HumanKindMedia

Tuesday Links: Little blogger goes to the big media conference

Well, if you're still with me, thanks for your patience. We have proven that I can't write blogs and attend conferences at the same time.

Last week I was like Charlie at the Chocolate Factory of new media, having attended a Journalism That Matters conference put on by Media Giraffe at UMass and then the very amazing National Conference on Media Reform put on by freepress.org. Now I am suffering from an embarrassment of riches in the arena of people doing great things against what seems to be the impossibility of recapturing the media for the public.

Local place-bloggers, traditional journalists, policy makers, Senators, new media mavens and scholars all came together to represent thousands upon thousands of grass-roots and alternative media proponents around the US. Among revered reporters (Bill Moyers, Dan Rather, and Phil Donahue were speakers) and internet media experts were hip-hop bloggers serving marginalized youth, new media filmmakers, local youth radio supporters and on-line journalists and bloggers like me. We all shared a common intention: representing the voices of all the people--the raucous, cacaphonous, dissenting, diversified public the way that the American forefathers envisioned in the First Amendment--in media.

Though our constitution is faded, it's still a great set of guidelines for a thriving democracy. I love that so many people care so much to travel to a conference to learn more about how they can contribute to a free press remaining free, and how we can use stories to transform our society towards its full promise.

I heard later that Bill O'Reilly, a main face of Big Media, called our gathering "fringe left lunatics". I've never subscribed to labelling people right and left, blue and red, right and wrong, (or sane or lunatic for that matter) myself, but it's kind of fun to see how threatening a group of 3000+ who want to read and see news that's relevant, varied, and informative can be to the likes of O'Reilly.

In January I wrote a piece about what I was learning about the media and being the change in the media that I'd like to see. I hope we "new media" people can remember that all "media people" are people. I hope we can steer away from the pitfalls that have turned so many of us off to fear-driven, celebrity-filled infotainment as our primary media diet.

I hope we can remember that even mainstream media, for all its flaws, is filled with people like us who deserve respect even if we disagree with them. I hope we as readers and writers can choose against the pundits who are bent on right/wrong, left/right, red/blue, safe/threatened, with/against polarities in their reporting. I hope we demand of our media to hear more sides than one side, more stories about problems and people fixing them, less about what we should be afraid of or hate.

The conferences were filled with people just like you and me trying to make a difference in the world. It was fabulous. I have a long list of stories I hope to share over time if changing the media to change our world is as interesting to you as it is to me. In the meantime, watch this video now or save it for some quality viewing. It's a compelling explanation by Bill Moyers about "communitainment", why we should care about what's happening in the media, and what we should do about it.

Theme Tuesday: Friends we haven't met yet

New Plan: Theme Link Tuesday. When I was stuck last week, I let go of my fixation on themes for series of blog posts. Now, I can throw caution to the wind, and just write about anything, I told myself. Well, I could, but that much freedom might cause paralysis--too many choices every day. I've had about 8 different things rumbling around in my head for the several weeks after Pangea Day, that I've just wanted to share without creating a big essay. Oddly enough :--), they all seem to have a theme. So the new plan is themes on Tuesdays, where if you like the theme, you can follow the links.

I love the new abundance of stories and news with a different narrative than what I found troubling in the mainstream media. I picked the name HumanKind Media for this blog because I was dismayed at the amount of "us vs.them" and "right vs. wrong" stories in the media. I thought a "humankind" perspective helps tell a different story every time, whether it's a city council meeting someone's writing about or a national election, education or travelling to Mars.

In his decades of work as an anthropologist, Donald Brown has been researching and documenting human universals, the traits that every human on the planet has in common. In this talk on Pangea Day he talks about what he's learned during his years of studying humans.

In his list of human universals are weapons, and agression in males, but also disapproval of violence. He found we all form collective identities (I vote for HumanKind), we all look for mediation of conflict and all disapprove of stinginess. All humans share food. We all share the same facial expressions for the same emotions. Just tripping through the list is a reminder of how little difference there is from me and my 5 billion+ other fellow humans I haven't met. Also, good to remember when you're mad at your boss, disagreeing with someone's beliefs, or stuck in traffic.

Here are some of the wonderful, artistic, beautifully conceived places online you can visit to get a reminder of all those friends you haven't met. What's possible in a world where we look more to our similarities than our differences? Is there someone in your life to tell a different story about?

onBeing Listen to someone's story

one sentence Write your sentence, hit skip (unless you want to publish your sentence), and read the other sentences

6 Billion Others Pick your language first (you can skip the intro if you're in a hurry), wait for a load, and hear what some of the 6 Billion others have to say

We Feel Fine Click on the "Open We Feel Fine" at the top, let it load, then click the dots (or you can select "murmurs" on the left and see what happens.)

If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right, or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail chris (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.

Feeling Stuck: 3 things a coach might tell me

You may have noticed, I'm a little stuck. It's been over a week since my last post (and I usually have a rule against that). In fact, I notice I have several rules about blogging, which may be why I'm stuck right now. I don't know what you do when you're in this state, but I have a tendency to spend a lot of time pondering WHY I'm stuck.

I have my reasons. First I had a rule when I started about "themes." We started with blogs about ending poverty, then helping women, peace, and making a world fit for children. Then, sustainable living. Part of me could keep writing about sustainability forever. It's like peace. Once you pull on the string, you realize it's connected to everything else.

But, another part of me is having trouble deciding which of all the millions of other topics and ideas out there that are changing the world and trying to fit them into themes and connections, and threads, and what, I wonder do you, my audience, want to see?...You see, here I go spinning again.

If I had a coach right now... but wait, I am a coach. I think it's a common misconception that coaches, counselors, psychologists, and other life helpers can get themselves out of sticky spots more easily. I'm a human (a member of a global citizenry, remember) and for some reason, I can't help but get stuck sometimes, even though I should know what to do.

If I were my coach right now, I'd move me off of the "why, "what if", "oh, no" merry-go-round and I'd focus on 3 things:

1. Tell the truth about "what is". When in a breakdown, the first step is to notice you're in a breakdown. For me "what is" would look something like this: I really want to keep telling stories about all the cool organizations, people, and ideas that are changing the world and I feel overwhelmed at the writing, the publicizing, the trying to build community, and the possibility of failure, (which as a coach, I don't really believe in, but am still programmed to worry about), and I don't know what to do next. Whew. What a relief to get that out!

2. Ask what can be done now? Once I get this far, I'm usually okay again. There's always something that can be done now. The impossible takes a little longer, but it's still just a series of steps. For today, what can be done now is already done. I have stopped wondering why I was stuck and just wrote about being stuck. Also, one of the "things that can be done now" in any stuck place is to LET GO. This is my favorite possibility in the "what can be done now" category. Today, I am officially letting go of the themes.

3. Look for support, ask for help!. Asking for help is usually the step most of us don't like to take in the 3-part breakdown fix. But, sometimes just thinking about who could help, asking one person do to something small, or even asking the universe to come in and straighten things out can have a magical ability to help me take a few steps. Sometimes just having someone listen (or read, in my case) is enough.

But since you're here, if you'd like to help me, there are a few things I would ask for. Drop me a note in the comments or e-mail me and let me know: Do you know a story that would be perfect for 10 % more media about possibility? Would you like to suggest or write a story as a guest? What would you like to see more of (now that we're letting go of themes, we can go nuts)? I admit that I have the "small blog" envy of the big blogs who get lots of comments every day. I'm sure someday I won't be able to handle all the comments, but in the meantime just write and say "Hi". Please.

On the HumanKind action front, if you know anyone in Chicago, I'm still working on ways to work out my Wish for Will and welcome your ideas. And, soon, I hope you regular readers will help design HumanKind Challenge #4, for a BigCarrot submission. Okay, now I feel more excited than stuck.

WE FEEL FINE!
And, now that I'm feeling a little more free and excited, and a little less bound by self-imposed constraints, I can tell you about something cool that happened when I posted this blog. Jonathan Harris, artist/genius and speaker at Pangea Day, with Sepandar Kamvar, has been capturing feelings on the web since 2005 at We Feel Fine. So if you had been watching within a few hours of publication of this post, my feelings of stuck-ness, overwhelm, envy, free, and excited showed up on little dots and murmurs on We Feel Fine. Check it out.

After a minute or two watching the Madness or reading the Murmurs, I feel like I'm okay again. I was just having some feelings ;-). You can read more about We feel Fine here. I loved Jonathan's short explanation of We Feel Fine at Pangea Day here.

Here is what Jonathan and Spandar say about their cool project: "We Feel Fine is an artwork authored by everyone. It will grow and change as we grow and change, reflecting what's on our blogs, what's in our hearts, what's in our minds. We hope it makes the world seem a little smaller, and we hope it helps people see beauty in the everyday ups and downs of life."

Ups and downs--I can relate to that. Thanks for listening.

Post #101 - 4 things I learned in April about impermanence

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. --Nelson Mandela

I'm back. And as I try to think of a jaunty way to write about this past month of travels, I realize its not just geographical travels that have been working on me. It's the question of sustainability which was deeper than I imagined, and the ever-present reminder that time is long and short and what I do with it is what matters. It's this occasion of post #101. It's my 9-month anniversary of blogging at HumanKind Media (now without my buddy Liz who is recovering and moving on to work in her field of journalism). It's the impending graduation of my oldest son, and the rapidly-approaching end of the spring irises (already).

If I had to distill these recent experiences: travelling to a theme park with kids rapidly becoming adults, my road trip across New Mexico, feeling for and missing Liz, writing about Annie and going to a "Journalism that Matters" conference, I would say the theme is impermanence.

The Buddhists and others consider impermanence to be one of the big categories of suffering, and I certainly can take up the banner for that one from my travels in April. But as usual, a way out of suffering is to accept what is--nothing lasts forever, in this case--rejoice, and enjoy the flip side of what change has to offer. Here are four things I've been thinking about:

1. This time of my life, this time in our culture, this era of humans, even the life of this planet is a blip. The scale of time of the petrified forest and 25,000 years of humans at Acoma, Arizona, and our many billion-year old universe reminded me of that. In addition to experiencing the deep time of that landscape I also discovered my new favorite TED talk about what's beyond our corporeal sense of space and time. Jill Bolte Taylor's very personal exploration of the brain is the most e-mailed TED talk of all time. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

2. Learning to hold "what is" and await "what unfolds" can usually be a difficult experience that's full of gifts. Most of my pain and suffering around change resides in the trying to hold on to what I know or push away what I don't. Randy Pausch, the Last Lecture professor, is my most recent example of being with what is and watching what enfolds. If you haven't seen it (not the same as reading the book) please take some time out of your busy schedule to see someone who masters impermanence and rides the waves of its unfolding.

3. If you let go of something having to be the way you envision it, the real possibilities move into the space.
My latest example of this was the "unconference" format for the Journalism that Matters conference. Here's a great description PBS MediaShift's author Mark Glaser. For me, it was exciting to explore possibilities with journalists, technologists, professors, entrepreneurs, and fellow humans, all in service of telling good stories and contributing to a better world. Many amazing things will be germinating from these sessions and I hope to write about some of them. It was also an affirmation that if you create a space for possibility--it comes flooding in. Good news on the heal the world front.

4.The good news is that everything changes. If you didn't like the last president, this year's Oscar winner, what your kid wanted for dinner every night when he was 4, or the weather--it's ok, because it will change.
The bad news is that everything changes. I'm trying not to be dramatic about this but this last trip might have been the last time boys climbed the fort on the island at Disneyland together. But, there are oh, so many cool adventures ahead of us and our "newly grown" children.

On the future of journalism and creating a useful narrative for our society, I have not yet figured out the good and bad news, but I did meet many people who are in the same question this past week--many creative, intelligent, inspiring people who live to tell the stories we all should be so lucky to get to read or hear. Though much is changing in the journalism world, there was less "hand-wringing" and more highly committed, energetic people looking for new ways to create meaningful content in new ways.

I have been altered by my travels and experiences in April. At the NewTools 2008 journalism conference, I was classified as a "new media blogger". Ironically, one of the seasoned news guys kept calling me "Hope" instead of Chris. (Better than Polyanna, I guess.) I'm excited to explore many of the ideas, groups, and people I met as the possibilities unfold. Classified as a human, I'm happy to continue to hold "what's possible?" as my torch into the future. And, with my new reminders about how time is short, and people are good and infinitely resourceful, I plan to make use of my possibilities as long as I can.

HumanKind's picks: Films about changing the world

One of our favorite forms of media for possibilities is film. In "A different kind of movie star," we wrote about Stuart and FilmAid bringing films to refugees all over the world to educate, inform, and entertain. In a FilmAid press release last fall about a film festival featuring refugee films, they note that refugees have characterized the program of bringing films into their lives as "medicine for the mind, water in the desert, and food for the soul."

At the first Pangea Day, a day of film by the world for the world, founder Jahane Noujaim said, "Films can't change the world, but films can change people. People can change the world."

As a rapidly growing wired world, I think we have so many instances of media that can shift or inspire us. Today, we're lucky to have available at a click so many cool videos from so many sources, like the video in yesterday's post or the message from Millennium promise about ending poverty in our first post. Small films like Story of Stuff in featured in our current topic of sustainability and the Ted Talks are all sources of that 10% media shift we're talking about--10% more media about possibilities for healing the world. We are now able to create our own menu of media for our own inspiration, education and entertainment.

Hollywood is ramping up in this area, too. Jeff's Skoll's Participant Productions is an example of a whole film company dedicated to film about social change. (You can see Participant's TakePart.com for social action related to topics in their films here ). But, even before such an idea, there have been many powerful films that have inspired generations in making a shift toward a better world.

I was trying to think of my top 10 films that have changed my view of the world or changed the way I thought about things over the course of my life. But, I've only got a list of five and a few notes about why I remember them so far--and it's time to post and I'd love to have a list of new films to watch. What are your favorites? Leave yours in the comments, and we'll add to the list!

Editor's note: The first 5 were in the original post. Now, we're adding to the list--films, videos, video events. Here's what others have recommended (you can read what they have to say by reading the comments below.): Please comment to add your favorite film that changed you--we'll keep the list going.

1. Ghandi - The inspiration of many to be a peaceful change in the world

2. To Kill a Mockingbird - Dignity and justice in the face of prejudice

3. Philadelphia - Dignity and justice in the face of a new kind of prejudice

4. City of Joy - An American doctor working in the slums of India

5. Bobby - Several stories of many individuals woven around a period of immense social change

6. God Grew Tired of Us (2 recommendations)

7. Born Into Brothels

8. Pay It Forward

9. Regarding Henry

10. May 10, 2008: Pangea Day - a whole four-hour media "meeting" of citizens around the globe. I'm imagining this will come out in DVD soon (Check out Pangeaday. org and read our post Pangea review. Not to be missed - definitely the most amazing use of film to explore possibilities for healing the world that I've ever seen! --Chris

Change your media, change your life, change the world

Hurray! Today, we're a TypePad featured site. Our thanks to TypePad and to the many people -- you know who you are -- who are helping to create "the change we want to see" in the media and the world. That's our little acceptance speech ;)

Only a short six months ago, we launched with a vision of media that could inspire, motivate, and inform. We realized that since the stories we all read and hear shape our view of what's possible in the world, it made sense that publishing more stories about possibility and healing would lead to something amazing: It would start to seem more and more possible to create a healed world.

What we're noticing is that people who are world-changing on local and global levels have this in common: They've glimpsed some form of disparity in the world, and they can't look back. Another way to say that is that they have seen what's possible -- sometimes while traveling, and sometimes while going about their daily lives. They didn't turn away -- they saw it was possible to create peace and healing, and that they themselves had something unique to contribute.

We've been lucky enough to interview people like the founders of the Campaign for Female Education, and MicroPlace, the , the author of a memoir about an activist midwife in Mali, and a deputy director of the United Nations Millennium Villages project in Rwanda. We've also loved telling the stories of people who've just stepped in like Amanda, Stuart, Saoirse, and others. You'll find these and more by scrolling through the interviews or by browsing the "Conversations" on the left side of this page. For the fun stuff we write about when we're not following these amazing people, check out "Tangents" on the lower right. And if you're wondering why we're doing this, check out "How We Started" on the top right side of the page.

At HumanKind Media, we believe that by changing your media consumption, you can change your life, and contribute to healing the world.

This video, intended to be a public service announcement in India, also speaks volumes about what we believe at HumanKind. The wonderful song lyrics mean, "If you walk, the country walks with you." We like it because we've seen that when people start walking toward changing a part of the world they care about, and when we (or another media source) share that story, we find that it inspires more people to start walking with them. EnjoyaZz:

And, speaking of walking together, wouldn't you like to see where you're at on the Humankind Map? Since HumanKind launched, we and our readers have been participating in a new HumanKind Challenge every other month or so. The map was HumanKind Challenge #3, and it's still going -- readers around the world placing their pin--for peace, connection, love of humankind, or just because we asked, and we'd love to see you there, too.

If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get our free updates here. If you're a regular, thanks for your support. Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. Send us a comment!

Why the impossible needs to be considered in terms of steps, maybe 5 steps

If you haven't seen the Story of Stuff in Tuesday's post yet, or Liz's new column, check them out. Some of the ideas we've got for our upcoming posts are about sustainability--in the global citizen context. One of those ideas started way back when I got my Smile cards. When I was introduced to the giving economy through Charityfocus.org I had questions. It was so intriguing but seemed so impossible that we could shift our little human selves to a more equitable exchange of service, goods, resources, and caring.

One of the people I had planned to write about in the next few weeks is Mark Boyle, a former Glasgow business student who, after watching the movie Ghandi, was moved to study the man and his principles. Over the last few weeks his story has become even more compelling to me because, as is frequently the case with changing the world, it has become difficult--and touching--and I can't wait to share his story.

Many people we've covered have done this, created that or decided to change or are inspiring people to change. Mark has done , and created, has decided to change the world and is definitely inspiring people, but the most important thing about him is he's in the middle of doing it--not, "did it", yet, but in the mucky middle of doing the impossible, and it's gotten a little bumpy.

Mark started FreeCommunity at justfortheloveofit.org last fall as an experiment in making the transition from a money-based communityless society to a community-based moneyless society. Sounds impossible, yes? In his words,

Freeconomy is a manifestation of trust, kindness, community and love. Money and credit are a manifestation of fear, insecurity and greed. Freeconomy is the common denominator to all of its solutions; Money and credit are the common denominators of all the world's ills.

Right now freeconomies are the minority. This is unimportant. Soon they will be the overwhelming majority. Each one of us is a seed. The regenerative power of one seed cannot be underestimated. A forest can grow from the germination of a single seed, and similarly one simple act of generosity can give life to an infinite number of others.

Here's the 2-minute intro to Freeconomy--way cute and it made me sign up. :--)

Inspired by the work of Ghandi and longing to ease some of the suffering he could trace to economic systems, he wanted to create something different with more possibility for community and connection, less possibility for suffering and violence. Like Ghandi, he decided he wants his life to be his message. So, he decided to take a walk.

After setting up this amazing freecommunity web-based exchange, he embarked upon a pilgrimage to spread the word from England to India. The walking sounds impossible enough, but the condition is that no money exchanges take place.

On January 30, on the anniversary of Ghandi's death, Mark, aka Saorise (meaning Freedom in Gaelic) for the pilgrimage, began a 7500 mile trek from Bristol to Ghandi's birthplace in India. About 50 fans and fellow freeconomists saw him off. Here's a nice interview from early in the trek by the Guardian. Blogging along the way, he shared the horrendous initiation of foot problems, his recovery, his voyage to France and then there was a week of silence followed by an announcement that a big decision was forthcoming. The big decision ended up being that he returned to England last week. In spite of the difficulties and the big decision, all along the way Saoirse kept his focus on his message: do something for someone, offer a kindness. He had people writing in from everywhere.

What I find especially courageous is his heartfelt, honest blogging to thousands of fans, followers, and friends, some now "polarized" about his decision, which I imagine was similar to what Ghandi found to be true during some of his decisions and actions. Now, he's back in England, determined to continue via Plan B (which was originally Plan A to begin with) applying the same wisdom as the site's inspiration page, which holds enough encouragement to get anyone started (if you haven't taken today's step yet) and keep them going on their own impossibilities.

I am so excited about this whole venture, (easy to say from sunny California) that if I could, I'd be over there to cheer him along. The coach in me comes out and I want to tell him about the 5 steps I just made up today, for doing the impossible. Click continue to see these 5 steps and hear what movie they remind me of:

WSF Global Day of Action Jan 26: Take a Step

While clicking around adding to my "topics" list (so many cool things to write about--we can hardly wait) I found the social entrpreneurial answer to the World Economic Forum--the World Social Forum. And, I found them just in time, because tomorrow, January 26 is Global Day of Action.

Make a way out of no way

It's Martin Luther King Day.

"When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. --Martin Luther King. Jr., Address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 8/16/67

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.-- Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize Acceptance, 1964

16 million African orphans; Braden takes 1,600

Last fall, my book club read There Is No Me Without You, Melissa Fay Greene's story of the beginning of the AIDS pandemic in Africa, and of the ensuing orphan crisis. It had the kind of impact on me that Mountains Beyond Mountains did a few years ago. Anything I thought I knew about Africa, AIDS, and orphans was challenged by Greene's account of one woman trying to do her part in the midst of a tragedy that will leave a continent reeling for decades or more. When I read it, I experienced a sense of shame: I had misunderstood what was happening there, to my fellow humans. I also felt disbelief that so many parents could die, and so many children be left alone in our world of advanced medicine, new technology, and relative wealth.

While reading "Without You," I kept hearing Bono's words, from the video in this post: "Where you live should not determine whether you live." That's when the status of children everywhere went onto the list of HumanKind topics.