March 2008 Archives

Perhaps inspired by the Australian government's recent apology for its treatment of that countrie's native aboriginies, or possibly the orations of Barack Obama in which he admonished slavery as America's "original sin," or simply because it's about damn time, the Florida Legislature recently issued a formal apology on for its role in the slave trade that dates back to the mid-16th Century in that state.

Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican, said that the state "is sorry for the past transgressions and unfair treatment and in some cases just gross inequity as it exists toward members of the African-American community.'' And while the statement issued by the Legislature did not indicate reparations for living descendents of slaves, Crist said that he's open to the idea -- provided they can prove their lineage.

That's going to be tough, but at least the offer is on the table.

This gesture puts Florida in the company of Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia -- all states that have issued formal apologies for slavery. In January, New Jersey became the first northern state to apologize for it.

Clearly this is a step in the right direction, and maybe racial equality is possible after all. But knowing the snail's pace at which progress like this occurs, I believe we need a lot more than nice words from important offices to bring about real change.

Unless actions follow words, an apology like this becomes mere lip service. And that's simply not enough.

If you're still not convinced that we're in a recession, this might change your mind. Fourteen states are already reporting record numbers of food stamp applicants, reports the New York Times, boosting the national total to 28 million people who will require the welfare. The projected value of the sum is $36 billion.

In order to receive food stamps, a family must report a near-poverty income, a figure that varies depending on how many people are in the family. A family of four that survives on $27,000 per year, for example, would qualify for the stamps, which have benefits of about $100 per month per person. A single person earning just over $10,000/year would also qualify.

In Michigan, one in eight residents currently receives food stamps, while in New York, one in ten does. In both states, the number has soared since the last recession in 2000.

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) began in back in the 1930s, but didn't take on its present form for another 30 years. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson requested Congress to pass legislation making the FSP permanent, and later that year it did. In 1965, the number of recipients nationwide was just over half a million, costing a total of $75 million.

In the 44 years since, the program has grown stronger -- and more necessary -- each year. In the 1990s, the FSP started growing exponentially, and without it, many more Americans would be starving today than those that already are.

What does all this mean? A lot of things. It means we need the government's help to ensure that everyone can enjoy a healthy diet. It means those of us with jobs and decent incomes shouldn't balk at paying taxes, which fund programs like the FSP. It means that our current administration could be allocating a lot less money to certain causes (e.g. Iraq) and devoting it instead to feeding its own people. And most of all, it means that we're heading for some very lean times.

"An Eye For An Eye Makes The World Blind." Mahatma Ghandi

My motivation for taking the photograph "Execution Day," was to share, with people, the events that unfolded outside the gates of San Quentin Prison during the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams. Williams was one of the founding members of the South Central Los Angeles Street Gang, the Crips, and in 1981 was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering four people.
He was executed at midnight on December 13, 2005.

Walking from my car to the entrance of the prison was unreal: blinding lights, cold weather, news cameras, motorcycles, cops, radios, helicopters, protesters, drums. Despite the commotion, what stood out to me were these two women, using their candle flames to stay warm, holding their signs:

"The Death Penalty is a Hate Crime."

"The Weak Can Never Forgive."

They were the first comforting sight I had seen all night.

Some common reasons for opposing the death penalty are: capital punishment is too expensive, methods used to kill inmates are tortuous, the death penalty is racist or the possibility of killing an innocent person makes it not worth it.

However, what these woman are saying is that the Death Penalty, itself, is hateful. Capital Punishment is an act of revenge, not of justice. What Capital Punishment does is say that it is okay to kill. By keeping the Death Penalty legal, our Government teaches us that under certain circumstance, people deserve to die. Our minds become conditioned to think and to accept the idea of a "justified death."

Feelings of wanting to execute someone, I believe, are rooted in the fear of what might happen if we let them live. Having thought about the death penalty and its impact of society, I cannot help but oppose it. Even if it means allowing a cold-blooded murderer to live. We must remember that allowing someone to live does not mean setting him or her free.

At this year's Greener Gadgets Design Competition in New York, the team of Zach Dwiel and Matt Meshulam walked away with the top prize for the EnerJar - a DIY power meter made from recycled and salvaged parts that accurately measures the power draw of electrical appliances. Sitting between any wall outlet and the appliance, the EnerJar helps users gain an understanding of their daily electricity use. Below, Zach Dwiel offers his insights into the creation of the EnerJar.

AWEARNESS: What was the initial inspiration for the EnerJar?

Zach: I was really curious how much energy all of the various electronics in my house were requiring. I don't like buying new, especially new electronics. I couldn't find any free designs online, so I proposed the idea to Matt, an electrical engineer who got a design up in no time. We wanted to make a few of them to distribute around freecycle so we designed it to be cheap, easy to use, and possible to build from as many salvaged and reused parts as possible. Matt found the Greener Gadgets competition and figured we should submit what we had, so we did.

AWEARNESS: You are making the design (both the schematics and source code) for the EnerJar available for free on the Internet. In what ways do you think "open source" thinking will accelerate the pace of green innovation?

Zach: Open source allows ideas and solutions to travel very quickly. This also means the solutions get refined quickly. I was just reading about how 20 or 30 years ago, you could get the design for the circuits to high quality guitar amplifiers by just giving them a call and asking for it. You are paying for them to put it all together and make it look nice. Embracing this openness is only going to help solve our problems more quickly and more thoroughly: green, sustainable and health problems just as much as any other.

AWEARNESS: In addition to using the EnerJar, what are some other relatively inexpensive and easy ways that people can reduce their environmental footprint?

Zach: Listing only ways that actually save you money: walk or bike more often (or try to live where this is possible next time you have an option); don't buy stuff you don't need; eat less meat (the average American's yearly meat consumption contributes as many greenhouse gases as his yearly vehicle use); turn off lights when you don't need them and use compact fluorescents; buy organic and local food, or better yet, from someone you know; see if your electric company will sell sustainable energy (I just found out that I could get wind power from mine here in Missouri). There are so many more. The important part is to have fun with it. This isn't masochism. It often saves you money.

AWEARNESS: What were some of the other highlights at the Greener Gadgets conference in New York?

Zach: Some of my favorites were the bamboo phone, 'no gadget', and eNutrition. The bamboo phone is cool - I love bamboo and biodegradable electronics would be a huge step forward in dealing with all of our e-waste. 'no gadget' speaks for itself. eNutrition is about distributing information which I love. It would be great to know, at the grocery store, which products on the shelf are the most sustainable or how far they traveled to get here, how much oil was required to build and transport it, or any other of a million different useful pieces of information. Right now, I get a list of the name of the ingredients, and an organic label (that doesn't mean a whole lot).

AWEARNESS: What are some of the other projects you are working on for 2008 and beyond?

Zach: I'm currently working on getting my Computer Science undergraduate degree at Washington University in St. Louis and looking for a summer job. I'd like to work on getting information out to people and make it even easier to share - I've got some website ideas, mostly dealing with 'semantic' and search technologies. I'm also starting a garden this spring and trying to write software for playing music.

[image: EnerJar]

Danielle Butin was an executive in the managed care business until she lost her job due to downsizing, but instead of wallowing in worry and despair, she used her knowledge of the system to make it better.

She knew that hospitals are also businesses, and as businesses, they often have contracts with their suppliers that mandate the sole use of, say, one brand of gauze or a specific kind of stretcher. It's just like how some restaurants carry only Coke products, while others offer those in the Pepsi family.

She knew that when a contract takes effect, everything the hospital uses that falls outside of the agreement has to be thrown out.

She also knew that the average hospital patient generates around 25 pounds of waste per day, just by lying there.

So she began a business of her own: Selling those unused and lightly used supplies to hospitals around the world that have neither contracts with medical suppliers nor the proper medical supplies period.

And she doesn't limit her queries to hospital executives. Waiting for a Jamba Juice at Whole Foods in Union Square, the Times reports, she asked a store manager if they would donate cooking supplies to her cause. After a wait -- while the question was posed to other managers, no doubt -- the answer came back "yes."

Butin's plan isn't entirely new: Initiatives like the Malawi Project and World Relief also send supplies and help to needy people, particularly in Africa. While each of those organizations operates with a Christian ideology, Butin's Afya Foundation is secular. But religion aside, all are essentially humanitarian. And when it comes to helping people get well, that's really all that matters.

In a revolutionary step towards cleaner air, the EPA announced that it will begin requiring 345 counties nationwide to improve their air quality.

With smog levels in large portions of Southern California -- particularly around Los Angeles -- and the Atlantic seaboard from Washington to New England far exceeding what the EPA considers healthy, officials hope these new restrictions will begin reducing the rate of heart and asthma attacks and other smog-induced health problems.

While the need for this might not surprise residents of LA, New York and Chicago -- all cities with notoriously bad air quality because of heavy traffic, dense populations and industrial factories -- those in more rural states like Indiana, Alabama and Oklahoma are no doubt in for a rude awakening once they realize the changes they'll need to make in order to meet the new standards.

City and state governments, too, will have to find ways of drumming up the $7.6 - $8.5 billion necessary to improve air quality, but according to the reports, that's nothing compared to the amount they'll save with healthier populations. The EPA said in a statement that the new standard will "yield health benefits valued between $2 billion and $19 billion."

A new generation of social entrepreneurs is transforming the way that we think about business and philanthropy, and in the process, forever changing the conventional wisdom about how to empower individuals in disadvantaged communities. Alex Forrester, co-founder of Jersey City-based Rising Tide Capital, is one of the young social entrepreneurs who is helping to bring real economic change to economically disadvantaged communities. Below, Alex shares his vision for the future.

AWEARNESS: For readers not already familiar with Rising Tide Capital, what types of services do you provide to disadvantaged inner-city entrepreneurs?

Alex: Rising Tide Capital is a non-profit organization based in Jersey City, NJ whose mission is to equip local entrepreneurs in distressed urban communities with the tools, skills, and resources they need to start and grow successful businesses. We do this by providing hands-on training in business management and planning to local start-up entrepreneurs through our signature initiative--The Community Business Academy. We then provide year-round consulting and advanced seminars to the graduates to guide them through their start-up and growth phases. Once our entrepreneurs are ready to seek business financing, we work with them to prepare their business plan and access the capital they need from our local micro-lending partners. Rising Tide Capital is dedicated to the economic empowerment of low-income communities through entrepreneurship because we know how many hard-working, talented men and women in our communities use business ownership as a way to increase their household income. Our vision is to harness this entrepreneurial energy and use it to transform lives, strengthen families, and grow thriving, vibrant communities from within.

AWEARNESS: What was your motivation or inspiration for launching Rising Tide Capital?

Alex: I co-founded Rising Tide Capital in 2004 with one of my Harvard classmates, Alfa Demmellash. We had been talking for many years about the concept of social entrepreneurship--the idea that you could use business principles to create lasting, sustainable change in the world. When we graduated in 2003, we wanted to find out how we could use our education to participate in addressing some of the sources of suffering we saw in the world. We were particularly interested in the work of Dr. Muhammad Yunus and his pioneering work in micro-finance through the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. We wanted to see if we could bring his vision to the inner cities of America. Reading his autobiography Banker to the Poor made us realize that all you really need in order to change the world is a vision, the power to communicate it, and a passionate determination to pick yourself up over and over again for what you believe in. On a personal level, Alfa and I both believe that the purpose of life is to learn how to love, and that love is not just a feeling but an action you take in the world. And so, we are living what we believe.

AWEARNESS: What are some of the more inspiring stories of entrepreneurs you've already helped?

Alex: We have about 41 of our graduates from the past year or so who are currently in business. Each one of them (and the 31 other graduates currently in the planning stage) has an amazing story of personal determination and strength in the face of adversity. I think I am most inspired by the incredible women we have worked with. There is a fabulous artist named Jusleine who just opened a greeting card business, and Kim who paints murals for children's day care centers, and Angela who has a computer repair company, and Ruthie who just opened a shoe store down the block from us. Additionally, we make a special emphasis on working with people in our community who are formerly incarcerated. About 20% of our graduates are formerly incarcerated persons. One in particular that stands out is a young African American man named Shawn whose urban fashion company, I think, has the potential to really make it big. He has had to overcome a lot of obstacles on the way, but he credits his time at Rising Tide Capital with giving him the focus he needs to take his company to the next level. If we can help him get there, I will be very, very proud.

AWEARNESS: Ever since Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, there's been tremendous enthusiasm about micro-lending arrangements for small businesses without access to typical sources of capital. What types of developments do you see happening in the micro-lending area over the next 12-24 months?

Alex: I think that we will see two major trends. The first is a consolidation in the field. Just like the mainstream financial world, the micro-finance world will benefit from efficiency and economies of scale and will increasingly see the largest micro-finance agencies consolidate their role in the market. Secondly, I think that the cutting edge right now is in the education and business development services side of the industry. One of the first things we learned when we established Rising Tide Capital was that a loan is just more debt unless you know how to use it. We hope to work with our local partners and with the national Association for Enterprise Opportunity to bring innovative, high-quality services to entrepreneurs who need more than just a loan to grow their business. At Rising Tide Capital, we believe that capital comes not just in the form of financing, but in the form of social connections and knowledge as well. We look forward to participating in the development of this side of our industry because that's where we see the biggest opportunity for innovation and value-added services in the future.

AWEARNESS: Who are some of the people that you particularly admire for their dedication to important social causes?

Alex: I think that Oprah Winfrey and Susan Taylor (founder of Essence Magazine) are particularly important examples of the way that individuals can inspire and educate people to make our world a better place. I also deeply admire Professor Cornel West and the work of Rev. Jim Wallis in the way they both understand the positive role religion can play in initiatives for social justice. However, the people I admire most are the many unsung heroes that are working today around the world on issues like sex trafficking, ex-offender recidivism, human rights, and restorative justice. I think the future will depend upon their efforts, and in the power of love and forgiveness to bring peace and reconciliation to our world.

[image: courtesy of Rising Tide Capital]

1. Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi generate more than 75% of the nitrate and phosphorous that creates a dead zone in the Northern Gulf of Mexico the size of New Jersey.

2. A 2006 U. S. Supreme Court decision that ">weakened the Clean Water Act threatens the already scarce sources of water in the "desert region" formed by New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Nevada and southern California.

3. Trace levels of pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, psychiatric drugs, sex hormones, pain medication, drugs for cholesterol and asthma, as well as veterinary drugs, have been found in drinking and fishing waters all across the country. Although it is not known what the long-term effects of these trace levels are in humans, scientists do blame them for the severe reproductive problems that are increasingly found in many types of fish.

4. Even though water levels in the Great Lakes region are rising in general, Lake Ontario is still about a foot-and-a-half lower than the all-time records set in 1952.

5. 2007 was the year Georgia went almost completely dry. So how does the state government try to deal with the water shortage? They go on to question the government's 1818 border survey saying that Tennessee owes them 1.1 miles of land, lake and millions more of water.

Saturday, March 22nd was World Water Day, designated as such back in 1992 at a United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro in an effort to raise awareness on this most vital natural resource.

Yet for some reason, World Water Day failed to capture our hearts like Earth Day did back in 1970, and on through the decades to the late 0ughts. Indeed, every April, Earth Day comes around and almost everyone becomes an eco-conscious hippie for the day -- tie-dyes come out of the closet, stock brokers don their college Birkenstocks, and talk of "carbon footprints" and the "greenhouse effect" buzz through the warm spring air.

Then it's back to business.

World Water Day, meanwhile, asks us to ponder something a little more direct: How much water we consume, and how much there is to go around. It asks us to bear in mind that water consumption in the United States far exceeds that of any other country -- whether first world or developing. It asks us to think about the many thousands of gallons that go into producing the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the work we do. In short, it wants to confront us with the ugly reality that we simply use way too much of the stuff.

Are you brave enough to find out exactly how much you use? At H2O Conserve, a new Website designed to help you calculate your "water footprint", you can. Through a simple click-through series of questions, the site determines roughly how many gallons of water you consume per day. And for most in the US, the figure will be astounding.

I consider myself a pretty eco-conscious person: I don't drive, I take short showers, I don't use my dishwasher, and I recycle everything I can. Nevertheless, my daily water consumption, according to H20 Conserve, comes to 1,088 gallons per day. Meanwhile, the average person in most African nations survives on less than five. Seems impossible, but that's my point: How many of us really know how much water we use?

As with everything, knowledge is power. And if we Americans are willing to know our water consumption, maybe we can begin using a lot less. I know I'm going to try.