


The stories that follow are from people across Africa, rarely heard outside their own communities.







How a 3-Minute Film Is Making a Long-Term Difference on Climate Change | Lyn Davis Lear

This is the story of how a three-minute film watched by over 120 world leaders at the United Nations this morning was produced by a newly empty nested mother of three who had never produced a minute of film before.It began 26 years ago when my friend, Cindy Horn, and I were pregnant with our first born and concerned about what the scientific community was telling us about the man-made threat to the planet that was soon to welcome our innocent babies.Our concern soon translated into the start of the Environmental Media Association, whose mission was to get writers, producers and directors to include environmental issues into the content of their stories. We are proud of founding and nurturing EMA, with our husbands, over so many years and of the leadership, now led by President Debbie Levin that made it so successful.Three years ago, my husband and I had Bill McKibben to our home. I had known Bill, the founder of 350.org, for years. Bill was just starting to tour colleges and universities to inform students about the serious nature of the climate crisis and its impact on their future.I will never forget our home being filled to the brim that day with electric conversation. This was a turning point in my life. Of course, I knew our climate problems were serious, but like most, I chose to keep from acknowledging the degree of the crisis. We gave a lot of money every year to different environmental causes — we had even founded an NGO. However, once that “ah ha” moment comes and you get how critical this crisis is, you cant turn back.This was the most exciting time to be alive, but also the most frightening. Every week there seemed to be new evidence of global warming from methane ice melting in Siberia, to new irreversible glacier melting in Antarctica. The situation seemed so dire. The media wouldnt pay attention to the issue, and no one seemed to care about climate change. Even the movement seemed depressed.But then, a little over a year ago, there seemed to be a sea change in the air. It was as though everything lightened up. Everyone in our movement, including Al Gore, felt a tipping point had begun. Solar, wind and organic products were becoming less expensive. We had reasons to feel optimistic. Even as extreme weather events began to worsen, we felt there was a way forward.

via How a 3-Minute Film Is Making a Long-Term Difference on Climate Change | Lyn Davis Lear.

Intermission: Heres What Happens When a Piano Is Abandoned on the Streets of Manhattan

The sight of a lone piano on the sidewalk can be both sad and beautiful. So when Anthony Sherin of the New York Times noticed that someone had left a piano in front of his apartment, he decided to document what happened to it.

via Intermission: Heres What Happens When a Piano Is Abandoned on the Streets of Manhattan.

When I moved to Canada from Auckland, New Zealand, the piano that I saved up for so hard in order that my son could play, was left abandoned in storage.

A few years later he called me from Australia, asking me to send it to his friend in Auckland.  “He has two young children, mum, and no money”, he said. “They would love the piano”.

The fleeting pang of regret that I would never again see my son seated at that piano took me by surprise.

Watching this exquisite footage evokes all kinds of feelings and memories of wonder, of striving, of watching a shy young boy overcome enormous stage fright and play exquisitely.. and above all else, beauty.

A short, powerful video from Reject and Protect. via Occupy Love

Ranchers, farmers and tribal communities from along the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline route, called the Cowboy Indian Alliance, rode into Washington DC and set up camp near the White House to tell President Obama to reject the pipeline.


via Facebook.