The Creative Activist

If you want to solve a problem, have to stop and think about the problem first. Logical, right?  Whether you want to tackle racial inequality, gun violence, climate change, or homelessness in your city you need to explore the challenge. Take notes, ask questions, do some interviews, reflect. This post introduces a couple of techniques you can use to focus on a new (to you) problem. You can use the tools here to help you shift your focus, or reevaluate whether you're focusing on the right thing.  Say your interest is climate change. Maybe you've decided that getting people to consume less stuff is the key to reducing the effects of climate change in the future. If you don't know much about the problem, here are a few key points: 1. The world is warming up with alarming speed, mainly because of human activity.  2. We may not be able to prevent some major changes like a 1-meter rise in sea level and permanent drought 3. Some would argue that adapting to those changes is more...

How many students, including adult learners, need some extra help to communicate effectively in writing? Across the United States, this number reaches into the millions. a picture is worth ... is a unique book produced through collaboration between I-LEAD Charter School in Reading, PA and Threshold Collaborative, a teaching, consulting and capacity building organization. Reading has one of the worst performing school systems in the nation. Students wrote and recorded personal essays in a project that combined writing with modern technologies to teach the vital skills of literacy, critical thinking and communication. The 16 students who contributed essays used their skills in essays on school, family life and personal struggles. The book includes links to audio recordings of the essays and QR codes that allow access to the audio files on mobile devices via QR reading apps. a picture is worth … came out of a partnership between two organizations. Threshold Collabo...

The slow economy has put pressure on food banks to serve more people with the same or fewer resources. Now, the level of EBT benefits has been cut, so people who often struggled to make it through the month now have less food. More of those people will run out of money and food before the end of the month, and will turn to their local food bank for help. Will there be enough food for all when the time comes? No, in many cases the shelves will be bare. How can food banks meet increasing demands for food? This question has two dimensions: the immediate need for more food and the long-term challenge of securing reliable access to more food from donors. One hopes the long-term need doesn’t materialize, but realism requires being prepared.   The immediate need for additional food donations can be handled in several ways. If you run a food bank or just volunteer regularly, then you probably know what the options are: appealing to current donors, approaching new donors, using...