For two years I ran job readiness group for 10 teenagers in Rochester, NY. During one of my last meetings formal meetings with the group my favorite moment of those two years took place. For me, it was the most amazing of all of our times together.

My youth were usually pretty wild and would spend most of their energy talking over me, fighting, and making each other cry, but this night was different and changed the group dynamics for the rest of our time together. Continue Reading »

David Chomsky, brother of Noam, was married to a woman who gave military legal counseling to sailors of the USS Nitro, docked at Sandy Hook, NJ to pick up fragmentation bombs for the Vietnam War. Annie LaBois of France was there in Leonardo, NJ with me as advance liaison for the Stone House community of West Philadelphia in 1971. Lillian Willoughby and about fifty others sat on the railroad tracks to symbolically prevent munitions from reaching the Nitro. Continue Reading »

I have been a sexual assault crisis counselor for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) since May 2008. It was the only way I knew how to stay involved with the issue post-graduation. At the University of Maryland I had played a key role in organizing a Men of Strength Club for men to talk about masculinity and gender-based violence and had taken part in advocacy and outreach campaigns for about two years. Continue Reading »

I haven’t seen the human being who brought me to this World for almost 3 years, so when my mother came to visit, in an attempt to pay back the kindness for all the love she has poured into me, I decided to be in attentive presence with her as much time as needed during her 10day visit, even if that meant to take her to some mall. [Did I just write 10day? ;-)]. And what a 10day! Continue Reading »

Two+ years ago I was asked to do a seminar on nonviolence for the cohort of Rotary fellows doing a peace masters at UC. One guy in the class was very troubled, asked penetrating, challenging questions (which I like) and left hurriedly when it was over. Some time later I went to their graduation. He gave a start on seeing me and pulled me over, onto the balcony and said: Continue Reading »