Author: lisahelene

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Achievements Editor's Note Reflections

Jane Addams Perks Up My Friday

I had a challenging but fun and very busy week, and about three this afternoon I was ready to crawl into bed with a good book. Trouble is, everything on my nightstand at the moment is either work related or deliberately somnolent. Not the best reading for refuge.

GoogleDoodleJaneAddams Then I discovered that today’s Google Doodle honors Jane Addams. As a native to the Chicago area, I’ve known about Hull-House and many of her contributions to social justice here in this country. Only recently did I learn from the podcast Stuff You Missed in History class that she was also an author and peace activist who was so committed to her cause that the FBI investigated her and J. Edgar Hoover labeled her “the most dangerous woman in the country.” A national heroine for her work on child labor and other causes, Addams was greatly beloved until she dared to suggest that the United States should not intervene in what was inconceivably called the Great War, the war that introduced the world to the horror of chemical weapons.

The introduction to the Illinois edition of her 1906 book Newer Ideals of Peace establishes that she was thinking about peace as more than the absence of war long before other 20th century philosophers, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Like him, she recognized the relationship between poverty and conflict and the dangers of a militarized society. I’m looking forward to reading Newer Ideals of Peace this weekend as the world considers what to do about the situation in Syria. It seems fitting to see what this wise Nobel Peace Laureate has to say, and how it could apply today. Maybe it’s not that supposedly scintillating novel everyone talked about all summer, but I’m looking forward to it.

English: American social reformer, Jane Addams
American social reformer, Jane Addams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Editor's Note Reflections

Marching, Walking, Running and Standing for Justice

March50VotingRights-copy
Photo by lisahelenedb

You cannot run a marathon — or walk a half-marathon — the first time you step outside your door wearing a comfortable pair of walking shoes and a hydration belt. Theoretically, if your life or the life of your loved one depended on it, you might try and you might even succeed. But you will hurt yourself… every runner or walker I’ve spoken to has told me that a race is a challenge even when you are ready for it. Similarly, very few social changes occur the first time an agitator stands on a street corner and proclaims that a great wrong must be corrected. Just ask Susan B. Anthony; one of her tireless efforts was writing and publishing the history of the suffrage movement.

This weekend our country began to celebrate the anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. These anniversary observances are both celebrations and protests — we’ve come so far, and we’ve got so much farther to go. Jelani Cobb catches the spirit well in his New Yorker article, insisting that we have grown enough to both recognize our incredible progress and insist that it be protected and further developed. Our collective memory tends towards mythologizing strong individuals like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks and in doing so, we lose our sense of joint ownership and team accomplishment. We turn history into a series of dates and turning points instead of a flowing river of human endeavor.

Roberto and I joined the festivities for a few hours on Saturday, and it struck me that our civil rights movement is a marathon, a long-distance relay through generations that keep pointing towards that ever elusive finish line where we break through the tape of fear wrapped in ignorance with a strong dose of selfishness and finally “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

Back in his day, Martin Luther King and the men who organized the original march made their wives and female colleagues like Dorothy Height and Rosa Parks walk a separate route, away from the media. They allowed only a short ovation to six pre-selected women Daisy Bates, the leader of the Little Rock Nine who gave a brief statement(listen here); Prince Lee, the widow of murdered activist Herbert Lee,  Diane Nash, a key leader of the freedom rides; Gloria Richardson, and Rosa Parks.

Myrlie Evers was also scheduled to be onstage and got a huge ovation in absentia; circumstances intervened in 1963. This year, like so many other women, she got the opportunity to speak:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1aY94UtLMk&w=420&h=315]

I love that she encouraged us to turn “Stand Your Ground” into a positive force for change, remember the women who worked so hard for the movement, and be trees standing tall for justice.

Let’s keep standing, marching, walking — and running — together. All of us.

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Editor's Note Reflections

This is What Heroism Really Looks Like

rogiro / Foter / CC BY-NC

The extraordinary bravery of Antoinette Tuff  intersects with an interesting time for America. As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, it’s tempting to list our many national political failures and the continuing systemic discrimination and endemic poverty that undermine our founding principles. But then a woman like Antoinette Tuff steps into the shadow of Rosa Parks and rocks our perception. Just as Parks was not the first black person who refused to move on a bus in Montgomery, Tuff is not the first person to ever avert a shooting. But many are cheering how Tuff responded to the dangerous, gun-toting man in front of her with a patience and compassion born of faith. Parks was also a woman of faith, though hers was more stubborn and impatient to achieve justice. Her faith led her to challenge an unfair system of discrimination. As Jeanne Theoharis reports in her fabulous biography The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks:

…When the driver ordered them to give up their seats, no one moved. Getting agitated, the bus driver said, “You all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.”

Parks reflected to herself on how giving up her seat “wasn’t making it light on ourselves as a people.” She thought about her grandfather keeping a gun to protect their family. She thought about Emmitt Till. And she decided to stand fast. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

Though she had been an activist for years, Parks had no idea or plan that her resistance would lead to a 382 day boycott that brought the Rev. Martin Luther King. Jr. to worldwide attention and ended legal segregation. Likewise, Antoinette Tuff could not have anticipated a media whirlwind or a call from President Obama, but what would our world be like if we all followed her example and became “doers of the word and not just hearers?”

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Achievements Team in Training

Setting Records and Snapping Monuments

today's runkeeper screenshot with my 15:50 time
Today’s
Runkeeper Screenshot

Yesterday at our Team in Training session I set a personal best, walking an average pace of 15:50/per mile — shaving nearly five minutes off my previous best time over 3 miles. When I started this quest, walking a mile in less than 16 minutes may as well have been walking on the moon. Now I’ve walked four and because this is called training, I’ll be walking a lot more. Roberto also had an awesome run; no one will be confusing us with the medal-winning Eatons but it’s great that we can share this experience.

It helps so much to have teammates, mentors and coaches encouraging us. One of the mentors will be racewalking the full Disney marathon, and today she gave me some great pointers about form and speed. She also set me on a good pace that I could maintain for most of the walk; it seemed a bit brisk at first but I got into the flow and eventually became impatient at cross walks. I’m jealous of her speed, her endurance, and her fabulous running skirts. Seriously. My walking shorts are great, but sporting fashion has improved immensely with the advent of new fabrics and smarter designs.

Today we had a turnaround route, which meant we could yell Go Team at each other from opposite directions. I snuck over to kiss Roberto when he went sailing by on the other side of the street. It was really encouraging to see other team members along the way. Our coach was waiting just past the three-mile mark and walked that last stretch with me; we met up with Roberto along the way because he was sweet enough to come back for me. That was a great help; the company and the pace they set kept me from stalling as minor workout twinges set in.

And those twinges are real, so it was doubly helpful that we had another TNT coach who talked us through the issue of stretching. She’s an expert on how people hurt themselves because she fixes them in her professional life as a physical therapist. She gave us some great dynamic stretches to get us started (including some in this video), showed us essential warm-down stretches, taught us the joys of a foam roller, and helped each team member troubleshoot particular twinges. Sometimes during my walks I get a sharp but temporary pain around my inner knee, so I got some tips about stretching my hamstring and doing some butterflies after my workout to target that.

Today I definitely feel like I accomplished something yesterday; we did our twenty-minute easy walk in the mall due to rain and then my legs announced that it was time to go home. Check out the cool pictures of our Capitol Hill route and make a donation on our team page — any amount helps!

 

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Team in Training

I might be last, but I’ll finish…

TNT_Banner_300x250This morning Roberto and I headed to Annandale High School where we met more of our team members, mentors, and coaches. Our honored teammate, Brian, shared with us his struggle with blood cancer and, more importantly, his triumph. He was diagnosed at age 23 and just passed his five year anniversary on Monday. He credits the patient services arm of the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society with helping him and his family face the financial and emotional realities of his diagnosis and treatment. Thanks in part to research funded by LLS, doctors identified his leukemia down to the exact deleted chromosome causing trouble and planned his treatment accordingly. Today he’s grateful to be alive, part of a young adult support group for survivors, and a marathon runner.

As for me, it was a humbling moment on the track when I looked up from my Runkeeper app and realized that I had been left in the dust. Today I happened to be the only team member walking the entire half-marathon, so everyone else darted away to start their alternating run/walk workouts and I headed to the outer lanes where I wouldn’t be in the way. Yet it wasn’t a totally solitary experience; there was a cow bell and frequent calls of  “Go Team” as we made our way around and around and around again. Roberto visited with me during one of his walk breaks, one of the coaches checked in with us about our shoes (which desperately need replacement) and later another coach swung in to chat with me about my goals and encourage me.
TNT-August3-Runkeeper
I was not the very last person to finish, mostly because the marathoners had to go a mile further than I did. That said, I’m proud that I hit a personal best with a 16:54 minute/per mile average and I look forward to making that number drop below 15 and maybe even 14 as the season progresses. I also feel a little triumphant that I walked a bit further than the two miles required because I was on the outer ring of the track. As we get deeper into the season it may be harder to get through each workout but we’re fortunate to be starting early and ramping up slowly. Two miles sounded really doable to a coach potato like me, and it was.

Today was a great day because it helped me see that I really can do a half marathon, and I loved meeting all my awesome new teammates. We had a nice warm summer shower that washed away any thought of sweat on my part; apparently the only weather that interrupts a workout is a thunderstorm or a hurricane. Weirdly enough, I’m glad to hear that, and I’m really glad that I decided to join Roberto and kick off my 42nd year with a commitment to Team in Training. Walt Disney World, here we come!

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Editor's Note

Fermi Lab’s Fellowship of the (very large magnetic) Ring

One of my favorite field trips was to Fermi Labs. To my still-developing brain, it was like visiting another planet. The awesomeness has never left me, and so I love to hear what the good people of Fermi are up to. Apparently they’ve been disrupting traffic in their quest for 50 foot magnetic ring.

The fine explorers at How to do Everything have the story and FermiLab has a resource page with lots video and cool pictures…

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Editor's Note

Pope Francis’ Top 5 Justice Quotes From World Youth Day

A great post summarizing the encouragement Pope Francis gives us to work with the poor.

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Team in Training

42 Years and 13.1 Miles

IMG_0001On Saturday afternoon, my birthday celebration got off to an unusual start at Sobe in Arlington. We were there not for their seafood, but for the kickoff of the winter training season for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. There were presents involved — I walked out with bag of goodies that included a t-shirt, a $10 gift card to Potomac River Running and other sundries. Our coaches and mentors introduced themselves and encouraged us. But the real gift was hearing from a blood cancer survivor how the funds we raise help provide supportive programs. The man who spoke shared about finding a brochure from LLS in the hospital and being grateful that he could finally make sense of all the things doctors had been trying to explain, and even more grateful that LLS could connect him with a survivor willing to talk about the experience. Most importantly, the treatment that saved his life was discovered through research funded by LLS.

As you can read on my fundraising page, I attended an informational meeting to support Roberto and had no intention of participating in a half-marathon or anything else. I filled out the application because everyone was so enthusiastic, but I figured I’d back out in a few days once I came up with a really good reason. One of the fun coincidences is that the winter training season started on my birthday and will end on Roberto’s birthday, but that wasn’t what convinced me. LLS is a great cause, however it was the opportunity to be part of a team really that interested me since I work alone at my desk quite a bit. Also, I have become a couch potato since we got a car. Several other good reasons turned out to be in the “Just Do It” column so here I am, walking twenty minutes a day as we prepare for our first training session on Saturday. My goal is simply to finish; I’ll be walking the whole way and enjoying the sights of Walt Disney World on my very first trip to Orlando. I’m excited, and a bit terrified since I’ve never succeeded at anything athletic.

You can help by donating, praying, and encouraging me. I promise to let you know how it goes…

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Editor's Note

Read So Hard, Libraries Try to Find Me

This hop hop parody/ode to book lovers is hilarious. Page.

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Editor's Note Reflections

Writing and Responding to the Boston Bombings

Photo by Greg Wake, via flickr CC 2.0
Photo by Greg Wake, via flickr CC 2.0

It’s been quite a week. Much has been written about the tragedy of the Boston Marathon and the drama of pursuing the suspects, with great reporting and commentary by fine writers such as Amy Davidson, Emily Bazelon and Megan Garber. Boston College grad Amy Poehler turned her advice vlog post into a reflection that sometimes it’s ok not to follow the media storm; sometimes we have to find the balance between following current events and giving our eyes and hearts a rest.

There is wisdom in that advice. We can choose what we read and watch, our sources and our depth of engagement. But it’s almost impossible not to stumble into this story right now and not be moved by the heroism and the tragedy. I’d like to take a moment and highlight some perhaps lesser known voices who brought their unique perspectives to us:

Last Wednesday, Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham wrote a piece entitled In grieving city, one can’t help but think ‘what if?’ in which she traces the near misses of marathon participants as well as Boston residents and concludes with this:

Terrorism is only effective if we let it freight everyday choices with debilitating significance. And so, the best way for those preserved by luck to honor the deaths and injuries of those whose choices led them to that one cruel spot is to keep living as if there is nothing to fear.

But in a grieving city, a city full of second thoughts, that seems like too much to ask right now.

In later columns, Abraham explores the grief, fear, and civic pride of Boston’s Muslim community, and makes the connection between the victims’ families from Monday’s bombing and a family still quietly grieving for a victim of 9/11. Her work will slide back behind the Globe paywall tomorrow, so check it out now or sign up for subscription to support more great writing.

Today is Sunday, so it seems very appropriate to mention Susan Brooks Thistlewaite, who examined the role of belief and tragedy in her On Faith articles for the Washington Post. She encouraged us to look for the helpers, seek peace with the eyes of a child, and recognize that a state of grace is not triumphant but grateful.

And finally, on a much lighter note, there’s Boston’s own Annie Cardi, who paid tribute to writers from the Boston area in her weekly feature Friday Fifteen. Every week I’m astounded by her book reviews in fifteen words or less. They are concise and witty and marvelous. This week she posted while under municipal lock down. While her reviews aren’t specific to current events, her humor and commitment are a fine example of Boston Strong.

Kudos to Ms. Cardi and all these fine writers. Thank you for your words.