Wangari Maathai

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Monday September 26, 2011 · 3:00 AM PDT

2011/09/26 · 03:00

"It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees."
— Wangari Maathai, 1940-2011

In 1971, Wangari Maathai was having a busy time of things, she had just received her PhD, the first East African woman to ever do so. She also just gave birth to her first daughter, Wanjira, by her husband, aspiring Parliamentarian Mwangi Mathai. It was a good moment to take stock of what she saw around her.

What she saw around her over the next few years was pretty upsetting, she saw women who were disempowered, an environment that was demolished, and a society that left most families deeply and dangerously impoverished. Her response to this went down to the roots of all three issues.

She organized women to plant trees. Millions of trees.

By doing so, she created forests, and a social movement, out of her own imagination and force of will, leaving legacies that will continue to help people for generations after her recent passing yesterday, from cancer, at age 71...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Saturday September 10, 2011 · 2:36 PM PDT

2011/09/10 · 14:36

Welcome Back, and welcome to the new day for the Moment of Zen! It looks like Saturday is going to be the day to post this from now on.

Sorry about the missed week, thanks to a new job (yay!) I'm in the middle of some life changes right now, and haven't quite figured out how to schedule things (little things like exactly when I should be sleeping). Today we're going to talk a little about life changes, but first young Natalie here has some growing up to do:

More transformations under the fold...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Sunday September 04, 2011 · 9:00 AM PDT

2011/09/04 · 09:00

Hi there, welcome to the Sunday Tea and Coffee Klatsch. Michelewln and I are going to be alternating Sundays for a while, and if I'm not mistaken, this is my week. So, grab your drink of choice, munchies are also on the table over there (careful with that bowl, it's candied ginger), relax and hang out a while. What's on your mind, how's your week been treating you?

This is, of course Labor Day weekend here in the US (we're scared of the May 1 Labor Day everyone else celebrates I guess), so let's take a moment of extra thanks to those who have to work this weekend. Jobs are, of course on many people's mind right now, so feel free to chat about that below. I, for one, am going to share a tangent to the whole jobs thing. Here is a place that, as a kid, I'd often visit this very weekend, Bear Mountain State Park:

Come and join us under the fold...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Thursday August 25, 2011 · 4:00 PM PDT

2011/08/25 · 16:00

Welcome back, thanks for coming! Before we begin, this man and his dog have found some tadpoles in the Hannacroix Creek, a small mountain stream in Upstate NY.

The Hannacroix creek is one I'm especially grateful to, as it feeds one of the town reservoirs, thus offering a significant portion of the water I drink every day I'm in town (yes, there are modern water treatment systems between the doggies and the tap). I'd appreciate it if you join me for more discussion on gratitude after the flip...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Tuesday August 23, 2011 · 2:30 PM PDT

2011/08/23 · 14:30

Welcome to Twosday Teatime, I'm filling in for this week, since I had a moment of time, and, well ... tea!

Kettle's on, this is an open thread, but let's throw something out there as a conversation starter...

In this increasingly photoshopped world, I keep hearing and seeing the point that people believe beauty is symmetry, everything must be smooth, unblemished and symmetrical. Instead, let's talk about the beauty of the asymmetrical, the unpolished, the blemished and kinda lopsided.

Let's start things off with one of the goofier-looking beautiful flowers out there, the orchid, here we have a vanilla blossom from Madagascar (it even has a bug on it):

More after the flip...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Thursday August 18, 2011 · 4:00 PM PDT

2011/08/18 · 16:00

Welcome back! Today, we're going to chat about a pretty flower. First, let's take a look at some, so for today's video, we take you to the exotic land of Memphis, Tennessee, to watch the lotus taking in the sunlight...

More after the flip (and no, this isn't one of those "cheerful-sounding subjects with doom under the flip moments").

figleef for Street Prophets

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Thursday August 11, 2011 · 4:00 PM PDT

2011/08/11 · 16:00

Welcome back! Sorry if this moment seems a bit rushed, job hunting this week has seized much of my time, leaving little to write; so let's chat about time for a moment. But first, let's watch these metronomes, a classic Western symbol of time; they might not act the way you suspect:

This makes for a good classroom physics demonstration, just remember to suspend the platform, or the phenomenon is slower (but not gone, remember the Earth itself is, in some respects, a suspended platform). Got some time to join me under the flip?

figleef for Street Prophets

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Thursday August 04, 2011 · 4:00 PM PDT

2011/08/04 · 16:00

Today we're going to talk about origami, the art of paper folding, specifically we're going to talk about origami cranes. Before we do, let's watch some real cranes for a moment, these birdies are hanging along the coast in Taiwan:

After the flip, we'll wander somewhere dark and frightening for a moment, and also learn some more about folding paper cranes...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Monday August 01, 2011 · 4:00 PM PDT

2011/08/01 · 16:00

Welcome back to Engaging Faith, a weekly(?) series of Street Prophets. Here, we seek to have a conversation between the broader progressive community and us religious progressives. This conversation is intended to help us all work together on our shared goals in helping this nation, and this world, become a better place.

This forum is open to respectful questions and concerns on anything within the broader mission of the series. Need details on how to work with the religious left? Want strategies for how to work against the religious right without alienating the religious folks who aren't your enemies? That's what we're here for.

Today I am tired and too foggy to come up with a coherent topic, so I'll just discuss briefly a broad theme that has been coming up repeatedly over the past while, impermanence.

figleef for Street Prophets

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Thursday July 28, 2011 · 4:30 PM PDT

2011/07/28 · 16:30

Welcome back! Buddhism teaches us to lose attachments, to live a simple and uncluttered life. Looking around the space around this computer, however, I see much clutter, covered by a layer of dust. It's not for lack of effort cleaning, and it's less clutter than, say, a year ago, so let's chat a moment on the role of this clutter, this dust, in my practice. First, this woman wants to share what her mother's house looked like a couple of years after she moved away.

Let's clear some things up after the fold...

figleef for Street Prophets

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Thursday July 21, 2011 · 4:00 PM PDT

2011/07/21 · 16:00

Welcome Back! I had a moment over half finished, but rather than finishing it for posting today, I'm punting it down the road, in favor of a shorter one. This is partially because I had a difficult day yesterday, and it's going to make today difficult as well, so I don't want to spend the time finishing it just now. It's also because Buddhism teaches us to be true to where we are, right here, right now, and that diary isn't where I am right now. But first, here's a man filling up his car, he's not having an easy day either:

More under the flip.

figleef for Street Prophets

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 18, 2011 · 4:30 PM PDT

2011/07/18 · 16:30

Welcome back to Engaging Faith, a weekly series of Street Prophets. Here, we seek to have a conversation between the broader progressive community and us religious progressives. This conversation is intended to help us all work together on our shared goals in helping this nation, and this world, become a better place.

Today I'm going to go into more detail on a topic I alluded to last week. In Religious Activity in NY Same Sex Marriage Law, I mentioned how many clergy members came out in solid and vocal support over the bill, but they didn't do so spontaneously, activists had to approach them and help them understand how important their public involvement on this issue would be.

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Wangari Maathai

Moment of Zen — Chrysalis — 2011-09-10

Street Prophets Sunday Tea & Coffee Klatsch: Bear Mountain

Moment of Zen — Tadpoles — 2011.08.25

Twosday Teatime — Lopsided Beauty

Moment of Zen — Lotus — 2011.08.18

Moment of Zen — Metronomes — 2011.08.11

Moment of Zen — Crane — 2011.08.04

Engaging Faith — Impermanence

Moment of Zen — Dust — 2011.07.28

Moment of Zen — Station — 2011.07.21

Engaging Faith — An Aversion To Politics