A (R)EVOLUTION ABOUT PEACE? JUST MIGHT WORK.

You hear it so much this time of year - “Peace on Earth.” So many holiday cards say it, so many journalists and commentators talk about it, but it seems as elusive as ever at the start of the New Year. How can that be? I’ll bet if you asked every individual on Earth whether they preferred “War” or “Peace” there would be less than 5% that said “War.” So how is it that the other 95% of us who are sick and tired of war and conflict can’t seem to make the other 5% stop doing it? It’s because we’re not connecting the dots. We’re just coming to understand that the personal IS political and that we must have the exact same peaceful social values in our foreign policy as we are striving for in our general society.

American social values are trying mightily to move in the direction of greater acceptance and greater compassion in many ways. We’re taking new, more common sense looks at things like:

* the right to earn the same for a job regardless of your sex
* the right to express your sexuality without being beaten up or fired
* the right to work for a living wage
* the right to utilize a natural herbal remedy in all sorts of beneficial ways
* who really wins and who really loses when we wage war instead of peace to settle
international disagreements

Our leaders though are still stuck in the military-industrial age of war for profit and pleasure (for a VERY few!) and governing via short term ego trips. So it’s the right time to make a pledge to demand from our “leaders” the kind of behavior we are more and more demanding from ourselves in our personal lives – open mindedness and fair, intelligent living.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!

LAUGHTER & LOVE – REACHING FOR THE BEST!

We all start out with the potential to laugh and love without barriers or blame, regardless of where we’re born or the color of our skin. Then the social values of “winning and power” force people to dampen the laughter and diminish the love, but now we know it doesn’t have to be this way. Now we know that each of us holds the power to change those social values to bring out the very best in people!

That really is the basis of the (r)evolution I write about in Conversations with EVE. Average people using the power of their daily choices to create societies and cultures that encourage, nurture, and reward all the wonderful aspects of our human nature: kindness, tolerance, curiosity, compassion, fair play, cooperation, etc.

In order to accomplish this, we’ll need to make our choices on new social assumptions:

- Happiness is more essential and fulfilling than power
- Team work is more productive and satisfying than beating somebody out
- Every individual deserves the same respect and protections
- Every individual deserves the chance to earn a decent standard of living

So, maybe our “giving” can have a much greater meaning this holiday season. Maybe our choices can “give” the world’s people and future generations the opportunity to live in homes and societies that value and support them. Let’s choose laughter and love!

EVE ARE CHANGING THE WORLD!

In the courts and in the courtyards around the world EVE are making a statement and a difference!

On the global scene, this photo by Lindsey Maya (1) shows EVE gathered in Nepal to discuss women’s health. They came together to “open a dialogue” about the practice of Chhaupadi which still stigmatizes and traumatizes women and girls in Achham because of their bodily functions.

In this society, menstruating EVE are still viewed as impure and confined in small, unventilated sheds during their monthly cycles. EVE are not only ostracized and shamed by this practice, there have been deaths during this confinement “due to snake bites, hypothermia, or oxygen deficiency.” These EVE are gathered to watch a skit to openly show how negative this treatment is and to talk about how they can change or eliminate it from their society. This is the power of Conversation – talking about social change with those who can most benefit!

Then there is the story right here in America about an internet campaign to stop a grave injustice in our court system. This campaign by the activist group/site UltraViolet.org (2) focused on a travesty of justice in Montana. Judge Baugh sentenced the rapist of Cherice Moralez, a 14-year-old girl who committed suicide after she was raped by her teacher, to 30-days in jail because he said the girl was "as much in control of the situation" as her 49-year-old rapist.

This is a truly blatant example of the “blame the victim” strategy, but EVE aren’t taking this twisting of reality quietly anymore. Through internet activism UltraViolet collected 86,500 petition signatures demanding justice for Cherice and Judge Baugh’s removal from the bench, and their voices have been heard. Prosecutors in Montana have filed an appeal to put Cherice’s rapist behind bars for 10 years, and Montana’s National Organization for Women has filed an official complaint to have Baugh removed from the bench.

None of these changes would be happening if EVE had not joined their voices and their power to expose the cruel and unfair ways EVE are still treated every day in our Manplan world and demand change.

SPEAK UP & SPEAK OUT FOR ALL PEOPLE!

(1) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mass-Community_Health_Teaching.JPG
(2) Weareultraviolet.org

A TRUE “COMMUNITY” CONVERSATION

I was honored and exhilarated to share the messages of Conversations with EVE as a panelist at an amazing event recently! Almost 100 people gathered at Florida Southern College

for the “Lois Cowles Harrison Symposium on Women: From Passion to Action.”

I was especially honored because this event was created, organized, and presented by the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Polk County in direct response to my book and its messages of enlightenment and empowerment for EVE. The event was recorded by PGTV and will be broadcast in the near future on local cable channels.

Even more exciting is a campaign by the local LWV chapter called “CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION.” This symposium was the kick-off for the campaign and a recording will be shared with all the LWV chapters in the country to encourage open, honest dialogue about the issues that EVE still face here in America and abroad.

Also bringing their perspectives and expertise to the panel were Dr. Sharon Masters, recently retired professor of Women’s Studies programs at Florida Southern College and Doris Weatherford, renowned author of works on EVE’s history and adjunct professor at University of South Florida, Tampa.

The more we talk about and advocate for the social changes that are needed to restore balance and sanity to our world, the more likely they will happen!!!