George Yancy: If the State of the World Makes You Want to Scream, You’re Not Alone
We must face the weight of such social evils and be prepared to also face the ways in which we are complicit with them, especially when we are often indifferent.
Kim Stafford: Top Hit
But comrades, if we kill him, someone will make
a martyr song and it will become the anthem sung
by thousands in the streets
Martha Collins: Blessing
there, and throughout our earth, let us grieve
for the graves we robbed, and then
let us bless the graves of the dead that remain
Video: Tengri
According to the ancient religion of Tengrism, at death, the wind spirit ushers one’s soul back to the sky god Tengri in an inevitable return to nature. In this short film, the Mongolian-born, Montreal-based filmmaker Alisi Telengut uses hand-painted animation to illustrate the Mongolian postmortem ceremony known as wind burial.
Video: Kapaemahu
Long ago, four extraordinary beings of dual male and female spirit brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii and imbued their powers in four giant boulders. The stones still stand on Waikiki Beach, but the true story behind them has been hidden—until now.
Video: Odetta | Waterboy
Martin Luther King Jr. called Odetta “The Queen of American Folk Music.”
Video: The Legend of Annapurna, Hindu Goddess of Nourishment
Through vivid animation, this short video from TED-Ed brings to life the story of Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment.
Video: My God, It’s Full of Stars | Tracy K. Smith
This short film adapts a poem by the former US Poet Laureate Tracy K Smith, whose father worked on the Hubble as one of NASA’s first Black engineers, with meticulously crafted visuals from the Brazilian animation director Daniel Brunson to create a wondrous ode to our desire to know the Universe.
Christina Rossetti: Up-Hill
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
Rita D. Sherma: The Links Between Spirituality and Climate Change
Dr. Sherma explains the core ideas behind “green spirituality,” how religion and environmental protection are closely intertwined, and the role faith can play in restoring hope amid the drumbeat of discouraging environmental news.
Michael T. Young: To Fly
Maybe it’s a vision so clear the dark can’t darken it,
and the mountainous range of roadblocks
and barricades can’t dim the image of it. It’s fixed
and steady. An unchanging map in our blood
Ruth King: A Journey From Rage to Mindfulness
An approach to examining systems, navigating emotional distress, and increasing social harmony.
Paul Christensen: The Snow It Snoweth Every Day
I’m not complaining too loudly. The Ukrainians are out there on the hills waiting to get into Poland, and the snow is pelting their thin coats and caps and making the kids squirm up against their moms.
Kim Stafford: Four poems about the current war
How much rain to fill the Volga?
Not soon, the end of weeping.
Vox Populi 