Give the gift of learning.

Every now and then, I take a look at the archives of So What Can I Do to see how organizations have grown and developed since I first wrote about them. Donors Choose is a perfect example of why it's important to revisit organizations. When I first wrote about Donors Choose almost four years ago, they were only active in certain cities. But now, they are nationwide! Want to know why I’m excited?

We all know that many public schools are underfunded, particularly in low-income communities. But every child, regardless of family income, deserves a rock solid education that prepares her to take advantage of the many opportunities life brings. Even with dedicated, caring, and effective teachers, some classrooms still need help.

At Donors Choose, public school teachers from across the US, post the specific needs they have for their classroom, and then we, the donors, choose to fund them. Here in Arkansas, a teacher needs $419 to buy “5 sets of science materials including 10 dissecting pans, a dissecting kit, blood typing kits, and two anatomy videos” for her high school biology class. A teacher in Pennsylvania needs $230 to buy “30 glue sticks, 24 scissors, and dry erase markers” for her elementary students. And a teacher in Nevada would like to buy “8 copies of each of 3 different chapter book series - Freckle Juice, Judy Blume's Fudge Box Set, and the Ralph Mouse Collection” for $457.

You can help these and other educators and students by making a donation a tax-deductible donation of as little as one dollar to support a child’s education. Donors Choose collects the funds, buys the supplies at a negotiated best price, then, ships them to the teacher. I’m so glad this opportunity is now available to all US public school teachers. Ready to get involved?

* If you want to donate, visit donorschoose.org to get started. The teachers will even send you a thank you note!

* If you need supplies for your classroom donorschoose.org to register your class and request materials.

* If you want to help, then spread the word. Tell your friends. Forward this message to a teacher you admire. Encourage others to participate.

What a great way to give the gift of learning.


“Thank everyone who calls out your faults, your anger, your impatience, your egotism; do this consciously, voluntarily.” - Jean Toomer, poet and novelist (1894-1967)

Join the Carnival for Change - Booth 13.

Welcome to the Carnival for Change where we explore the web for interesting items relating to social justice, health, education, and opportunity. Happy Inauguation Day!

* CFED is currently accepting innovative ideas that will expand economic opportunity for low and moderate income people in the United States. Winning ideas will be showcased at the Innovation Summit later this year. Deadline for submission is April 3.

* Take the Small Things Challenge. For each click, Intel will donate 5 cents to Kiva and Save the Children. Now through Dec 31.

* Is there a child in your life? If so, check out this Razoo article, Raising a Charitable Child.

* Join Operation No Kid Hungry by texting SHARE to 20222 on your mobile phone to donate $5. AT&T will match the first $100,000 in donations.

* Here’s another store in the charity mall: We-care.com.

* The most frequent search leading to So What Can I Do this weekend has been What can I do to make the world a better place?. Here’s the post that is returned: Think Globally, Act Locally.

* This just in (the mail): CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World.



Thanks for visiting the Carnival for Change! If you'd like space at the next booth, send your items to me with "Carnival for Change" in the subject. See you next time! In the meantime, subscribe to So What Can I Do (see sidebar) or follow us on Twitter (@sowhatcanido).

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." - William James (1842-1910), psychologist and author

Rethink “race.”

“Race” is one of the most intractable and troublesome concepts we humans have ever created. Many of us the term regularly, but it is rarely and poorly defined. The definitions, when they do exist, are fluid and arbitrary. And racial terminology is often used when we mean something else. It is perhaps no surprise that the concept of race often considered problematic. As I see it, we have two central challenges:

→ To recognize and live the fact that there is no biological or genetic basis for our social understanding of “race.”

→ To recognize and eventually move past our social and biological notions of race without losing or devaluing groups and group membership.

I don’t claim to have done or even know how to do both of these, but I am working at it. I arrived at these goals through my study of genetics and through life experience, and I find them liberating. They are another way I strive to “Be the change I want to see in the world.”

This work is hard, but all the evidence I see points in that direction. The following resources offer additional insight, and should be read and critically evaluated by anyone wanting to rethink "race."

* Race – The power of an illusion - The companion site to the 3-part PBS documentary.
* Understanding Race - An interactive website from the American Anthropological Society.
* Use and Misuse of "Race" in Biomedical Research - My most recent academic work on the subject.

The last article is particularly useful if you want a thorough explanation of the first paragraph of this post. There are of course, many other useful resources on the subject. If you have a favorite, please let us know.

“Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.” - W E B DuBois, 1903, in The Souls of Black Folk

Celebrate with service.

I am simply thrilled that Barack Obama will soon be the President of the United States. The Presidential Inauguration Committee recently launched USAservice.org to support President-elect Obama’s call to “Renew America Together.” Given that the inauguration is happening just after Martin Luther King Day, it is appropriate that we celebrate with service.

Just enter your ZIP code at USAservice.org to find a service opportunity near you. You can also organize your own service event and list it on the site. If you prefer, peruse the archives of So What Can I Do to find your own ideas. And please leave a comment letting us know about your efforts.

Service to others is a manifestation of our theme (by Ghandi) – "Be the change you want to see in the world." Enjoy! And happy inauguration!

“If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But, recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 February 1968.

Start a “foundation.”

A good friend once told me the story of how she and her relatives lost their family land in Georgia. As I remember it, there was a small subset of the family that had taken responsibility for paying the taxes, but couldn’t afford to do so anymore. They made some efforts to rally the rest of the family, but it was too late and they soon sold the land. My friend got a check for her share of the sale price. It was a windfall, but not a happy one. Given what her ancestors went through to obtain, develop, and work the land, she hated to see her family gone from it so quickly. It wasn’t a huge check – I’m guessing less than a thousand dollars, but given its origin she vowed to do something very special with it.

If you ever come into or accumulate a sum of money, especially one that is meaningful to you, consider starting a foundation. Here are some ways you can participate in long-term charitable giving with less money than you probably think.

* Contact your local community foundation. They may be able to help you set up a scholarship or donor advised fund that will allow you to direct your charitable giving and reduce your taxes. This is especially powerful if people pool their resources. When a dear friend and classmate passed unexpectedly a few years ago, her colleagues, friends, and family established a fund to support her favorite organizations and activities. It has been a nice way to honor her.

* Open a Calvert Giving Fund for as little as $5000. The principle is tax deductible and you direct your earnings to your favorite charities. Calvert says theirs is “the only 100% Socially Responsible Donor Advised Fund”. That means your principle is doing meaningful work as well.

* If the sum is a bit larger or if you are pooling it with others, you can start a foundation. The Council on Foundations has a helpful guide to get started.

Of course, these aren’t the only ways you can give. You can simply make a donation to your favorite organization, or invest in microloans and let them permanently revolve. Regardless of the method you choose, make sure you use the money in a way that is as meaningful as how you received it.

”What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?” - Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

Keep your land.

I’ve written before about my great-great-grandfather Griffin Henry Belk. He had been enslaved and after his freedom was acknowledged, he spent several years searching in vain for his parents. Eventually, he settled on 160 acres of land in Ozan, Arkansas that he purchased for $11 (that’s right, eleven dollars). His descendents still own the land we call the Belk Estate. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were born there. Now that I’m back in Arkansas, I look forward to visiting this spring. I haven’t been there since I was a child, though I clearly remember the pond and forests that cover much of the land. My grandmother always talked lovingly of the five acres she grew up on.

You don’t have to read much of this blog to recognize that I generally think it’s better that resources are spread among many people rather than being concentrated among just a few. For that reason, I am a big promoter of people keeping their family land. It can be a challenge as families grow in size and members move away and lose contact and interest in the land and the taxes associated with it. But given the history behind the land and its value, it can make even more sense to keep it and make it useful. Here are some resources to help you do just that:

* Get in touch with land preservation organizations like the Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Land Assistance Fund or the Arkansas Land & Farm Development Corporation that can help you keep your land. They may be able to help you use land trusts, and other legal tools to help maintain your interest in the land.

* Visit the Forestry Service (or similar office) in your state. Many of them have programs designed to help people develop uses for their land (cutting timber, starting an organic farm, opening a campground, etc.) that can provide income to pay the taxes.

* Talk to your neighbors. If you all are in similar straights you may be able to work together to keep your land. For example, the members of the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society were able to get zoning regulations instituted that favored them keeping their land as homesteads rather than allowing massive development on their high value (and gorgeous) land.

* Talk to your relatives. Some of them may not even know about the land. Others may have interesting ideas about how to use it. I know of a family in Arkansas that built several cabins on their land. They use them for family vacations and rent them out to others who want to visit or have a gathering. You may be surprised at the options. Be sure to talk about them all before you sell, because it’s hard to get it back once it’s gone.

Land is a limited resource, so it would probably be better if no one owned it. But since that's the model we're using, it's better that many of us have a share and that we use it wisely and sustainably.

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

Join the Carnival for Change - Booth 12.

Welcome to the Carnival for Change where we explore the web for interesting items relating to social justice, health, education, and opportunity. Happy holidays!

* Still not done with your holiday shopping? Consider charity gift certificates. They are a wonderful way to redefine Christmas.

* Want to give a lasting and meaningful gift? Try giving life.

* And once the holidays are over, consider these ways to recycle at Christmas.

* And on a completely unrelated note, December 31,2008 is the last day to order your free coupons for the analog to digital TV convertor box. All television broadcasting in the US will be digital as of February 2009, so if you have analog TV with no pay service, you may want to order your coupons for the converter. Visit dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009 for more information. An excellent alternative: Turn off the TV.

* Recently completed: The Shack. Thanks Temika!
Currently reading: Good News Bible
Next on the list: Blood Colony



Thanks for visiting the Carnival for Change! If you'd like space at the next booth, send your items to me with "Carnival for Change" in the subject. See you next time! In the meantime, subscribe to So What Can I Do (see sidebar) or follow us on Twitter (@sowhatcanido)

"The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.” - Desiderius Erasmus

Stop AIDS, keep the promise.

Today is the 20th annual World AIDS Day. By now, most of us know someone who is or was affected by HIV, even if we aren't aware of it. So it make sense for all of use to do what we can to promote awareness of the HIV pandemic and respect for those affected by it, directly or indirectly. This year's theme is "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise - Lead - Empower - Deliver". Here's how you can participate:

* Visit AIDS.gov to learn more about HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, and research.
* Visit HIVtest.org or text your ZIP code to KNOWIT (566948) to find an HIV testing location in your community.
* Volunteer your goods, services, time, or money to an HIV/AIDS service or research agency or person.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if in 20 years, World AIDS Day was irrelevant? Our actions today can help make that possible.



"If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies." -Moshe Dayan, military leader and politician (1915-1981)

Listen.

I was blessed to grow up in a household in which holiday gatherings meant story time. My parents and grandparents taught all who would listen about their lives and those who came before them: Griffin Henry Belk, Sarah Suttles, Andy Suttles, David Maclin, Mose Neal, Jim Neal, Willie Beatrice Jones Neal, and many others. They shared the triumphs and horrors of the past and their hopes for our future. I treasure those memories, those stories, and those expectations for my own life. Over the years, I learned to value the experiences and lessons of the past, in part because of the relevance they have for the present and future.

That's why I am excited that today is the First Annual National Day of Listening. StoryCorps suggests: "This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives — it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood. By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they won’t ever be forgotten. It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year." Visit NationalDayofListening.org to

* Download the free Do It Yourself Guide to selecting your questions, recording your conversations, and more.

* Upload your interview to share your conversation with others.

* Request NPR's StoryCorps visit your community.

* Sign up for free weekly stories by email.

Now is the perfect opportunity to give the gift of listening. So take time today, and everyday, to listen, and learn.


"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. Seize the day, trust not to the morrow." - Horace

Join a So What Can I Do Giving Team.

'Tis the season of thanksgiving. With that in mind I encourage us all the adopt an "attitude of gratitude" - thanks, and join a So What Can I Do giving team. These teams sponsored by major charitable organizations are great ways to track our progress and see the real difference So What Can I Do readers are making in our world. Here are the first three giving teams:

Kiva Team - http://tinyurl.com/swcid-kiva
Heifer Team - http://tinyurl.com/swcid-heiferteam
Nothing But Nets Team - http://tinyurl.com/swcid-netsteam

I will add more giving teams to this list as they are organized. Spread the word and see what an impact we can have. And let me know if you would like to see a So What Can I Do giving team for your favorite organization.

Give thanks and happy giving!

Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is. -William James, psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910)

Be a Netraiser.

Ten bucks doesn't buy as much as it used to, but it's enough to save a life. When you donate $10 to Nothing But Nets, the malaria mosquito net campaign of the UN Foundation, you will send a net and save a life, by protecting someone from the deadly malaria parasite.

Now you can join the So What Can I Do Netraiser team to raise money for more nets. Our goal is $4350 because this is the 435th post on So What Can I Do Why should you join? Because NETS SAVE LIVES. Want to know more?

--> 41% of the world's population lives in places where it is (Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, Hispaniola, and Oceania).
--> Over one million people die each year from malaria, most of them young children.
--> In some parts of the world where transmission rates are high, there can be as many as 2 deaths per minute from malaria.
--> Life-saving treatments for malaria are relatively inexpensive: $0.13 for chloroquine, $0.14 for sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and $2.68 for a 7-day course of quinine.
--> "Insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce transmission as much as 90% in areas with high coverage rates."

Your ten dollars goes solely to providing the insecticide-treated net and education a family on how to use it. It lasts 4 years and can mean life for a pregnant woman, HIV positive person, or young child. So . . .

Be a netraiser. Be a buzzkill. Send a net, save a life. Join the So What Can I Do Netraiser Team and put your ten bucks to good use.


"The failure of attempts at culture have led me to believe that the microbe of malaria lives outside the body in the parasitic state and I suspect in the mosquitoes which are abundant in malarial areas and which already play a very important role in the propagation of filariasis." - Alphonse Laveran in 1894, winner of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Recycle your carpet.

Now that our move to Little Rock is getting closer (woo hoo!), Kwadjo and I are preparing to sell our home near Atlanta. We're doing all we can to make the home more inviting for potential buyers including replacing the carpet. But what to do with our old carpet? Recycle it, of course!

The Carpet America Recovery Effort "is a joint industry-government effort to increase the amount of recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpet and reduce the amount of waste carpet going to landfills." What a great idea! You may be surprised at the innovative ways people are reusing carpet. Did you know it can be reprocessed and used to make lumber, soundproofing barriers, plastic, and other items?

So if you are planning to replace your carpet, visit carpetrecovery.org or download this list of carpet reclamation centers (PDF). They are located all over the country. But if there's not one in your area, consider starting one. Here are two resources to show you how: here and here.

Keep your carpet out of the landfill - recycle it!

This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919)

Give a laptop, get a laptop: OLPC

My family and I were so excited when we received our laptop from One Laptop Per Child almost a year ago. I just love bringing it to the library, coffeeshop, jury duty waiting room, or other public venue because people always ask questions about it and give me the opportunity to talk about the fantastic machine and organization. People are always so intrigued when I demonstrate my computer, but they're often a bit disappointed when I tell them that they can no longer order the machine. Well cheer up folks, now's your chance!

To all those who missed out the first time, Give one, Get one from One Laptop Per Child is back! Starting November 17, you can order the great XO Laptop and ensure that a child in the economically developing world receives one too. It's a great deal for your family and another one.

So visit laptop.org to learn more and amazon.com/xo to order your XO laptop today. I'll look for you in the mesh network!

Conscience is a dog that does not stop us from passing but that we cannot prevent from barking. - Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (1741-1794)

Help promote peace, heath, and welfare in Congo.

This morning's Diane Rehm Show focused on the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo. It's been in the news a lot lately because more than 1 million people have been displaced, because there is increasing use of child soldiers and rape as a weapon of war, because more than 5 million people have died because of the conflict since it started 10 years ago. So instead of just listening to the news about Congo, let it drive you to action.

First, learn more about the crisis:

* Listen to the Diane Rehm Show podcast discussion.
* View pictures from Doctors Without Borders and listen to their commentary.
* Read this article from The AFRican on one effective response to the conflict.
* Listen to an interview with Samual Ngabe from Oxfam.
* Visit the action and education center at Raise Hope for Congo.
* Watch the CNN video below.

Now act. You can donate to the organizations below, educate your family, friends, coworkers, and colleagues, or write a letter or blog post urging others to support the important work.

* Oxfam International
* Doctors Without Borders
* World Vision
* UNICEF
* Red Cross
* Women for Women International
* Diane Rehm Show
* Raise Hope for Congo

Let's get started!


"If there is anybody in this land who thoroughly believes that the meek shall inherit the earth they have not often let their presence be known." - W.E.B. Du Bois

Tweet your solution: #swcid

The new social media platforms provide a great way to stay in touch and spread information. So What Can I Do is on a number of sites (see below) and has been on Twitter for several months now. You can follow us at @sowhatcanido.

I frequently use the twitter search page to find out what folks are saying about particular topics, but would love to know what ideas I missing. So I am introducing a new hashtag: #swcid. Now when you tweet about a way to make a positive difference in our world, or offer a solution to a societal problem, or have a question you'd like use to tackle, you can tag it with #swcid. That way anyone and everyone can easily search for solutions and ways to tackle our most challenging problems. I look forward to reading your tweets! Spread the word!

Here are some other places you can find So What Can I Do on the web:

* Twitter
* Associated Content
* Alltop Good
* Alltop Nonprofit
* Blogged
* Kiva
* Technorati
* Squidoo
* Atom xml feed

See you online!

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer