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I Would Plant My Apple Tree

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A few days ago the image of a green ribbon came across my facebook news feed. The text went like this:
The pink ribbons have always bugged me…the idea of putting the energy and effort of well-meaning citizens behind “the search for a cure for cancer” just irritates me, because let’s face it, we know what causes cancer, and therefore we can do better than cure it, we can prevent it! Maybe not 100%, but we can take it back to the modest rates that previous generations of human beings enjoyed…If you really want to make a difference in the war against cancer, forget about those ridiculous pink ribbons. Use the power of your wallet and your ballot to insist that the government step up and do its job in regulating the industrial agriculture sector. It makes sense that people are focusing on ribbons in the wake of all the controversy about the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood.

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Books as Community Building Blocks: How PJ Library Changes Jewish Lives

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When one man dreamed of sending Jewish books to young children, he never imagined the transformative impact it would have on families all over the world. More than 200,000 children receive blue and white envelopes from PJ Library each month across the globe, packed with books such as Something for Nothing, Bagels for Benny, Chicken Man, and A Coat for the Moon. Those tales spark a special magic as they become part of a child’s nighttime routine, a family ritual, a bond between parent and child, and the fusion between generations and Jewish communities. The brainchild of Jewish philanthropist Harold Grinspoon, the PJ Library grew from his desire to engage families who had moved away from their Jewish roots either through intermarriage or simple disconnection from the faith. By delivering a beautiful picture book that carries Jewish stories, traditions, and folklore into the homes and bedrooms of children, the message would permeate in a gentle, welcoming way.

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Please Go to See "Red Tails"

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When I saw “Red Tails”, it reminded me of the humiliations that our elders suffered, and it reminded me that every generation has to continue to fight stereotypes that seek to distort the history of a people, deny the dignity of a people, and poison the body politic with on-going racially charged rhetoric. It is a politics of distraction.

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"Art Is My Occupation": Rethinking the Role of Artists in the Movement

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As a member of the self-identified “slash profession” – writer/organizer/educator/whatever pays the rent that month – I have learned how to wear multiple hats. How to move between different worlds and code-switch my headgear to meet a particular place and community. Alright, I got this big event coming up tonight…should I wear the Kangol, the fitted, or the yarmulke? (Correct answer: all three.) Sometimes, though, it’s a struggle figuring out which slash to bring out in which situation. Take Occupy.

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Visual Prayer Posters: Bringing Jewish Art Into Our Homes

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Because of this limited amount of time devoted to synagogue study, many congregations are finding ways to address this by creating family education programs. My way of bringing a bit more Jewish culture into our Jewish home was the creation of Visual Prayer Posters.

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Tactile Legends: Global Ideas in Sculpture

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Pamela Blotner is an artist based in Berkeley whose sculptures use mixed media to tangibly retell specific myths and legends from diverse cultures. She has traveled as an illustrator for numerous human rights groups, including Physicians for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, and has taught at numerous colleges and universities across the country. Blotner’s human hands series speaks to the universal humanity and shared connection of people around the world. The human hand gestures in these pieces are made of wood and covered with felt through a process called needle felting. They are often hand-painted.

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The Never Ending Tale: Images of Despair and Hope from the Great Depression to the Great Recession

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HOBOS TO STREET PEOPLE: ARTIST’S RESPONSES TO HOMELESSNESS FROM THE NEW DEAL TO THE PRESENT
by Art Hazelwood
Freedom Voices, 2011
In 1939, the iconic American photographer Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) took and disseminated a photograph of a mother and her two children on the road in Siskiyou County, California (Figure 1). Like all of Lange’s Depression era images, this work reveals the powerful human pathos of poverty and homelessness. Viewers cannot fail to feel the agony and despair of a mother trying desperately to maintain her family in the midst of overwhelming economic catastrophe. Like hundreds of her photographs, this effort represents the essence of socially committed art, the result of a visual artist who used her creativity to call attention to the human face of social disruption and human suffering. Art historians universally accept Lange as one of the masters of American photography, both for her outstanding artistic skills and for her profound empathy for the most marginalized members of society during the Great Depression.