood In Your Shoes
JULY 2020 | VOLUME 31
Dear ,
During the eight decades he lived, John Lewis never publicly wavered from aligning his actions and beliefs. Through his example, he taught generations of Americans (myself included) about non-violent resistance as he advocated for voting rights, civil rights, gun control, health care, and many other progressive
policies. As he aged, he took up the mantle as the storyteller of the Civil Rights movement, even co-authoring an incredible graphic novel series, March.In death, Rep. Lewis maintained his mission, posthumously publishing one final message to his country in the New York Times. He wrote about something at the heart of my beliefs and my work, and which I think we don't name or critique enough the U.S - our privileging of the shiny, innovative, new, and futuristic over everything else. However, these approaches often fail, because they ignore how our problems came to be in the first place, and the hard won wisdom and experience and humanity of people and communities. Unsuprisingly, Representative Lewis said it better:
You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others. Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
Rest in power, rest in peace, John Lewis.
To everyone else, be well, do good, and keep each other safe,
P.S. Want to chat about this month's letter or a project you have in the works? Let's find some time to catch up.
LATEST
OA FOUNDER FEATURED IN "SACRED STORIES" INTERVIEW SERIES
We’re excited and honored that Rabbi Jessica Marshall invited Optimistic Anthropology founder, Alison Gold, to be among her first guests in a new series called Sacred Stories: Heartfelt Conversations Elevating Spirit and Blessing the Journey.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE BUS: JOBS, RFPS, AND FELLOWSHIPS FOR JULY 2020
The world and economy are tumultuous right now, but folks we know are still recruiting. So like every month, we're sharing
. It is our monthly round-up of job, consulting, and fully- funded fellowship and accelerator opportunities that people and organizations connected to Optimistic Anthropology are recruiting for.
(our list reaches ~1200 great people!)
GOOD LISTENS FROM JULY 2020
We love music! We love podcasts! We're getting into audiobooks Here's what we have been listening to this past month!
- Host Helen Zaltzman talks to a handful of folks who teamed up to translate "Black Lives Matter" into Yiddish.
- "A seven-part story about the influential coaching duo of Bela and Martha Karolyi, how they transformed women’s gymnastics in the United States, and the steep price of all that gold." A compelling exploration of how systems and institutions enable abuse.
Hotspot warning: talks about physical and sexual abuse of minors.
- Sam chats with Black, Latinx, and Asian journalists about the ongoing reckoning around race and "objectivity" within newsrooms. Highly recommend listening until the end because the conversation with NPR public editor Kelly McBride is really insightful.
- Originally recommended this limited podcast series about, "An 1839 assassination of a Cherokee leader and a 1999 murder case...and a...Supreme Court decision that will determine the fate of five tribes and nearly half the land in Oklahoma," in 2019. Now that the ruling's been issued, it's well worth a listen or re-listen with a new episode.
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helps organizations and cross-sector collaborations trying to solve some of the world's toughest problems - racism, genocide, health inequity, poverty - answer two critical questions:
How did our current reality come to be?
What will it take to shape a positive and equitable future?
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