By Claire Brown

Nearly two weeks into the conflict, the war in Iran has triggered “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. That comes despite an agreement among world leaders on Wednesday to release some 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves. Here’s what else to know:

Oil price warnings. A spokesperson for Iran’s military command warned on Wednesday that oil could reach $200 barrel, far exceeding previous records. The U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, said that’s unlikely.

President Trump shrugged off concerns about rising prices, pointing out on social media that the United States is the largest oil producer in the world. “When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he wrote Thursday morning.

A crucial shipping lane remains largely closed. On Thursday, Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow body of water that conveys about 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies. Two oil tankers were set ablaze early on Thursday, leading Iraq and Oman to close oil terminals.

The environmental consequences. In Iran, damage to fossil fuel infrastructure has caused black rain and thick smoke over Tehran, prompting concerns that tanks of mazut, a bottom-of-the-barrel oil residue product used in power plants, have caught on fire, releasing huge quantities of sulfur and other toxic pollution into the air.

Will all this upheaval push governments around the world to pick up the pace of renewable energy installations? Not necessarily, Brad Plumer and Lisa Friedman write. And in the short term, some countries are likely to burn more coal.

What questions do you have about the environmental fallout of the war in Iran or its effects on the world’s energy supplies? Email us at climateforward@nytimes.com and we’ll answer your questions in future newsletters.

Kicked out of the Sierra Club

	By David A. Fahrenthold David Fahrenthold is an investigative reporter based in Washington who covers nonprofit organizations.

Last year, the Sierra Club’s national magazine honored Delia Malone as a “changemaker” — an activist to inspire other activists — for her yearslong campaign to reintroduce wolves to wild areas of Colorado.

A year later, the Sierra Club kicked her out.

In February, the club sent Malone, 71, a letter saying she had committed “serious violations of Sierra Club Member Obligations.” The letter listed seven rules that she had violated, including provisions requiring members to be respectful of each other, and to represent the club positively in public.

“You are no longer a member of Sierra Club,” said the letter, which was signed by the club’s office of general counsel. “Revocation of your status as a member of Sierra Club is permanent, meaning that you will no longer be eligible for any form of Sierra Club membership.”

What the letter did not say was what Malone actually did to deserve this rare punishment — which the club says is for members whose misconduct is “beyond repair.”

Malone said she believed that she was targeted in part because she talked to The New York Times last year, a claim the organization denies. She was quoted in a Nov. 7 article about how the Sierra Club had embraced social-justice issues far removed from its traditional environmental goals.

In that article, Claire Brown and I reported that the nonprofit organization’s shift was followed by years of internal strife and declining membership, leaving the group weakened just as the Trump administration has ramped up its attacks on environmental protections.

Delia Malone, an ecologist and activist, was expelled from the Sierra Club last month. Kristin Braga Wright for The New York Times

‘I had no idea’

In an interview, Malone said the club had not notified her that she was facing this punishment, had not told her what she was accused of doing and did not give her a chance to defend herself.

“I had no idea this was going on,” Malone said.

An ecologist by training, she had been a volunteer for the Sierra Club for 12 years and had previously served as one of the Colorado chapter’s statewide leaders. She helped lead the club’s efforts to campaign for a 2020 ballot measure authorizing the reintroduction of wolves to the state. It passed narrowly, and now the state says at least four packs of wolves live in Colorado.

In the November article, Malone had said she had once been scolded by a Sierra Club staffer for saying that the club should lobby the Colorado Legislature for more protections for wolves.

“One of the staff said, ‘That’s fine, Delia. But what do wolves have to do with equity, justice and inclusion?’” Malone said then. After that, Malone said she had heard from an investigator hired by the club, who had asked her questions but declined to say what she was being investigated for. The Colorado chapter of the Sierra Club told us last year that “no one was investigated or accused of values misalignment on the basis of wolf conservation efforts.”

A month after the Times story came out, the Sierra Club’s Colorado chapter removed Malone from her unpaid role as “Wildlife Chair.” It cited the same section of the club’s rules that the Sierra Club’s national leaders later cited to strip her membership.

Malone said she believed the Times article helped trigger both punishments. “It gave them a specific reason to say, ‘She’s not abiding by the rules,’” she said.

A day earlier, the Sierra Club had also voted to strip membership from another former leader of the Colorado chapter, Kent Abernethy.

In an interview, Abernethy, 64, said he had been a Sierra Club member for 40 years and had until recently led a local branch of the Colorado chapter. He said his letter from the club was identical to Malone’s: it described the rules he had violated, but not how he had violated them.

The future of the Sierra Club

Abernethy said he believed his dismissal was also rooted in the broader debate over the Sierra Club’s direction. The Colorado chapter has been a center of that debate: in 2022, the Sierra Club’s national leaders ousted the chapter’s elected leaders for fostering what it called a “harmful and non-inclusive management culture.” It replaced them with an unelected “steering committee” approved by the club’s national leaders, an arrangement that continues today.

Abernethy had recently emailed his local Sierra Club branch to criticize the club’s leaders for stifling dissent and punishing Malone.

The Sierra Club has defended its shift in focus, saying that its embrace of social justice is necessary to build a broader coalition. A spokesman for the club, Jonathon Berman, declined to describe what Malone and Abernethy had done to trigger their punishment, but said “the decision was not made as a result” of the Times article.

Berman said that the club encouraged debate among its members: “Any claim that an action taken to protect our members and staff is meant to silence dissent is false.”

Malone now leads her own environmental group, ColoradoWild, and Abernethy sits on its board. Both said they would continue their environmental work outside the Sierra Club. Malone said she looked back fondly on her work with the organization.

“There’s families of wolves thriving in Colorado,” Malone said. “That’s amazing.” She said the Sierra Club’s national leadership at the time had provided crucial help: “They were very supportive, up until they weren’t.”

The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee advises the E.P.A.’s leadership on the latest scientific evidence on soot, smog and other hazardous pollutants. Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Eye doctor named to air pollution advisory board draws pushback

The Trump administration has tapped an eye doctor with no background in air pollution science to advise the Environmental Protection Agency on what levels of air pollutants are safe to breathe.

The E.P.A. named Brian Joondeph, a Colorado-based ophthalmologist and political commentator, on Monday to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, an influential panel that advises the agency’s leadership on the latest scientific evidence on soot, smog and other hazardous pollutants.

Dr. Joondeph has never published a peer-reviewed paper dealing with air pollution. He has coauthored a handful of peer-reviewed papers about eye diseases, as well as dozens of opinion pieces in conservative publications, many of which praised President Trump’s style of governing and foreign policies.

It was the government’s latest move to sideline or shun scientific expertise, drawing criticism from past members of the advisory panel. — Maxine Joselow

Read more.

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#ASCJ #JaneFonda

The post Jane Fonda’s 2025 USC Annenberg Commencement Address appeared first on Good News!.

55th ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY IN TIMES SQUARE

Free Live Concert & Environmental Exhibition | April 22, 2025

WHAT:

Join us in celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Earth Day and the 400th Anniversary of New York City with a dynamic free concert & sustainability exhibition in the heart of Times Square.

WHY:

Because the Earth—and New York City—deserve a party with a purpose. This Earth Day, we unite to honor our planet, amplify environmental action, and celebrate the good being done for Mother Earth in NYC and beyond.

WHO:

Presented by Good News Corporation (nonprofit) and OMMM, in collaboration with EarthDay.org and their global campaign “Our Power, Our Planet,”—which inspires over 1 billion participants annually.

Featured guests include:

• Jarvis Smith, sustainability pioneer
• Antonique Smith, Grammy-nominated artist, environmental activist, and ambassador for EarthDay.org
• AY Young, UN Global Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals
• OMMM’s “Love Your Mother” 2+ Hour Special Performance
• Virtual appearances from global peace and planet champions: Ringo Starr, Dr. Jane Goodall, Leonardo DiCaprio, Stevie Wonder, and Shakira (for UNICEF)
• Participation from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Equator Initiative, both advancing global sustainability and Indigenous-led climate solutions

Hosted by Reverend Paul Sladkus, Founder of Good News Corporation and producer of Earth Day Times Square, International Day of Peace, and Climate Week Kickoff events. Co-hosting is Mariya Spartalis – International Financial, Banking, and Sustainability Expert & Host.

Also Partnering is Sustainable: * Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine

• NYC Commissioners from DOT (announcing Car-Free Earth Day on April 26), DCAS (Solar Schools Initiative/Fleets), and in cooperation with NY Parks, SAPO, Times Square Alliance, and Faith-Based communities
• Talent: Giorgia Fumante, Katya Grineva, Barbara Nadis, Bruce Stephen Foster, Reid Stowe (World’s Longest Sailor at Sea), Blue Planet Foundation, Woodstock Forever: Peace, Love & HOPE Movie & Pop Nation Movie Trailers, Peace Parrots
• Special guests to be announced

WHEN:

Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Free & open to the public

WHERE:

Times Square Pedestrian Plaza

Between 46th & 47th Streets, along 7th Avenue

DONORS & SUPPORTERS:

Grateful thanks to: Good News Corporation, OMMM, Valley Bank, Swift Rails, American Oriental Arts Foundation, Hugg A Planet, Andronik Kardashev, PEP Real Estate/Tribeca Records, Necromantic Brew Co. and more to come.

BROADCAST LIVE ON:

 YouTube.com/GoodNewsBroadcast

 EarthDay.org

 We Don’t Have Time

Rebroadcast via UNIFY.org, MNN, and more

CONTACT (Press & Interviews):

Paul Sladkus | paul.sladkus1@gmail.com | 212-647-1212

This is an upbeat, unifying Earth Day celebration. We’re all in this together—let’s do good for Mother Earth.

Run of Show for Earthday – Apr 22, 2025

Segment 1

11:30 AM

OMMM

Michelle Countdown Video

11:32AM

OMMM

Jarvis

Introduce Earth Day 55th Anniversary

11:34 AM

OMMM + Good News Corp/Producer Pause the World for Peace – Earth Day/Clergy for Safe Cities

Jarvis + Paul

Jarvis introduce Paul, If pastor is there, Paul introduce, Pastor Monrose who will do a Short Prayer TBD, thanks sponsors, Paul intro Mark Levine

11:39 AM

UN PEACE Messenger

Dr. Jane Goodall Video

Mother Earth No Peace, UN Peace Messenger Virtual

11:39 AM

Manhattan Borough President

Mark Levine + Jarvis

Discussion with Mark Levine, Sustainable President…

Segment 2

11:42 AM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro OMMM, Love Your Mother, Sister Jenna, intro sister jenna

11:43 AM

OMMM

Sister Jenna

Brief Meditation, Love Your Mother – video?

11:53 AM

OMMM

Jarvis

Introduce Earth Day involvement intro Aidan and Founder video,

11:53 AM

EarthDay.org

Aidan Charron

Opening Earth Day comments

11:56 AM

EarthDay.org

CEO (in video)

CEO video Our PLanet Our Energy (talks about renewables)

11:58 AM

Hip Hop Caucus

Rev Yearwood

Intro himself and Intro Antonique Smith

12:01 PM

EarthDay.org

Antonique Smith (and Jarvis at end)

Perform Living For Love; Love Song To The Earth; Here Comes The Sun, Jarvis ask Q&A

12:16 PM

OMMM

Hope Water + Jarvis

Jarvis speaks with Hope Water- speaker tbc, video

12:19 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Geraldine & Xiye

12:20 PM

OMMM

Geraldine Patrick Encina & Xiye Bastida (video)

Video of Xiye, Love Your Mother, Intro Dr. Lyla June (G speakers 3-4min)

12:28 PM

OMMM

Dr. Lyla June

Speak and perform “All Nations Rise”

12:38 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Anna, Equator Initiative, UNDP, and Panel (part of 20 min below)

12:38 PM

UNDP / Equator Initiative

Anna Medri, 3-4 indigenous youth leaders (Maggie Musanje Bukowa, Dayana Blanco, Stanley Kimaren, Taily Terena)

Panel with 2 film screenings from Uru Uru Team and ILEPA

12:58 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Jason, The Arena and Rove

12:58 PM

The Arena/Rove

Jason Desimone

Intro Rove and THe Arena

1:03 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Belouga, discuss good work and content partnership

1:03 PM

Belouga/EarthDay.org

Evin Schwartz + Jarvis

Intro Belouga, Jarvis in convo, and Earthday.org kids’ video

1:08 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Cosmic Rhapsody, Jarvis stay on stage and intro Reachel Singh after video

1:11 PM

OMMM

Cosmic Rhapsody

video, set up Reachel’s platform

1:11 PM

OMMM

Reachel Singh

Sing “Warrior” and “Lev Tahor”. Jarvis to also talk to her about the Fivth.

1:21 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Ocean Bottles

1:21 PM

Ocean Bottles

Video

1:24 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Sweta Chakrborty, NorthAmer CEO WDHT

1:25 PM

WDHT

Sweta Chakrborty

Intro plus video.

1:30 PM

OMMM

Jarvis or Sweta

Intro AY

1:30 PM

Battery Tour

AY

Perform

1:45 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro John

1:45 PM

Earth Day NY

John Oppermann

Intro Earthday Initiative

1:48 PM

OMMM

Jarvis

Intro Mandy

1:48 PM

OMMM

Mandy Mayhem

Perform “Shine”

1:52 PM

OMMM

Jarvis Smith/Dan Bailey/Mandy Mayhem

3 Marley songs No Woman No Cry, One Love, Redemption Song TBD

2:05 PM

OMMM

Jarvis Intro Kunal Sood + Women

2:05 PM

Kunal Sood + Women

Kunal with women speakers, song to be played at end

2:25 PM

OMMM

Jarvis close

Segment 3

2:25 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul Sladkus

Paul, thanks OMMM over and Kunals’ women, and intro Georgia Fumante

2:26 PM

Georgia Fumante

2 Songs

2:34 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul Intro Corporate and Intro Mariya

thank sponsors, Intro Mariya

2:36 PM

Brooklyn Story Lab

Lance Gould

Lance Gould (TBD) Mention New Book, Intro Blue Planet Foundation

2:37 PM

Blue Planet Foundation

Blue Planet Foundation

Blue Planet Foundation Video with Hank, (and Hello, Maybe Live Feed Dallas Earth X)

2:42 PM

Valley Bank

Valley Bank

Video and speaker

2:46 PM

Swift Rail

SwiftRail + Video

Video and speaker

2:49 PM

Hugg a Planet

Hugg a Planet

holds a hugg a planet, maybe throw some out to the audience?

2:51 PM

Andronik Yoga?

Andronik Yoga?

2:54 PM

Pep Reality/Tribeca Records/Soho Johnny

PEP Realty/Tribeca Records/Soho Johnny

Intro Tribeca Recods and PEP Realty

2:58 PM

Necromantic Brew Co

Necromantic Brew Co

video?

3:00 PM

Ivy Ma Intro Alice

Ivy Ma Intro Alice

Ivy Ma Intro Alice

3:01 PM

American Oriental Arts Foundation

Alice Lui American Oriental Arts Foundation + Video

speaking + UN video and Peacetree times sq

3:05 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul Intro Govnt

Intro Govt, Paul into Louis Molino

3:07 PM

NYC Citywide Administrative Services

Commissioner Louis Molino

– Solar NYC Schools, Vehicles… , show video (1:54)

3:12 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul Sladkus

Paul intro Ydanis Rodriguez

3:13 PM

NYC DOT

Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez

video?, Car-Free Earth Day, No Cars Streets, All 5 Boroughs April 26. 2025

3:18 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul Intro Woodstock and Pop Nation Movie

Paul intro Richie Havens and Movie

3:19 PM

Peace, Love and HOPE Movie and Pop Nation Movie

Richie Havens from the 1989 Woodstock Forever: Peace, Love and HOPE Movie Video, Juma Sulton, Jimmy Hendrix Drummer and Pop Nation Movie

3:24 PM

Mars Space Odyssey – Maxine Hoover speaking for Reid

Mars Space Odyssey – Maxine Hoover speaking for Reid

Longest Sea Voyage, Reid Stowe, world record, 1152 at sea. 5 times in ny times, London papers, Greatest Sailor ever Www.marsoceananalogs.org

3:25 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul/Mariya Intro Entertainers

Paul intro Mariya as cohost, Paul+Mariya intro Stephen Foster

3:26 PM

Bruce Stephen Foster

Performer, 2 songs

3:34 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul / Mariya Intro Entertainers

Paul and Mariya Intro entertainers

3:35 PM

Parrots

Parrots

3:38 PM

Barbara Nadas

Barbara Nadas

3:42 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul intro Katya

Paul intro Katya

3:43 PM

Katya

Katya

Piano song

3:48 PM

Pause the World for Peace

Paul Sladkus

Thanks Katya

3:49 PM

UNICEF, UN PEACE

Stevie Wonder video, Shakira video, Annie video

Virtual message

3:55 PM

Producer Pause the World for Peace – Earth Day

Paul Sladkus closes

The post GOOD NEWSLETTER PAUL SLADKUS & EARTH DAY ON SPECTRUM NY 1 TOMMOROW 4/20 1030AM AND 330PM appeared first on Good News!.

Multifaceted Woman in the Arts, Business, and Charity.

A creative talent as a Writer, Journalist, Public Speaker, Screenwriter, Actress, and Filmmaker.

Creator of One Humanity One World (OHOW) Global Social
Movement and Co-Creator of One GOD One Religion (OGOR) Global Unification Movement.

Environmental Activist. An Intellectual Art Lover, Passionate about
Theology and World Cultures, with a life focus on the accumulation of wisdom from divine sources.
EXPERIENCE
Executive Director of KLYSTAR a US Public-Listed Charity dedicated to the unification of religion and science.
– since December 2018

Board of Directors of Museum of the Future Foundation a
United Nations (UN) registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with humanitarian mission goals to educate and promote Global Peace. – since November 2019
Member of Our Collective Global Alliance of Artists, Artisans and Activists. – since July 2019
Journalist Overseas Correspondent of Our Collective in the Wall Street News Agency. (October 2019 – February 2020)
Translator Master Scribe of the GOD Manuscripts authored by Dr.
Leong Ying into Spanish DIOS; and management of all other 7 foreign language translations.
Business Partner of Future Trends an International Corporation, managing companies worldwide in diverse industries. – since August 2020
Business Partner of KLYTEC a technical consulting company,
dedicated to the development of technologies for the betterment of humanity and the environment. – since January 2020
Creative Director of NFTiMart a corporation formed to provide an online marketplace to create and promote (NFT) – since March 2021
LANGUAGES
· Spanish (Mother Tongue)
· English (Professional Competence)
· Catalan (Fluent Competence)
· German (Basic Competence)

please find attached the OHOW Manifesto inpdf, you can also acquire a hard copy on amazon at this link: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Andrea-Wen/dp/B08BQVVRMV

Since you wanted to know more about OneHumanity One World (OHOW) I added the following links for your reference:

Speech on OHOW Peace EducationProject at the Global Technology Conference hosted by GPK FoundationAmerica, chaired by Honorable Sujata Koirala (Former Deputy Prime Ministerand Foreign Minister of Nepal): https://youtu.be/Dye_1swxM8c?t=274

Our Education Project Humanity ForPeace aims to raise $100,000,000 for 1 Million Solar Panel Tablets that weplan to donate to the underprivileged corners of the world where education isjust a dream. In OHOW We Believe in Education as a Human Rights and as thesolution to many of the world crises we are experiencing today.

OHOW has successfully organized over10 online conferences since it was founded at 2020, you can see some of ourimpressive supporters and speakers at this video of our firstanniversary: https://www.onehumanityoneworld.com/events

As an example of our remarkablesupporters; OHOW interview to Dr. Ervin Laszlo, Founder of The LaszloInstitute of New Paradigm Research and twice nominated for the Nobel PeacePrize in 2004 and 2005: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnNHqxiOoo

PUBLICATIONS
2014 – ¿EL CHICO PERFECTO SÓLO EXISTE EN LOS LIBROS?
A Teenage Romance Comedy Novel (Spanish).

2018 – LA BÚSQUEDA (THE SEEKER) THESIS
Thesis of the unification of Science, Religion and Spirituality, Existentialism; introspection of the Human consciousness.
2019 – POÉTICA
Collection of Poems from 2013 – 2018 (Spanish)

2019 – DIOS
Spanish Translation of the GOD Manuscript by author Dr. Leong Ying
2019 – DIOS CUESTIONARIO
Spanish translation of GOD Questionnaire by author Dr. Leong Ying

2020 – OHOW MANIFESTO
One Humanity One World Global Social Movement Manifesto (English and Spanish)

CONTACT DETAILS
Phone: (+34) 678 197 952
email: andreawen.ohow@gmail.com andrea@klystar.com

IN THE ARTS
A multilingual Author, she published her first novel and first book of poems when she was only 13 years old and her first publications have accumulated more than 171 Kreads online. However, she has also written stories and poems since 6 years old. Her latest publication was the “O HOW Manifesto” in June 2020.

Actress from age of 16, she was educated at the Theater School of Girona El Galliner. Script writer and Director of three theatrical plays. Musician, Songwriter, plays the violin, piano and ukulele.
Independent Film maker and film Editor, currently Producing her first Documentary Film “The Man Who Met GOD” a true – life movie filmed inIstanbul, Turkey.

“To me , Artist he proof that magic exists and artists are the magician with the power to make reality from the most
dream like ideas the imagination can dream up.”

AndreaWen.com

IN THE BUSINESS

Partner of Future Trends, an International Corporation, conducting business in various regions, diverse industries and with multiple formulas and modes of operation, have brought mega business projects to Future Trends Member Companies a BREG (Belgian Renewable Energy Group) and Messenger Bank among others.

Partner of KLYTEC, a technical consulting company, dedicated to the development of technologies for the betterment of humanity and the environment. Advisor and personal assistant of the board.

As an international Journalist, has work edas Our Collective Over seas Correspondent for the Wall Street News Agency.

Share holder and Creative Director of NFT iMart, a corporation formed to provide an online marketplace to create and promote Non – Fungible Token( N F T ) .

Designer of Logos, Publicity Materials and Presentational Pitch Decks. Content creator for social media and Youtube promotional videos for charities and private companies.

AndreaWen.com

#andreawen #artist #poet #childhood #worldwidespeaker #musician #filmmaker #producer #director #screenwriter #actress #editor #writer #graphicdesigner #painter #contentcreator #journalist #speaker #translator #shareholder #activisthumanrights #activist #environment #peace

The post ANDREA WEN, CREATOR, ARTIST & ACTIVIST appeared first on Good News!.

By Seth Mydans
Published Jan. 21, 2022
Updated Jan. 25, 2022

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who was one of the world’s most influential Zen masters, spreading messages of mindfulness, compassion and nonviolence, died on Saturday at his home in the Tu Hieu Temple in Hue, Vietnam. He was 95.

The death was announced by Plum Village, his organization of monasteries. He suffered a severe brain hemorrhage in 2014 that left him unable to speak, though he could communicate through gestures.

A prolific author, poet, teacher and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh was exiled from Vietnam after opposing the war in the 1960s and became a leading voice in a movement he called “engaged Buddhism,” the application of Buddhist principles to political and social reform.

Traveling widely on speaking tours in the United States and Europe (he was fluent in English and French), Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced tik nyaht hahn) was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism, urging the embrace of mindfulness, which his website describes as “the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment.”

In his book “Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life,” he wrote, “If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.”

His following grew as he established dozens of monasteries and practice centers around the world. The original Plum Village, near Bordeaux in southwest France, is the largest of his monasteries and receives visits from thousands of people a year.

In 2018, he returned home to Hue, in central Vietnam, to live out his last days at the Tu Hieu Temple, where he had become a novice as a teenager.

Thich Nhat Hanh dismissed the idea of death. “Birth and death are only notions,” he wrote in his book “No Death, No Fear.” “They are not real.”

He added: “The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation. We only think there is.”

That understanding, he wrote, can liberate people from fear and allow them to “enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.”

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Thich Nhat Hanh at a news conference in Chicago in 1966. Dr. King nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize the next year.Credit…Edward Kitch/Associated Press
His connection with the United States began in the early 1960s, when he studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and later lectured at Cornell and Columbia. He influenced the American peace movement, urging the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to oppose the Vietnam War.

Dr. King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, but the prize was not awarded to anyone that year.

“I do not personally know of anyone more worthy than this gentle monk from Vietnam,” Dr. King wrote to the Nobel Institute in Norway. “His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”

Thich Nhat Hanh was born Nguyen Xuan Bao in Hue on Oct. 11, 1926. He joined a Zen monastery at 16 and studied Buddhism there as a novice. Upon his ordination in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich is an honorary family name used by Vietnamese monks and nuns. To his followers he was known as Thay, or teacher.

In the early 1960s, he founded Youth for Social Services, a grass-roots relief organization in what was then South Vietnam. It rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools, established medical centers and reunited families left homeless by the war.

Thich Nhat Hanh began writing and speaking out against the war and in 1964 published a poem called “Condemnation” in a Buddhist weekly. It reads in part:

Whoever is listening, be my witness:
I cannot accept this war.
I never could I never will.
I must say this a thousand times before I am killed.
I am like the bird who dies for the sake of its mate,
dripping blood from its broken beak and crying out:
“Beware! Turn around and face your real enemies
— ambition, violence hatred and greed.”

The poem earned him the label “antiwar poet,” and he was denounced as a pro-Communist propagandist.

Thich Nhat Hanh took up residence in France when the South Vietnamese government denied him permission to return from abroad after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973.

He was unable to return to Vietnam until 2005, when the Communist government allowed him to teach, practice and travel throughout the country. His antiwar activism continued, and in a talk in Hanoi in 2008 he said the Iraq war had resulted from fear and misunderstanding in which violence fed on itself.

“We know very well that airplanes, guns and bombs cannot remove wrong perceptions,” he said. “Only loving speech and compassionate listening can help people correct wrong perceptions. But our leaders are not trained in that discipline, and they rely only on the armed forces to remove terrorism.”

Thich Nhat Hanh during a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City in 2007. He had lived in exile for decades. Credit…Associated Press
In 2013, on one of his many visits to centers of influence in the West, he spoke at Google’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, bringing his message of quiet contemplation to the forefront of the high-energy digital age.

“We have the feeling that we are overwhelmed by information,” he told the assembled workers. “We don’t need that much information.”

And he said: “Do not try to find the solution with your thinking mind. Nonthinking is the secret of success. And that is why the time when we are not working, that time can be very productive, if we know how to focus on the moment.”

#thich #nhat #hanh #monk #zen #master #activist #nguyen #xuan #bao #hue #author #poet #teacher #peace #chi #ho #minh #city #martin #luther #king #vietnam

The post Thich Nhat Hanh, Monk, Zen Master and Activist, Dies at 95 appeared first on Good News!.

Listen to “Kemp Harris defies categorization. He is a singer and songwriter; a master weaver of American musical styles.” on Spreaker.

He’s also an actor, activist, author, and storyteller, and an award-winning educator who has taught young public school students for more than 40 years.

www.kempharris.band

Kemp has acted in numerous films and TV shows such as SMILF (Showtime), and is comfortable sharing the stage with artists such as Taj Mahal, Koko Taylor, and Gil Scott-Heron, as well as performing shows with his smokin’ band. He wrote and performed “If Loneliness Was Black” for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Complexions Dance Company. Kemp has also composed for WGBH Public Television/Boston.

Kemp’s powers of observation, his unique gift for shining a light on our modern world and what it means to be alive in these times, have only deepened over a lifetime devoted to the most basic and profound of pursuits, genuine human connection. Whether he’s in the classroom, on a film set, leading a workshop, or performing on the concert stage, at the end of the day, Kemp says, “I’m an old black man telling stories and spreading the love.”

“Thank you for sending us Kemp Harris. He is everything the world needs. And his songwriting is everything I could ever ask for.”

– Vivian Nesbit, Art Of The Song

“Kemp writes with honesty and heart. The stories and situations in his songs touch us all and makes us think. As the performance on his latest CD shows, he creates an experience for the audience that is personal and moving. ”
– Ron Olesko, WFDU

“Kemp Harris is a thief, a tease and a heartbreaker. He knows too much. And it’s all right there when he sings… beautifully there. He’ll take your breath away.”
– NPR, ‘On Point’

The post Kemp Harris defies categorization. He is a singer and songwriter; a master weaver of American musical styles. appeared first on Good News!.

The international traveler who once saw the world for 49 days from the vantage point of a cargo freighter, was born and raised in Philadelphia. She relocated to Costa Rica 30 years ago.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell, Homer has published her poetry and been interviewed on several podcasts, including that of Lisa Davis’s regional NPR program, Talk Healthy Today.

She has lived in Costa Rica for the past three decades, where she has taught languages and worked as a translator. For several years she penned a regularly published column, Local Color, for the English-language weekly, The Tico Times.

Homer is the author of three other books: Letters From The Pacific: 49 Days on a Cargo Ship, Journey to the Joie de Vivre, and The Magnificent Dr. Wao.

For more information, please consult her blog, www.writingfromtheheart.net

#sandra #shaw #homer #memoir #evelio’s #garden #evelio #environmental #activist #author #adventurer #survivor #incest #depression #copd #cornell #costa #rica #philly #letters #pacific #cargo #ship #journey #joie #de #vivre #magnificent #wao #writingfromtheheart

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“Paul Josephs; composer, performer, wordsmith, singer, guitarist, New York native, educator, environmental activist, blues man. Been playing professionally since 16; hit the scene with these older blues musicians playing all around NYC and also ran my own night on Tuesdays opening up for the comedy show at the NY Improv. Since then have had the good fortune to have toured and been hired for session work with a handful of wonderful musicians; Idris Muhammad, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Pharoahe Monch, Jean Grae, Beyonce, Citizen Cope, Maceo Parker, Aurthur Blythe, Kenwood Denard, Rodney Jones, The Roots, Nikki Glaspie, Alice Smith etc.… have released two of my own albums; the second one, Strong World, has had me touring in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, England, and France.

Grew up on the Hudson River, the native people of this land called it Mahicanituk or “river that flows both ways,” and named themselves after it as “people of the river that flows both ways,” Muhheakunn (the Dutch used Mohican.) The songs and spirit are connected with this river; as is true for many musicians and artist alive now and many greats that came before including John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk.

The music is performed with different ensembles often with either a trio of guitar, bass and drums or a solo concert featuring just guitar or piano and voice; and also at times the music is presented in one-man concerts featuring live-looping. Sometimes the space on stage contracts significantly as the group expands into a septet with trumpet, trombone, sax, and keys or another guitar.

I produce music of all kinds with all different types of people and conduct production and song writing workshops with students all over new york city and the world.

On the road with purpose and leaving a trail of raised spirits in the wake.

pauljosephs.com

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2017 Love International Film Festival (LIFF) Supporting, The Lotus Light Children’s Charity Set For, July 18-22 in Beverly Hills, CA

Beverly, CA – (ANS – 12 July) The 2017 Love International Film Festival (LIFF), which will benefit his Lotus Light Children’s Charity (TLLCC) has been organized to promote a week of love, peace and healing through the art of cinema and will take place July 18th to 22nd. The event will focus on bringing films and filmmakers from across an international community whose work embodies the fundamental message of love and contribution. Screenings of films from over 12 countries and all over the United States will take place at the iconic Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills, California, July 18th to 20th. Panel discussions to with Film Industry Leaders will take place on July 21st at the Flame in Santa Monica, CA. Award night on July 22nd and private party will be held at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, CA. Over 30 high profile celebrities have confirmed attendance to participate in the awards ceremony.

The Love International Film Festival was co-founded by Ata Servati, a spiritual prize winning poet/writer/actor/director and film maker. All proceeds from the film festival are given to The Lotus Light Children’s Charity (TLLCC) whose mission is “to build a league of empowered, educated, proactive individuals who will have the necessary resources to be able to reach out to impoverished children throughout the world. Through the healing and self-expressive nature of the Arts, we hope to inspire children with an abundance of positivity and provide them an outlet. As an outcome, we expect that children will learn that there are alternate ways to solve problems other than picking up a gun or going to war.” www.thelotuslightchildrencharity.org

“Where words fail, art can succeed. These forms of communication can transcend the political or cultural boundaries that exist.”
Ata Servati – Founder, LIFF & TLLCC

Tickets for the festival and closing ceremony can be purchased at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=35155753806 or
http://loveinternationalfilmfestival.com/

For Press: Press@liff.info

http://assistnews.net/index.php/component/k2/item/3048-meet-ata-servati-the-extraordinary-man-behind-the-upcoming-2017-love-international-film-festival-liff-in-beverly-hills-california

http://assistnews.net/index.php/component/k2/item/3014-unique-film-festival-to-promote-a-week-of-love-peace-and-healing-through-the-art-of-cinema

Ata Servati is a noted poet, playwright, novelist, prize-winning actor, filmmaker and activist.
As a spiritual man, Ata has chosen to follow the path of legends such as Rumi, Omar Khayyam and Hafez. His own spirituality began at the age of four when he began to receive premonitions in his dreams. Ata relates the creative forces in his life as the spiritual reminder and choice based on those early childhood experiences. Read More
Before the National Rebellion in his homeland began to rage on, Ata’s career as a filmmaker and writer was beginning taking off. He began to write, direct, and produce productions throughout the world. Before National Rebellion began, Ata left his homeland to come to the United States.
The decision to follow a spiritual calling was not an easy one for Ata. He ignored it for many years trying sustaining it through his creative and business efforts. These efforts along with his business understanding led to a lavish life style common to many people in the film and Real Estate. Ata had financial success, but not happiness. In early 2006 the Real Estate Market was into its collapse. Ata, who up until that time had been successful, experienced a personal and financial disaster. His business failed and his marriage ended. He went from living in a lavish house to becoming homeless. He began to live out of his car. To someone else born to wealth and fame this drastic change of fate would have been the lowest point of their lives. To Ata it was and the beginning of the best moment in his entire life. In that moment he remembered the hopes and dreams of his childhood. It was this experience that led to him to make a choice, and commit to the spiritual path. Ata began to write again, and to focus on the spiritual forces that surround all of us. After many wasted years Ata has found his peace and true path that he was meant to live on. He has rededicated his life to bringing spirituality and healing in the world. The Lotus Light Children Charity is an expression of this love, hope and desire to help and enlighten children; by bring healing to them through art. The Love International Film Festival, founded by Ata provides and opportunity to support this charity and positive art in cinema around the world.
Along with founding The Lotus Light Children Charity, Ata has once again entered into filmmaking with his production company Enlightenment Entertainment. With five projects in development as follow, “BABA” “In Search Of Heaven”, “CellFish” “CellFish 2- The Final Game.” “Dream On Empty.” He has also recently published his novel “In Search of Heaven” and a book of spiritual poetry from the heart, “I Am A Lotus”. His new novels “Baba”, “In Search Of Love” and a three-part compilation “The Shrine”, “Married To The Well”, The Silent Beggar” are schedule for release in 2016 and 2017. Ata Servati is grateful to be able to share his love and creativity with the world.
By, Anthony Petch

The post Ata Servati- Founder/ Executive Director, Love International Film Festival, Los Angeles, July 18-22 Video and Podcast are Here… appeared first on Good News!.

A Tribute to Legendary Songstress and Activist Abbey Lincoln
Starring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, and Esperanza Spalding
Under the Musical Direction of Terri Lyne Carrington

WOW Teen Summit
Featuring a talk by Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe –
Presented in partnership with the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature

A Day of Free Panel Discussions, Interactive Workshops, and Performances Celebrating Empowerment & Activism Featuring
Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas
Women’s March Co-Chairs Carmen Perez & Tamika Mallory

Friday May 4th – Sunday May 7th

WHAT: Women of the World (WOW) Festival

The Apollo Theater will gather artists, activists, and leaders from around the globe for the return of the WOW – Women of the World Festival, a four-day festival presented in collaboration with the Southbank Centre London on May 4-7, 2017. Founded in 2010 by Southbank’s Artistic Director Jude Kelly and originating at Southbank Centre, London, the international festival celebrates women and girls and promotes gender equity. The Festival made its New York premiere at the Apollo in 2015.

Highlights of the WOW Festival include conversations with Lupita Nyong’o, Gabby Douglas and Gabourey Sidibe as well as performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves and Esperanza Spalding.

Thursday, May 4, 2017
Live Wire: Performance and the Politics of Style
6:30PM – Apollo Theater Soundstage
A discussion led by scholar and author Salamishah Tillet, that will explore artists who assert their own narratives of artistic and political freedom in ways at times appealing and controversial.

Apollo Comedy Club Featuring Tacarra Williams, Vernita Bostick and Kate Wolff
Hosted by Mugga
10:00PM – Apollo Theater Soundstage
WOW takes over the Apollo Comedy Club with a special all-female line-up. Curated by Bob Sumner (producer of Def Comedy Jam, creator of LaffMobb on Aspire), the Apollo Comedy Club features the best up and coming talent in comedy today.

Friday, May 5, 2017
Jumping at the Sun: The Moth at the Women of the World Festival
7:30PM – Apollo Mainstage
Join The Moth and the Apollo for stories of conviction, humility, and voices that carry. Hosted by Detroit native Dame Wilburn, this performance features five storytellers telling true personal stories from Harlem to Africa — and beyond.

Apollo Music Café: Lindsey Webster with Opening Act Koku Gonza
10:00PM – Apollo Theater Soundstage
Lindsey Webster is an American contemporary jazz singer-songwriter whose song Fool Me Once reached number one on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Songs chart in February and March 2016.

Saturday, May 6, 2017
WOW Teen Summit
Grrls, Pearls, Unfurl: Identity and Self Love in the Millennial Age
11:00AM – 12:30PM – Apollo Mainstage

The program will feature Gabourey Sidibe (presented in partnership with Pen World Voices) who will share her journey from Harlem to Hollywood with highlights from her irreverent and hilarious new memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare.

Abbey Lincoln Tribute Concert

8:00PM – Apollo Mainstage
Featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diane Reeves, Esperanza Spalding; and Terri Lyne Carrington, Musical Director

Under the musical direction of GRAMMY Award-winning drummer, composer, and producer Terri Lyne Carrington, an all-star line-up of vocalists including Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Esperanza Spalding will celebrate the life, music and legacy of Abbey Lincoln, presented on tour by the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.

Apollo Music Café Featuring Carmen Rodgers and Zo!
10:00PM – Apollo Theater Soundstage
Carmen Rodgers, joined by Zo!, will present tunes from all of their projects including their newest releases Stargazer and Skybreak, and more!

Sunday, May 7, 2017
Big Ideas* Intimate Conversations
2:00PM – 7:00PM

A day of free panel discussions, interactive workshops and performances featuring Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, who will perform a dramatic reading of selections from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah; three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas, who will take part in an intimate conversation on cyber bullying; a panel with National Co-Chairs of the Women’s March on Washington Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez as they discuss what it takes to create an inclusive movement that also stands against racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia and classism, and the issues shaping the feminist agenda in the 21st Century.

WHERE: The Apollo Theater
253 West 125th Street
New York, NY

WHEN: Thursday May 4th – Sunday May 7th

TICKETS: Visit wowapollo.com for more information. Tickets will be available at the Apollo Theater Box Office: (212) 531-5305, 253 West 125th Street, and Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com

PHOTO OP: All Media MUST RSVP prior to event. ALL requests for coverage must be submitted on company letterhead to Nina Flowers via email to nina.flowers@apollotheater.org or fax 212.749-2743.

ABOUT US: The legendary Apollo Theater—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging talents and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.

With music at its core, the Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, performance art, spoken-word initiatives, and more. Recent highlights include James Brown: Get on the Good Foot, which began an international tour in 2015, the Africa Now! Festival and Apollo Club Harlem. The Apollo is a presenting organization that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and music works organized around a set of core initiatives: Apollo Music; Signature Programs—Amateur Night, Salon Series and the Apollo Music Café; Legacy Series, work that celebrates and extends the Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens; Global Festivals, international and U.S.-based artist presentations focused on a specific theme; and Special Projects, multidisciplinary work with partner organizations.

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms, and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, Miri Ben Ari, D’Angelo, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder; and the Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.

The Apollo Theater is a not-for-profit organization with the mission to extend the institution’s role in fostering artistic innovation and in building appreciation of American culture around the world. For more information, visit www.apollotheater.org

Apollo Theater Information

Box Office Hours:

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri – 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Saturday – 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

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