heroes

Hammer Simwinga provides alternatives to African poaching

In the 1970s, one of the densest populations of elephants on the African continent roamed the Luangwa Valley of Zambia. By the end of the next decade, massive poaching for the ivory trade had decimated herds throughout Africa, and the elephant population in North Luangwa National Park had plunged from 17,000 to 1,300. Though international […]

Photos and voices from Step It Up 2007 rallies across the U.S.

On April 14, 2007, gaggles of enthusiastic Americans gathered at more than 1,400 spots around the U.S. to demand action against climate change, part of a coordinated Step It Up campaign launched by author Bill McKibben. At all the rallies, marches, parties, and other hullabaloos, the message was the same: Step it up, Congress! Enact […]

And I’m not talking about the Green Lantern or Green Arrow

By all rights, being the science-fiction-loving computer geek that I am, I should be a comics fan. But I'm not, and need not be to know that Captain America is ... [spoiler alert!] ... dead.

As The New York Times reports:

Captain America, a Marvel Entertainment superhero, is fatally shot by a sniper in the 25th issue of his eponymous comic, which arrived in stores yesterday. The assassination ends the sentinel of liberty's fight for right, which began in 1941.

And that fight for liberty was most recently told in Civil War, which my friend Matt (an actual comics fan) writes about on his blog:

Rev. Joel Hunter speaks out on broadening the evangelical agenda

In July, Rev. Joel Hunter was named president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America, the legendary political advocacy organization founded by Pat Robertson. Rev. Joel Hunter.Last month, just before he was to formally take office, he abruptly stepped down after a meeting with the coalition’s board of directors. According to Hunter, it became clear that […]

Two eco-leaders — one mainstream, one radical — debate the movement’s past and future

Eric Mann. When Eric Mann first encountered environmentalists, he saw them as a bunch of “arrogant, racist airheads.” When Frances Beinecke first encountered environmentalists, she felt she’d found her cause. Frances Beinecke. Nearly four decades later, both are tireless proponents of environmental sanity, but they work in very different ways. Mann is director of the […]

An interview with integration advocate Sheryll Cashin

Space is the place where race, poverty, and the environment get sorted out, for better or worse. And the spaces where we live, work, learn, and play are the places where integration succeeds or fails, argues Sheryll Cashin. The Georgetown University law professor wrote 2004’s The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class Are Undermining […]

That man’s got a pair, you gotta give him that

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) delivered a major speech on energy independence today. The setting was a meeting of the National Governors Association -- specifically, the Governors' Ethanol Coalition.

I'll probably have more to say about it in coming days, but for now, I've just reprinted the entire speech below the fold, for your viewing pleasure.

I think it's pretty ballsy. But let me know what you think.

A virtual walking tour of the South Bronx with Omar Freilla of Green Worker Cooperatives

New York’s South Bronx was once a getaway for the rich; now the defining landmarks of the community are power plants, landfills, and parking lots. Where some might see hopelessness, though, resident Omar Freilla sees opportunity. Freilla founded Green Worker Cooperatives to salvage reusable materials from trash and demolition waste, creating a neighborhood that is […]

Evon Peter, director of Native Movement, answers questions

Evon Peter. What work do you do? I am the executive director of Native Movement. What does your organization do? Native Movement is a collective of around 15 organizers who work on a myriad of projects focusing on youth leadership development, sustainability, protection of sacred sites, and social, political, economic, and environmental justice. We work […]